FDA Removes All Petroleum-Based Food Dyes: “Try Watermelon Juice Instead”; Kennedy: “They Shouldn’t Be Feeding It to the Rest of Us”

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and FDA Commissioner Marty Makary announced in April 2025 that the FDA was effectively removing all petroleum-based food dyes from the U.S. food supply and medications. Kennedy quipped: “If they want to eat petroleum, they ought to add it themselves at home. But they shouldn’t be feeding it to the rest of us without our knowledge or consent.” Commissioner Makary outlined six specific synthetic dyes targeted for elimination — Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Blue 1, Blue 2, and Green 3 — all to be removed by end of next year. He offered alternatives: “For companies currently using petroleum-based red dye, try watermelon juice or beet juice. For yellow and red combinations, try carrot juice.” The FDA also announced plans to authorize four additional natural color additives.

”They Shouldn’t Be Feeding It to the Rest of Us”

Kennedy delivered the announcement with his characteristic blend of policy substance and plain-spoken humor.

“When I met with — and I want to commend food companies for working with us to achieve this agreement — when I went in a few months or about a month ago to meet with a few food companies, I was talking with my staff about these petroleum-based dyes,” Kennedy said.

He delivered the punchline: “And I said, if they want to add petroleum, they want to eat petroleum, they ought to add it themselves at home. But they shouldn’t be feeding it to the rest of us without our knowledge or consent.”

He stated the commitment: “We’re going to get rid of the dyes, and one by one we’re going to get rid of every ingredient added into the food supply that we can legally address.”

The “without our knowledge or consent” phrase was the crux of the MAHA movement’s food safety argument. Most Americans had no idea that the bright colors in their children’s candy, cereal, and snacks were derived from petroleum — the same substance used to make gasoline, plastic, and industrial chemicals. The food industry had been adding these synthetic chemicals to food for decades, not because they improved nutrition or flavor, but because they made products more visually appealing.

Kennedy’s framing was brilliant in its simplicity. He wasn’t banning a substance or restricting consumer choice. He was saying that corporations shouldn’t be putting petroleum derivatives in food without telling people. If individuals wanted to consume petroleum-based chemicals, that was their prerogative. But the default should be that food was free of industrial chemicals unless consumers specifically chose otherwise.

The FDA’s Action Plan

Commissioner Makary outlined the most comprehensive food dye reform in FDA history.

“Today, the FDA is taking action to remove petroleum-based food dyes from the U.S. food supply and from medications,” Makary announced.

He provided the scientific foundation: “For the last 50 years, American children have increasingly been living in a toxic soup of synthetic chemicals. The scientific community has conducted a number of studies raising concerns about the correlation between petroleum-based synthetic dyes and several health conditions.”

He listed the conditions: “Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, obesity, diabetes, insulin resistance, cancer, genomic disruption, GI issues — as I’ve seen in the hospital — and allergic reactions.”

He cited a landmark study: “This Lancet study conducted a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled study on food dyes and concluded that artificial colors in the diet ‘result in increased hyperactivity.’”

He posed the fundamental question: “So why are we taking a gamble?”

The Lancet study Makary referenced was one of the most important pieces of evidence in the food dye debate. Published in one of the world’s most prestigious medical journals, it demonstrated through rigorous scientific methodology — randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled — that artificial food dyes caused increased hyperactivity in children. The study had been available for years, yet the FDA under previous administrations had declined to act on its findings.

The Six Dyes

Makary identified the specific synthetic dyes targeted for removal.

“Taking steps to eliminate the remaining six synthetic dyes on the market from the U.S. food supply,” he said. “Specifically: Red Dye Number 40, Yellow Dye Number 5, Yellow Dye Number 6, Blue Dye Number 1, Blue Dye Number 2, and Green Dye Number 3 — by the end of next year.”

He also addressed dyes not currently in production: “Initiating a process to revoke authorization of synthetic food colorings, including those not in production, namely Citrus Red Number 2 and Orange B, within the coming weeks.”

He addressed Red Dye Number 3 specifically: “We are also requesting food companies to remove Red Dye Number 3 sooner than the 2027-2028 deadline previously announced.”

The comprehensive list meant that by the end of the following year, no petroleum-based synthetic food dye would remain authorized for use in the American food supply. This was not a partial measure or a voluntary guideline — it was a systematic removal of an entire category of food additives that had been in use for decades.

Red Dye Number 40 was the single most widely used food dye in America, found in everything from Skittles to Doritos to children’s cough medicine. Its removal alone would force reformulations across thousands of products. Yellow 5 and Yellow 6, used in Mountain Dew, Kraft Mac & Cheese, and countless other products, were similarly ubiquitous.

”Try Watermelon Juice”

Makary’s most memorable moment came when he offered practical alternatives to food companies.

“For companies that are currently using petroleum-based red dye, try watermelon juice or beet juice,” he said.

“For companies currently combining petroleum-based yellow chemical and red dyes together, try carrot juice.”

He announced support for the transition: “The FDA is also announcing plans today to authorize four additional natural color additives using natural ingredients in the coming weeks, while also accelerating the review and approval of other natural ingredient colors.”

The “try watermelon juice” line was destined to become one of the most quoted phrases of the MAHA movement. It captured the absurdity of the status quo — that food companies were using petroleum derivatives when natural alternatives existed — in a single, memorable image.

The fact that natural alternatives were readily available undermined the food industry’s primary argument against dye reform: that removing synthetic dyes would make products less appealing or more expensive. Beet juice produced the same red color as Red 40. Carrot juice produced the same orange-yellow as combinations of synthetic dyes. Turmeric, spirulina, and other natural sources could replace every synthetic color in use.

Many food companies had already made the transition for products sold in European markets, where petroleum-based dyes required warning labels. The same companies were selling naturally colored products in Europe and synthetically colored versions in America — charging the same price for both. The only reason American consumers received the petroleum version was that American regulations had not required the change.

The ADHD Connection

The link between food dyes and ADHD was perhaps the most politically significant aspect of the announcement. ADHD diagnoses in American children had increased dramatically over the past several decades, with millions of children now taking stimulant medications like Adderall and Ritalin.

If artificial food dyes contributed to hyperactivity — as the Lancet study demonstrated — then a portion of the ADHD epidemic might be attributable to chemicals in the food supply rather than to neurological conditions requiring medication. The implication was staggering: children were being diagnosed with a behavioral disorder and prescribed powerful stimulant drugs when the actual cause might have been the petroleum-based chemicals in their breakfast cereal.

The MAHA movement’s argument was that addressing root causes — removing harmful chemicals from food, improving nutritional quality, reducing environmental toxins — would do more for children’s health than pharmaceutical interventions that treated symptoms while ignoring causes.

The Transition Timeline

Makary outlined a three-step process for the transition.

Step one: “Establishing a national standard and timeline for the food industry to transition from petroleum-based food dyes to natural alternatives.”

Step two: “Initiating a process to revoke authorization of synthetic food colorings within the coming weeks.”

Step three: Eliminating all six remaining synthetic dyes “by the end of next year.”

The timeline was aggressive but achievable. Food companies had known this change was coming since the MAHA movement became a central feature of Trump’s agenda. Many had already begun reformulating products. The FDA was not springing a surprise; it was setting a firm deadline for a transition the industry had years to prepare for.

Key Takeaways

• The FDA announced removal of all petroleum-based food dyes from the U.S. food supply and medications.
• Six specific dyes targeted: Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Blue 1, Blue 2, and Green 3 — all to be eliminated by end of next year.
• Kennedy: “If they want to eat petroleum, they ought to add it themselves. They shouldn’t be feeding it to the rest of us without our knowledge or consent.”
• FDA Commissioner Makary cited a Lancet study: artificial colors “result in increased hyperactivity” in children.
• Alternatives offered: “Try watermelon juice or beet juice” for red; “try carrot juice” for yellow-red combinations. Four new natural color additives to be authorized.