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May 5, 2025

Why the food dye supply chain isn't likely to change

Swapping out artificial food dyes for natural products isn’t as simple as replacing blue food coloring with blueberry juice, said Julie Creswell at the New York Times.

Governmentby Kai Ryssdal and Iru Ekpunobi
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"There's not enough blueberry juice in the world to make up for all of the colors and all of the food dyes that are in the foods we're used to eating, so if everybody flipped the switch tomorrow, we'd have a real shortage going on," said Julie Creswell of the New York Times.
"There's not enough blueberry juice in the world to make up for all of the colors and all of the food dyes that are in the foods we're used to eating, so if everybody flipped the switch tomorrow, we'd have a real shortage going on," said Julie Creswell of the New York Times.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has claimed that six synthetic dyes will be phased out by American food and beverage manufacturers by 2026. “Marketplace” host Kai Ryssdal spoke to Julie Creswell at the New York Times about her reporting on the food dye supply chain, and the obstacles to substituting artificial dyes in food.

Click the audio player above to listen to the full interview.

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