The dye phase-out has moved from planning to execution
The move away from synthetic dyes has shifted from planning to execution. The FDA wants the six remaining petroleum-based colors — Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Blue 1, Blue 2, and Green 3 — out of the U.S. food supply by the end of 2026, and it has begun revoking Citrus Red 2 and Orange B. Nestlé, General Mills, Kraft Heinz, and PepsiCo have all made public commitments to remove synthetic dyes, and several are well along: Nestlé USA recently confirmed it has removed all certified FD&C colors from its U.S. portfolio, while General Mills and Kraft Heinz have each reported that roughly 85–90% of their U.S. products are already free of certified colors.
The hard part is no longer the decision. It is the execution. Industry coverage this month framed the open question clearly — can reformulation keep pace with the deadline? Natural replacements bring supply constraints, higher costs, heat and light stability problems, and shade-matching challenges that synthetic dyes never had. With the deadline close, many brands are working through these issues under real time pressure.
For OU Kosher certified manufacturers, the ingredient is the easy part
For OU Kosher certified manufacturers, the ingredient question itself is straightforward: you source from certified suppliers, and every colorant arrives with a Letter of Certification. Where the dye phase-out actually creates work is one level up, in sourcing and in keeping your certification current.
Issue one: availability of certified natural colors
The kosher-certified natural color palette is narrower than the full market, and every manufacturer is reformulating at the same time, so demand for certified natural colors is climbing fast. Carmine is the clearest example: it is one of the most common natural reds, but it is insect-derived and will not come with a kosher LOC, so it is simply off the table for certified products. That pushes the certified world toward a shorter list — beet, turmeric, spirulina, annatto, butterfly pea, and similar — and you need to confirm your supplier can deliver the shade you want, certified, in the volume and on the timeline you need.
The good news is that several major color houses are OU Kosher certified and already positioned for this shift — including ADM, Kalsec, Oterra, Thymly Products, Shank’s, The Plant Color Group, and Gold Coast Ingredients, companies that span anthocyanins, caramel colors, fruit- and vegetable-based concentrates, and other natural systems. Sourcing from certified suppliers keeps the certification question simple: the colorant comes with its LOC, and you can focus on shade, stability, and supply rather than status.
Issue two: keeping your certification current
Every color change is a formula change, so the plant submits the new colorant and revised formula through OU Direct, and your Rabbinic Coordinator (RC) reviews and approves it — the approval that clears the reformulated SKU for production. The practical consideration here is timing: as reformulations stack up across a portfolio, that is a lot of submissions moving at once, and it pays to get them into the queue early rather than all at the deadline, so approvals are in hand and production stays on schedule.
Plan your color switch as a project — with your RC
Our suggestion is to treat the dye phase-out as a sourcing-and-approval project from the start: bring your full color-replacement roadmap to OU early, rather than submitting one SKU at a time at the deadline. We can confirm which certified colorant sources fit your targets, flag dead ends like carmine before they cost you time, and move your OU Direct submissions through review quickly so production is never waiting on approval. With the runway short, that coordination is the difference between hitting the deadline cleanly and scrambling at the end.
Planning a color change? Talk with your Rabbinic Coordinator about mapping out your full color-replacement roadmap — we’ll confirm certified sources that fit your targets and move your OU Direct submissions through review so production stays on schedule.
Sources: Bakery & Snacks; Food Industry Executive; Food Ingredients First; FDA, “HHS, FDA to Phase Out Petroleum-Based Synthetic Dyes” (April 22, 2025) and “FDA Proposes Revocation of Authorization for Orange B in Food” (Sept. 17, 2025).
