The F.D.A. Has Approved Three ‘Natural’ Food Colorings

Eat|The F.D.A. Has Approved Three ‘Natural’ Food Colorings

On Friday, the Food and Drug Administration announced that it had approved three new “natural” food colorings to be used in foods and drinks like candies, smoothies, potato chips and breakfast cereals.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the U.S. health secretary, has implied that these dyes are safer alternatives to synthetic dyes, like Blue No. 1 and Blue No. 2, which limited research has linked to behavioral issues in some children.

Just because a product is natural doesn’t mean it’s safer, said Susan Mayne, an adjunct professor of epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health and a former director at the F.D.A. who was focused on food safety.

Still, the agency typically uses a rigorous process to vet new color additives, she said. And there’s nothing to indicate that these additives are harmful, Dr. Mayne and other experts we spoke with said.

Here is what we know.

What the Evidence Shows About the New Dyes

There’s a “pretty good body of literature” suggesting that these three new color additives — called Galdieria extract blue, butterfly pea flower extract and calcium phosphate — should be safe, especially in the small amounts used to dye foods, said Jamie K. Alan, an associate professor of pharmacology and toxicology at Michigan State University.

Calcium phosphate, which exists naturally in milk, has been widely used in the United States for decades, in products like calcium supplements, packaged breads and fortified plant milks and fruit juices, said Alireza Abbaspourrad, an associate professor of food chemistry and ingredient technology at Cornell. Now, it can be used as a white coloring for ready-to-eat chicken products, doughnut sugar and certain candies.