The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted three new color additive petitions that will expand the palette of available colors from natural sources for food manufacturers.

The move aligns with U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s priority to phase out petroleum-based dyes in the nation’s food supply.

“Today we take a major step to Make America Healthy Again,” Kennedy says. "For too long, our food system has relied on synthetic, petroleum-based dyes that offer no nutritional value and pose unnecessary health risks. We’re removing these dyes and approving safe, natural alternatives—to protect families and support healthier choices.”

Since the HHS and FDA announcement last month on petroleum-based food dyes, more U.S. food manufacturers have committed to removing them within the FDA’s set time frame of the end of next year.

“On April 22, I said the FDA would soon approve several new color additives and would accelerate our review of others,” says FDA Commissioner Martin A. Makary. “I’m pleased to report that promises made, have been promises kept. FDA staff have been moving quickly to expedite the publication of these decisions, underscoring our serious intent to transition away from petroleum-based dyes in the food supply and provide new colors from natural sources.”

The color additive petitions approved are for:

• Galdieria extract blue, a blue color derived from the unicellular red algae Galdieria sulphuraria. The FDA has approved the color additive for use in nonalcoholic beverages and beverage bases, fruit drinks, fruit smoothies, fruit juices, vegetable juices, dairy-based smoothies, milk shakes and flavored milks, yogurt drinks, milk-based meal replacement and nutritional beverages, breakfast cereal coatings, hard candy, soft candy and chewing gum, flavored frostings, ice cream and frozen dairy desserts, frozen fruits, water ices and popsicles, gelatin desserts, puddings and custards, and whipped cream, yogurt, frozen or liquid creamers (including non-dairy alternatives), and whipped toppings (including non-dairy alternatives). 

The petition was submitted by the French company Fermentalg.

• Butterfly pea flower extract, a blue color that can be used to achieve a range of shades including bright blues, intense purple and natural greens. Produced through the water extraction of the dried flower petals of the butterfly pea plant, this color additive is already approved for use in sport drinks, fruit drinks, fruit and vegetable juices, alcoholic beverages, dairy drinks, ready to drink teas, nutritional beverages, gums, candy, coated nuts, ice creams, and yogurt. 

The approval of a petition by St. Louis-based Sensient Colors LLC expands the approved use for coloring ready-to-eat cereals, crackers, snack mixes, hard pretzels, plain potato chips (restructured or baked), plain corn chips, tortilla chips, and multigrain chips.

• Calcium phosphate, a white color approved for use in ready-to-eat chicken products, white candy melts, doughnut sugar, and sugar for coated candies. The petition was filed by Innophos Inc. of Cranbury, New Jersey.

Under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (Chapter VII, section 721), color additives are subject to FDA approval to determine whether they are safe before they may be used in food. The FDA determines whether an additive is safe to use by considering the projected human dietary exposure to the color additive, the additive’s toxicological data and other relevant information, such as published literature. 

Once the FDA approves a color additive petition, any manufacturer can use the coloring for the approved uses.