Two days after federal officials took action against synthetic dyes in food and beverages, PepsiCo Inc. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ramon Laguarta said his company will remove artificial ingredients from popular foods this year.
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“We’ve been leading the transformation of the industry now for a long time on sodium reduction, sugar reduction and better fats,” Laguarta said in an April 24 conference call with analysts on PepsiCo’s fiscal 2025 first-quarter results. The company produces Frito-Lay and Quaker Foods as part of PepsiCo Foods North America.
“When we talk about the US food business, 60%-plus of our (portfolio) today doesn’t have any artificial colors, so we’re undergoing that transition,” he said. “For example, brands like Lay’s will be out of artificial colors by the end of this year, and the same with Tostitos — some of our big brands. So we’re well underway.”
At an April 22 news conference, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services, and Marty Makary, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, called for eliminating artificial dyes from our foods.
We will be aligned with Canada and Europe. If they can use beet juice instead of Red Dye No. 40, so can the US.
In addition to Red dye No. 40, Green No. 3, Red No. 40, Yellow No. 5 and No. 6, and Blue No. 1 and No. 2 must be gone by the end of 2026.
In January, the FDA had ordered that Red No. 3 be removed from US foods and beverages by 2027, but that deadline might be met sooner. The FDA also aims to revoke authorization for Citrus Red No. 2 and Orange B, as well as expedite reviews of calcium phosphate, Galdieria extract blue, gardenia blue, and butterfly pea flower extract as natural alternatives to food colorings.
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Pepsi and coke both have caffeine in them making them addictive with coke having cocaine in the original formula. Don’t tell me these companies were ever thinking about the health of the consumer. Just like big tobacco it was all about getting the consumer hooked. It took Trump to get them to clean up their act after over a century of manipulation. I’m glad its happening. I hope they hurry and ban high fructose corn syrup too. I wonder how many heart attacks are caused by this crap when blood pressure spikes after consuming it. The whole food supply is tainted with so many additives that make people fat and sick. I doubt it’s all by accident.