ATLANTA — A major food company announced it plans on Tuesday to get rid of all artificial dyes in the next two years.
Kraft Heinz said the move will affect brands like Kool-Aid, Jell-O and Crystal Light.
It’s good news for a Georgia family that is fighting to remove synthetic food dyes after linking them to their son’s behavioral problems.
Six-year-old Atreyu Cawood is calm now since cutting out foods with synthetic dyes just over three years ago.
“He had lots of fits and hitting, and biting, and tantrums,” mother Whitney Cawood told Channel 2 investigative reporter Sophia Choi. “We did an elimination diet, and we determined that synthetic dyes were causing 98% of his issues.”
“It was kind of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” father Brandon Cawood said.
Research shows that synthetic dyes can cause behavioral issues, including hyperactivity and aggression, in some children.
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“We were shocked that there is that much research, but yet so few people know to be wary of synthetic dyes,” Whitney Cawood said.
On Tuesday, Kraft Heinz announced it will not introduce any new products with artificial food dyes effective immediately.
The company also plans to stop using them in existing products before the end of 2027.
Thomas Galligan, with the Center for Science in the Public Interest, said dyes have no nutritional benefit and are a marketing tool.
“They’re used to make food look visually appealing so that consumers want to buy them,” Galligan said.
Kraft Heinz said it removed artificial dyes from Kraft Mac and Cheese in 2016, and Heinz tomato ketchup has never had them.
The Cawood family hopes the move away from the dyes will help other families.
“It was a game changer for our family. It completely changed the trajectory of his life,” Brandon Cawood said.
Kraft Heinz said right now, nearly 90% of its U.S. products by net sales are free of artificial food dyes.
Tuesday’s announcement comes two months after Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he had reached an understanding with food makers to remove artificial food dyes by 2026.
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