Major fast food shake up as companies bow to RFK Jr and promise to strip chemicals from popular items in WEEKS
America's biggest fast food meat supplier has revealed that it is reformulating its recipes in line with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr's crackdown on food additives. Tyson Foods, which is based out of Arkansas and counts McDonald's, Taco Bell, KFC, Burger King, and Popeyes among its top customers, says it has been 'proactively reformulating' food products containing petroleum-based synthetic dyes.There are at least seven dyes that fall into this category: Blue 1, Blue 2, Green 3, Red 3, Red 40, Yellow 5 and Yellow 6 - many of which have been linked to cancer and hyperactivity.Tyson has promised to strip the dyes from the products by the end of this month, with these changes relayed to its clients. Tyson Foods also owns dozens of popular brands including Jimmy Dean, Hillshire Farm, Ball Park, Wright Brand, Aidells, State Fair and Big AZ.An analysis by DailyMail.com found that many products sold in grocery stores and by food vendors, including its Big AZ Chili Cheese Dogs, Hillshire Farm Cheddarwurst Dinner Sausages and Big AZ Angus Cheddar Cheeseburgers, contain synthetic colors and flavorings but the exact dyes are not specified on the company website. The ingredients lists for some products simply state that manmade colors or flavorings have been 'added'.Tyson Foods CEO Donnie King did not say how the changes would impact the flavor of the products. America's biggest fast food meat supplier has revealed that it is reformulating its recipes in line with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr's crackdown on food additives
However, he highlighted that most of the meat company's retail-branded products, including Tyson chicken nuggets, do not contain synthetic dyes.Natural alternatives to the manmade colorants which have been implemented by other food giants include ingredients like beet juice, pomegranate juice, turmeric, saffron, carrot juice, and paprika.No products that Tyson offers in school nutrition programs include petroleum-based synthetic dyes, King said.The company supplies a number of food products to schools including chicken patties, meatloaf, beef burgers and hotdogs. It does not publicly disclose the exact number of schools it directly supplies within the US. Kennedy and FDA Commissioner Marty Makary said last month that the agency plans to remove synthetic food dyes from the US food supply by revoking authorizations of some and working with the industry to voluntarily remove others. Kennedy said that the efforts to remove additives from food were necessary to address chronic diseases in children and, without evidence, suggested that it would address rising rates of conditions ranging from ADHD to food allergies. A 2021 report from California's Environmental Protection Agency also linked artificial dyes to 'hyperactivity and other neurobehavioral problems' in some children, particularly those with ADHD or other existing behavioral disorders. Red 40 as well as Yellow 5, and Yellow 6 also contain benzidine, a human and animal carcinogen permitted in low levels. Kennedy and FDA Commissioner Marty Makary said last month that the agency plans to remove synthetic food dyes from the US food supply by revoking authorizations of some and working with the industry to voluntarily remove others Tyson Foods CEO Donnie King confirmed that it plans to finish work on eliminating them from its production process by the end of MayAccording to the FDA, ingestion of free benzidine raises the cancer risk to just under the 'concern' threshold, or one cancer in 1 million people.BHT, meanwhile, is an additive used to keep food fresh. It also may be found in beauty products like lip glosses and lotions, as well as chewing gum. The research on BHT is mixed, though some studies have suggested that it long-term exposure cause liver and thyroid issues in mice by disrupting hormones. Several states have made steps to ban or restrict these additives. In 2024, California became the first state to ban schools from serving foods containing red 40, yellow 5, yellow 6, blue 1, blue 6, and green 3. And New York state officials called for the removal of red dye No. 3, propylparaben, brominated vegetable oil (BVO), potassium bromate, titanium dioxide, azodicarbonamide, and BHA.
