Kraft Heinz to remove synthetic dyes from all products by 2027
Kraft Heinz to remove synthetic dyes from all products by 2027
By Brian Bienkowski Kraft Heinz, the food giant behind dozens of popular brands including Oscar Mayer, Jell-O, Velveeta and Kool-Aid, will not launch any new foods with synthetic dyes and will remove the dyes from its current products by the end of 2027, the company said Tuesday.
I don't mind removing dyes but I hope they don't add any back in. Natural dyes can cause allergic reactions too or make vegan foods non-vegan (i.e. dyes from animal sources).
“Kraft Heinz” lobbies the FDA to redefine “synthetic dye” by 2027.
See also: organic farming. We define what's allowed to charge you extra. Is it less awful? Maybe! Is it more expensive? Definitely!
I agree, not all natural products are innocuous but still isn't the point that organic IS less awful? I'm thinking especially regarding biodiversity and conditions in which the animals live (at least in France, it is the label with the strictest standards for animal "welfare"). I get that it's not perfect but I don't think we should wait to have the perfect system to get rid of some of the absolutely shitty parts in the current system.
Is it more expensive? To the customer yes. For real, once you include environmental benefits, health costs from cancers etc and take into account the fact that organic farmers usually receive zero help from governments (I'm considering the french case here), you realise that the price gap is not as big as you think and that a major part of it is because pesticides have made agriculture unnaturally "cheap" (i.e. with a lot of invisible costs).
Surely they are also eliminating high fructose corn syrup, right?
…right?
I never understood why Canada loved ketchup until I moved there. Canadian Heinz doesn't have a funky aftertaste. That's the corn syrup.
That was exactly my first thought.
And replacing it with… good ole shit sugar?
No sugar added! We just added grape juice concentrate for no particular reason.
So no more green and purple ketchup?
The green will now be colored with the all natural bile of the endangered snow leopard.
which means this stuff has been negative for your body for decades and they haven't done shit about it
In reality, synthetic dyes are likely nowhere near as much of a health risk as the sugars and salts in these products anyway. But anything that can be done to incrementally improve the healthiness of product, it's still progress. And at least people can read the label and make informed decisions about the nutritional value of the salt, fat, sugar, etc. in their food. But the actual risks of other ingredients, like dyes, preservatives, and artificial sweeteners, are far less apparent to the typical shopper, even if they are largely minimal in risks, if the actual risks are even known in the first place, that is.
Oh boy, the return of crushed bugs for food dye
That dye has never stopped being used, you know. You have almost certainly been eating food with this dye for your entire life. You likely have products in your home with this dye in it right now. Red candies, red velvet cake, red drinks, strawberry or raspberry yogurts, maraschino cherries, ice creams, some sausages or faux crab meat, too. It is a very common dye.
When it became big news a few years back, the main problem was not that it is made from bugs. The problem was that it was being used in ostensibly vegan products, making it not actually vegan. The big target at the time was Starbucks for their pink drink (I believe). But most companies didnt ever change anything.
Yep
Why not right this second? Are they some kind of donkey party? Just hit the fucking switch, Tex.
Because it's not just hitting a fucking switch, they have to identify, test, source, and deploy each replacement.. And even then, all the existing stock is going to get used up first before you'll see it on the store shelf.
You had me at the first part
Then was like "It's okay for the holey lifeboat company to sell their remaining stock because we wouldn't want them to have to lose money or waste a perfectly good holey lifeboats"
They likely have to find or develop replacements. People can be very picky about the looks of their food.
Why not today?
Honest answer is probably that they intend to replace those dyes because people won't buy the products if they don't look appealing, and the food science, testing, sourcing, manufacturing changes and regulations all take some time. Sure, it might have been better to start years ago, but the 2nd best time to plant a tree is today.
Because that means spending money to destroy product.
Probably three reasons:
- They have a lot of synthetic dyes on hand that they do not wish to waste.
- They have to secure and arrange new reliable supply chains for the natural dyes and probably arrange new processes for storing and using the dyes as they will not be 1:1 with the synthetics.
- They may want to transition slowly, maybe product testing in specific areas to see how consumers react to the new look, taste (because natural dyes usually affect that), and labeling, and adjusting accordingly before rolling out to the whole counry/world.
Why?
Look, great, I get it. But they don't have to. This won't increase sales, so...why?
This is anecdotal, but a sibling of mine had a friend in school who had allergy(?) issues and couldn't eat most ketchup brands, but heintz was apparently reliably fine due to the simple recipe, including lack of synthetic dyes. I never did my own digging, but if their goal is having that niche of quality natural products, it might not cost them much (if at all) but help maintain a reputation.