Big Food Is Ditching Synthetic Dyes. What Investors Need to Know.

Hershey’s chocolate bars and Hershey Co. Reese’s brand peanut butter cups at a store in, California. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg)

The chocolate company Hershey said on Tuesday that it would remove synthetic dyes from its snacks by the end of 2027, joining a growing list of companies that have taken action to align with the Make America Healthy Again initiative.

In April, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and FDA Commissioner Martin Makary rolled out plans to phase out six petroleum-based dyes—Blue 1 & 2, Green 3, Red 40, Yellow 5 & 6—by the end of 2026. The intention is to replace them with natural alternatives.

Artificial dyes have long been a target of the MAHA movement. Kennedy has said that artificial dyes offer zero nutritional benefit and pose dangers to children’s health and development.

Many synthetic dyes are already banned or restricted in Europe and elsewhere. In the U.S., most synthetic food colors were approved by the Food and Drug Administration before the 1930s. Many haven’t been reviewed for decades despite concern over their potential health risks.

Hershey’s is the latest food company to detail how it will comply with Kennedy’s directives. Over the past month, Nestlé has said it would pull synthetic colors from its U.S. portfolio by mid-2026. Kraft Heinz, General Mills, Conagra Brands, and J.M. Smucker have promised to finish the job by the end of 2027.

Many of these companies have been reformulating their product portfolios to introduce items free of artificial dyes. Those products sometimes use natural alternatives like beet juice for red or spirulina for blue, which tends to cost more than synthetics.

But the hit to margins should be modest. Kraft Heinz noted that nearly 90% of its U.S. products are already free of synthetic color additives; General Mills puts its figure at 85%. The companies could also choose to spread the added costs over two or three fiscal years through small price increases or savings.

Investors are shrugging off the changes. Kraft Heinz and General Mills shares are mostly flat since their June 17 announcement. Nestlé and Conagra, which made the pledge last week, barely moved, though Smucker shares have popped 7% since its announcement.

A bigger risk is the challenge of following through. Natural dyes are trickier to keep stable under heat or light. Reds fade and blues could turn green in acidic drinks. If a color appears less appetizing or fails to match what shoppers expect from iconic brands, it could dent sales volume and hurt the top line.

The shift could be especially risky because consumers are already buying fewer snacks or shifting to cheaper private labels in response to inflation.

On the other hand, consumers appear to want companies to make the change. A 2025 AP-NORC poll suggests that two-thirds of Americans favor restricting or reformulating processed foods to remove ingredients like added sugar or dyes.

According to a 2024 survey from the International Food Information Council, among those who have heard of at least one specific ingredient in packaged foods or beverages, one third said they actively avoid products containing dyes or colors.

For now, dye removal looks more like brand maintenance than a margin killer. Yet in a sector starved for top-line growth, even small hiccups can matter.

Write to Evie Liu at evie.liu@barrons.com