Mars is to launch four confectionery products in the US made without artificial dyes.
Amid political pressure and consumer scrutiny, food manufacturers in the US have pledged to remove synthetic dyes from products, although product developers face challenges with taste, texture and production.
Mars is among the companies working to take out the so-called Food, Drug, and Cosmetic (FD&C) colours from recipes.
In the coming weeks, the company will launch four products that do not contain the FDA-approved colours, initially through Amazon.
The new products, made with natural colours, are sold under the M&M’s, Skittles and Starburst and Extra confectionery brands.
However, the naturally-coloured M&M’s will not contain the blue or brown chocolates found in a conventional pack.
The standard options will still be on sale in stores and online.
“Mars is actively working toward offering natural-coloured M&M’s in all six signature colours by 2028,” the company told Just Food. “As Mars identifies fully effective, scalable solutions across its portfolio, the company will share additional product commitments and timelines.”
The business has not said if the options containing artificial colours will be removed from sale after that date.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Mars executives outlined how they have been testing the use of spirulina as a natural alternative to the FD&C artificial ingredient Blue 1 used in M&M’s.
The company is having to invest in upgrading machinery across its plants that make M&M’s.
“It’s the hardest thing I’ve had to do in my career,” Claire Hewitt, senior director for ingredient transformation at Mars Wrigley North America, told the WSJ.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has created an online “tracker” of pledges companies have made to remove FD&C colours.
Last week, Nestlé said it had removed the dyes from its food and drink products in the US. “In recipes where these ingredients were previously used, the company has removed or replaced them with alternative solutions while maintaining the quality, taste and experience people expect. Updated recipes are already arriving on shelves, and consumers can check product labels for more information,” the company said.
