In a March 10, 2025 meeting with the CEOs of food industry giants, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (RFK Jr.), Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) known for his “Make America Healthy Again” agenda, demanded that their companies end the use of artificial food dyes in their products—before the government is forced to act.

The meeting included top representatives from PepsiCo, General Mills, Smucker’s, Kraft Heinz, and Kellogg’s, as well as important consumer watchdog group, Consumer Brands Association.

In a readout sent to industry, Consumer Brands Association President and CEO Melissa Hockstad, wrote, “[Secretary Kennedy] expressed the strong desire and urgent priority of the administration to remove [Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act, or FD&C] colors from the food supply—and he wants this done before he leaves office… He expects ‘real and transformative’ change by ‘getting the worst ingredients out’ of food,” she quoted. The readout was first reported by Food Fix.

The same night of the meeting, Secretary Kennedy posted on X, stating, “Great discussion today with @ConsumerBrands CEOs of @KraftHeinzCo @GeneralMills @TysonFoods @KelloggsUS @smuckers and @PepsiCo on advancing food safety and radical transparency to protect the health of all Americans, especially our children. We will strengthen consumer trust by getting toxins out of our food. Let’s Make America Healthy Again.”

Ms. Hockstad’s readout underlined a statement from Kyle Diamantas, Acting Deputy Commissioner for Human Foods at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), who also attended the meeting. According to the readout, Mr. Diamantas “recognized the industry can’t [eliminate harmful colorants and additives from the food supply] alone and that FDA will step up and work with [industry and stakeholders] to reinforce the need for a federal framework and avoid state patchworks.”

Mr. Diamantas recently replaced former FDA Commissioner for Human Foods, James (Jim) Jones, who resigned in February following 89 layoffs within the Human Foods Program ordered by the Presidential Administration. Before he stepped down, addressing stronger federal oversight of food chemical safety was a stated priority of Mr. Jones. During his time at FDA, Mr. Jones expressed the difficulty of tackling food additives and dyes with already limited resources; the eventual dismissal of his staffers with “highly technical expertise in nutrition, infant formula, and food safety response,” ten of whom were responsible for reviewing potentially unsafe ingredients in food, left him feeling as if his continued efforts would be “fruitless,” per his resignation letter.

In January, FDA banned red dye 3 for food use in response to pressures from the public, stakeholder groups, and legislators. The prohibition goes into effect in January 2027.

Several states are considering—or have already passed—their own legislation restricting or banning certain food dyes or chemical additives. For example, the California Food Safety Act banning four food additives from foods statewide and the California School Food Safety Act prohibiting six synthetic colorants from foods served in schools, were passed in October 2023 and August 2024, respectively. More recently, bills have been progressing in Texas, West Virginia, and Arizona with the intent of banning artificial food dyes and other additives from foods served at schools or from sale statewide.

The same week as his meeting with the CEOs of food industry giants, Secretary Kennedy and HHS also directed FDA to explore rulemaking to eliminate the “Generally Recognized as Safe” (GRAS) process, which is widely considered by critics to be a “loophole” that allows food companies to introduce potentially unsafe ingredients to the food supply without oversight or a formal safety review.