Walmart Follows Big Food Companies to Remove Synthetic Dyes

(Shelby Tauber/Bloomberg)

Key Points

• Walmart will eliminate synthetic dyes and 30 other ingredients from its U.S. private-label food products by January 2027.
• The reformulation impacts brands like Great Value and Bettergoods across over 4,500 stores, without increasing customer prices.
• This initiative is the first of its scale by a national retail chain, following consumer preference for cleaner labels.

Walmart announced Wednesday it will eliminate synthetic dyes and 30 other ingredients—including artificial sweeteners and preservatives—from its private-label food products in the U.S.

The overhaul will affect store brands including Great Value, Marketside, Freshness Guaranteed, and Bettergoods sold online and across Walmart’s more than 4,500 stores nationwide. It’s the first initiative of this scale by a national retail chain.

The reformulation will span a range of product categories, including cake frosting, cereals, sports drinks, and salad dressings. The changes are expected to roll out over the coming months and wrap up by January 2027, said Walmart, which aims to keep prices in check without passing the higher costs to customers.

Walmart stock is down 1.7% to $101.33 in Wednesday trading. Shares have gained 12.1% so far this year.

The Make America Healthy Again campaign, spearheaded by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has been calling to remove highly-processed ingredients, including artificial dyes, from America’s food system, calling them “poisons” 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.

Surveys show that consumers today increasingly prefer food with simpler, cleaner ingredient labels. Over the past few months, a string of big food companies, including Nestlé, Hershey, General Mills, Kraft Heinz, J.M. Smucker and Conagra Brands, have pledged to remove synthetic dyes from their U.S. products.

Instead of artificial dyes, food manufacturers could use natural alternatives like beet juice for red or spirulina for blue. But natural dyes are trickier to keep stable under heat or light, and sometimes couldn’t achieve the same bright colors. That could dent sales if a color fails to match what shoppers expect from iconic brands.

U.S. consumers have increasingly turned to store brands in recent years in an effort to stretch their food budgets. Retailers, in turn, have ramped up their investment in private-label offerings in an effort to gain even bigger market share from national brands.

Walmart, for instance, introduced its Bettergoods line last year, featuring trendy flavors and cleaner ingredients. On Wednesday, Amazon.com unveiled its new private label food brand, Amazon Grocery, that includes eggs, honey, potatoes, rice and brownies.

The move to remove artificial dyes is the latest sign that retailers—with their own lines of products—are serious in competing with Big Food. Walmart’s move could trigger further changes across the industry and throughout the supply chain.

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