Brightly-colored foods are enticing. They catch our interest, intriguing us with the possibility of a bold flavor. That's why, for generations, food marketers have made sure to make their products as bright as possible, to bring in more consumers. The quickest way to do that has been with
food dyes.But the problem is that many food dyes are dangerous. Research around the world is linking many dyes to
cancers, genetic damage, ADHD, reproductive disorders, and more. That's why activists in the U.S. were so excited when Robert F. Kennedy, Jr (RFK), Trump's head of the Department of Health and Human Services,
promised to ban unhealthy food dyes.He just broke that promise, by siding with giant corporations instead. Sign the petition to demand he reverse course and finally ban toxic dyes like he promised!Some dyes, like the infamous Red Dye no.3, are made with literal petroleum - a fossil fuel. Others are naturally-occurring, but still extremely dangerous. Two examples are titanium dioxide and caramel color, containing 4-MEI.
Titanium dioxide is so toxic, the
European Union has actually banned it from food products due to studies suggesting it might alter or impair genes, as well as causing
cancers, birth defects, reproductive harm, the build-up of neurotoxins, and more. Similarly, caramel-based 4-MEI has also been linked to cancers.
Originally, RFK had assured the "Make America Health Again" (MAHA) movement that he would put everyday people's health first by banning all toxic food dyes.
Now, he's completely backtracked. Under RFK's new plan,
not even petroleum-based dyes will be banned! He's simply asking companies to voluntarily agree to not use these dyes - but it's not actually illegal. Unsurprisingly, some candy makers are refusing to agree with this request.
This means corporations can keep using poisons to brightly color our food and convince us to eat it.
In fact, RFK and Trump are actually
relaxing pre-existing food labeling requirements to help these corporations! Under their new rules, corporations can now re-label their products to say "no artificial colors," even if the dyes are toxic, so long as they're not made from fossil fuels.
This is a big change - in the wrong direction.RFK promised to keep children and families safe by removing toxins from foods.
Instead, he's making it easier for corporations to market whatever they want, with looser regulations. He must immediately reverse this decision and in fact ban toxic dyes, including titanium dioxide and 4-MEI, from all food products, now! Sign the petition!