By Jessica DiNapoli NEW YORK (Reuters) -Yogurt maker Danone is looking to remove artificial dyes from its U.S. portfolio, which includes the Yo Crunch, Light & Fit and Oikos brands, said Shane Grant,
Danone to Eliminate Artificial Dyes from US Yogurt Products
By Jessica DiNapoli
NEW YORK (Reuters) -Yogurt maker Danone is looking to remove artificial dyes from its U.S. portfolio, which includes the Yo Crunch, Light & Fit and Oikos brands, said Shane Grant, CEO of the company's Americas business, in an interview on Wednesday.
U.S. food makers are under pressure to remove artificial dyes from their products after health regulators said last week they are phasing them out of the food supply through voluntary action by manufacturers.
Grant said the France-based company is working to determine how it can remove artificial dyes from across its portfolio, citing U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s "Make America Healthy Again" agenda and Americans' greater awareness of health as reasons for the change.
Kennedy has said the dyes are harmful to children, while scientists say the area requires more research.
Roughly 2% of the company's products use artificial dyes, Grant said.
Its Yo Crunch vanilla yogurt with M&Ms candy and Light & Fit Greek key lime pie remix products use artificial dyes, according to their ingredient lists.
"We're working across our supplier base to determine the best path," he said, adding that none of Danone's products sold in U.S. schools use synthetic colors.
Kennedy said last week that he had an understanding with the food industry to remove artificial dyes from food, but a source told Reuters there was no agreement.
The Consumer Brands Association, a trade group, had listed developing new products without artificial dyes and reformulating products to remove them as steps industry would take in a policy document sent to Kennedy's Department of Health and Human Services in March.
Both Arizona and West Virginia have banned schools from serving food colored with artificial dyes, and many other states are considering banning their sale altogether.
(Reporting by Jessica DiNapoli in New YorkEditing by Bill Berkrot)
