Trump adviser warns of regulations on food companies that don't drop dyes
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Calley Means speaks onstage at HLTH. Photo: HLTH Inc.
The Trump administration may move to impose new regulations on food companies that don't follow through on promises to remove artificial colorants from their products, White House adviser Calley Means said at a health industry conference on Tuesday.
Why it matters: Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy has so far focused on getting voluntary commitments from companies like Kraft Heinz and Walmart on varying timelines.
- While major food makers have sent cooperative signals, they've by and large stopped short of endorsing outright bans.
What they're saying: "There absolutely is an appetite to use the regulatory lever to protect kids when necessary," Means said during an interview with Axios' Maya Goldman at the HLTH 2025 conference in Las Vegas.
- Still, Means said it's a "big victory" that major food and beverage companies have voluntarily agreed to remove artificial dyes.
- "We told the food companies, we can do this the hard way or the easy way," he said.
State of play: The Food and Drug Administration in April announced it would work with industry to eliminate six widely used synthetic food dyes by the end of the year. But the FDA didn't specify consequences for companies that don't cooperate or make good on their promises.
- A tracker on the FDA website lists 20 company commitments to stop using food dyes. Only one company, In-N-Out Burger, is listed as having completed its initiative to remove color additives from shakes and lemonade.
- The FDA in January did revoke authorization for a specific red food dye, and gave manufacturers until 2028 at the latest to phase it out.
- "President Trump calls Bobby Kennedy almost every day and says do what you need to do, I got your back," Means said at HLTH.
Between the lines: The food industry actions resemble, in some ways, administration efforts to extract price concessions from drugmakers through threats and public shaming, without having to levy new regulations.
- And there's public support for broader efforts to target additives in sodas, snacks and processed foods that the administration contends are a risk to children's health.
- More than 80% of parents surveyed by KFF/the Washington Post support more government regulation on highly processed food.
Kennedy earlier this year directed the FDA to look into overhauling regulation of processed foods by proposing revised standards for "Generally Recognized as Safe" ingredients, so that companies can no longer declare that a new ingredient is safe without notifying the government.
- A government website indicates that a proposed rule on the standards is in the works.
