Product News

Recently, the food industry has witnessed significant changes: global confectionery and food giants such as Mars, Nestlé, and Kraft Heinz have all announced "color adjustment" plans, gradually phasing out artificial colors from their products. Mars will launch M&M's and Skittles without artificial colors next year. Nestlé USA plans to completely stop using synthetic colors by mid-2026 (90% of its products have already been upgraded). Kraft Heinz and General Mills have also clearly stated that they will achieve "zero artificial colors" in the US market by the end of 2027. Pepsi and Tyson have respectively planned to complete the transformation of related products by the end of 2025 and within this year. 

Behind this trend lies the dual impetus of stricter regulation and health risks. The US FDA and health authorities plan to phase out all petroleum-based synthetic food dyes by the end of 2026, starting with the revocation of the authorization for dyes like Red No. 2 and Orange No. 2, and eliminating commonly used dyes such as Red No. 40 and Yellow No. 5 by the end of next year. The EU, Japan, and the UK have also long imposed restrictions on artificial dyes, requiring risk labeling or outright bans. Moreover, studies have shown that long-term intake of certain artificial dyes may be associated with attention deficit in children and allergies. The consumption of artificial dyes in the US has increased by 500% over the past 50 years, further raising concerns. 

Natural pigments are now enjoying a development opportunity: In the past two months, the US FDA has approved four natural pigments (such as gardenia blue pigment and butterfly pea flower extract) in quick succession, providing a compliance basis for enterprises. Market demand is also on the rise. The global market size of natural food pigments was 1.2 billion US dollars in 2021 and is expected to reach 3.7 billion US dollars by 2031. Over 60% of consumers will actively avoid foods containing artificial pigments. Young parents prefer "clean label" products, and tutorials on "making natural pigment candies" on social media platforms are also very popular. At the same time, technological breakthroughs have solved the problems of poor stability and weak coloring of natural pigments. For instance, enterprises have improved the stability of gardenia blue and phycocyanin through patented technologies, and optimized the application effect of curcumin through co-crystallization and microencapsulation technologies. 

However, the popularization of natural pigments still faces challenges: their cost is 3 to 5 times that of artificial pigments, and the unit price of carmine is dozens of times that of erythrosine. Moreover, enterprises need to renovate production lines and invest in long-term research and development. Natural pigments also have their own shortcomings: they are sensitive to light and heat and tend to fade, and the color range is not rich enough. If the extraction process is not properly controlled, contaminants may remain. 

Despite this, the transformation of the giants has triggered a chain reaction in the industry. Competitors such as Hershey's and Mondelez may accelerate their follow-up actions. The moves of foreign brands will also drive the upgrading of domestic Chinese enterprises. Although the era of natural pigments faces resistance in terms of cost and safety, with the support of policies, demands and technologies, it has become an irreversible trend in the food industry.