Utz Brands has joined the growing list of US food manufacturers pledging to eliminate artificial additives and colourings from product ranges.
The Hanover, Pennsylvania-headquartered savoury snacks maker – owner of brands such as On the Border and Boulder Canyon – said its portfolio will be completely free of colourings, or FD&Cs, by the end of 2027.
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Utz clarified in a statement that 80% of its snacks range already does not contain FD&C colours (synthetic dyes approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for food, drugs, and cosmetics).
“We will eliminate all FD&C colours from our entire product portfolio by the end of 2027. Starting this fall, we will be highlighting our real and simple product attributes on select brand packages,” Utz said.
A chorus of US food companies have heeded calls from the Trump administration to remove FD&Cs since Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took up that mantle this year under his Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) campaign.
Kennedy Jr. started off with a plan early this year to ban the use of the so-called Red 3 food colouring additive in food, supplements and ingestible drugs, urging food manufacturers to reformulate products by mid-January 2027.
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By GlobalDataThe FDA then followed up with phasing out measures for petroleum-based synthetic food dyes targeted for the end of 2026.
Reformulation around FD&Cs has become a regular discussion point in the US food industry. Jeff Harmening, the chairman and CEO of General Mills, was asked about the topic on a results call with analysts last week.
“An increasing number of consumers don’t want to [see] certified colours in some of their food and that’s why we look to remove those,” Harmening said.
He clarified that 98% of General Mill’s K-12 school foods portfolio is free of certified colours, while 85% of its retail products do not have them.
Earlier this year, General Mills pledged to eliminate all certified colours from its US cereals and K-12 school foods by the summer 2026, and from its entire US retail portfolio by the end of 2027.
Meanwhile, Utz said that “as consumer tastes and government regulatory initiatives evolve, we adapt while staying true to the flavours and traditions people love”.
Kraft Heinz has also committed to eliminate all FD&C colours from its US portfolio by the end of 2027, pointing out in June that 90% of its products were already free from the colourings.
As the list grows, the FDA has compiled a rolling agenda of US companies that have made reformulation commitments. It also includes overseas food manufacturers selling into the US such as Nestlé, Danone and Grupo Bimbo.
On home soil, it features Mars and the confectionery maker’s takeover target Kellanova, PepsiCo, Conagra Brands and McCormick & Co.
