On February 5, 2026, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) took another step to incentivize manufacturers to comply with the administration’s efforts to phase-out artificial petroleum-based color additives from the nation’s food supply.1
In a Letter to the Food Industry, the FDA announced that it intends to exercise enforcement discretion2 as to section 403(a)(1) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic (FD&C) Act, where a manufacturer uses certain voluntary labeling claims related to the lack of petroleum-based food dyes in foods intended for human consumption.
Section 403(a)(1) of the FD&C Act states, in part, that a food shall be deemed to be misbranded if its labeling is false or misleading.
As part of the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) agenda, and to help industry leaders comply with directives related to the removal of FD&C certified food colors from the nation’s food supply, the FDA is changing how it plans to enforce voluntary food labeling claims related to artificial colors.
The current definition of “artificial color” does not distinguish between colors derived from natural sources and other colors. Because of this, a product could be made using naturally-derived color additives, but could not be labeled as having “No artificial color.” For instance, previously, pink lemonade colored exclusively with natural beet juice could not be marketed as being made without artificial colors. The FDA recognizes that this may create challenges to transitioning away from petroleum-based color additives.
Under the new policy, the FDA does not intend to take enforcement action against a firm if it makes one of the following voluntary labeling claims on foods intended for human consumption that do not contain any colors listed in 21 CFR part 74:
- Made without artificial food colors/colorings
- No artificial color/colors/coloring
- No added artificial color/colors/coloring
Previously, such labeling could only be used when a product contained no added color of any kind. Now, manufacturers may use the three “no artificial colors” statements in their products labeling, as long as the product does not contain any FD&C certified color additives.
Additionally, the FDA approved a new color additive, beetroot red, and expanded the use of a previously approved additive, spirulina extract. This brings the total number of natural color additives approved by the current administration up to six.
Key Takeaways
- The FDA intends to use its enforcement discretion related to the voluntary labeling of certain food products as containing “no artificial colors” (as above), as long as the product does not contain any FD&C Act certified color additives.
- The FDA approved a new natural color additive — beetroot red — and expanded the use of spirulina extract.
1 Recall that in 2025, the FDA issued an order banning Red No. 3 from food and ingested drugs effective January 15, 2007, and January 18, 2028, respectively (previously discussed here), followed by a plan to phase out all petroleum-based food dyes and expedite the removal of Red No. 3 (discussed here and here).
2 The FDA’s enforcement discretion allows the agency to choose not to enforce certain regulations for low-risk products. However, the FDA retains the right to enforce the regulation in the future, if unpredicted risks emerge.
