Both of Alabama’s U.S. Senators are lauding the efforts by federal officials to get certain types of artificial dyes out of America’s food supply.
Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. joined Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary Tuesday in announcing a plan to phase out certain food dyes as a part of their “Make America Healthy Again” initiative.
“One by one we’re going to get rid of every ingredient and additive in food that we can legally address,” Kennedy said.
While it’s not an outright legal ban, HHS and the FDA believes they have a plan to work with the food industry to accomplish the phase out voluntarily.
“Let’s start in a friendly way and see if we can do this without any statutory or regulatory changes, but we are exploring every tool in the toolbox to make sure this gets done very quickly,” Makary said.
The list of dyes that will go away includes Red Dye No. 40, which is used in snacks like M&M’s and cereal like Lucky Charms.
U.S. Sen. Katie Britt (R-Montgomery) said this announcement is “fantastic news.”
Fantastic news. Appreciative of @SecKennedy and the @US_FDA Commissioner’s efforts to eliminate toxic dyes from Americans’ diets. It’s past time our nation catches up with others to prioritize the health and wellbeing of our citizens. https://t.co/pYdz9JJO8w
— Senator Katie Boyd Britt (@SenKatieBritt) April 22, 2025
U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville also praised the plan.
GREAT NEWS.
I called out FDA officials and DEMANDED answers on Red Dye 3 last Congress, and I will keep working with @SecKennedy to MAKE AMERICA HEALTHY AGAIN. https://t.co/dZxYZ7rHL6
— Coach Tommy Tuberville (@SenTuberville) April 22, 2025
Britt and Tuberville led the charge earlier this year calling for the total ban of Red No. 3, which the FDA announced in January.
Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on Twitter @Yaffee