Natural Dye Transition
M&M's Phasing Out Blue, Brown Dyes Amid Natural Ingredient Shift
M&M's is temporarily dropping two of its most iconic colors — blue and brown — from its bags. The change, set to debut in August 2026, is part of a shift away from artificial dyes to natural ingredients, according to NBC News.
The move is driven by pressure from the Trump administration's "Make America Healthy Again" initiative, led by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Mars, M&M's parent company, pledged in July 2025 to offer versions of its candy without synthetic dyes. Blue and brown are being cut first because natural replacements aren't ready yet, NBC News reported.
Why Blue and Brown Are the Hardest Colors to Replace
Replacing red or yellow is relatively straightforward. Red can come from beets. Yellow comes from turmeric. But blue is a different problem. The only viable natural source is spirulina — a blue-green algae. Spirulina extract costs over $100 per pound, compared to a few dollars for synthetic Blue 1, according to Fox Business.
The ingredient also doesn't dissolve cleanly in water. It forms a thick sludge that clogs factory spray nozzles and coats equipment, The Wall Street Journal reported. Mars reportedly needs roughly seven times the volume of spirulina to match the shade of synthetic Blue 1. Engineers have not yet solved the problem at factory scale. Blue and brown won't return until at least 2028, according to The Takeout.
RFK Jr.'s MAHA Push Forced Mars to Act
Mars first promised to cut artificial dyes back in 2016. It quietly walked that back by 2021. Then came Kennedy. In April 2025, Kennedy met with major food companies and demanded they remove petroleum-based dyes. He called them "poisonous" and said, "We are systematically clearing them out... the American people have made it clear — they want real food, not chemicals," according to HHS.gov.
The FDA added pressure in January 2025 by formally banning Red Dye No. 3, setting a removal deadline of January 15, 2027. Mars is one of 27 major food companies — including Nestle, Kraft Heinz, and PepsiCo — that have pledged to drop synthetic dyes, according to The Dallas Express. Failure to act risks regulatory consequences.
Two-Tier M&M's: Natural Online, Original in Stores
The natural M&M's won't replace the original product right away. For now, the two versions will exist side by side. The reformulated bags — with four colors instead of six — will sell mainly online through Amazon. Original, artificially dyed M&M's will stay on most store shelves. Shoppers will need to check labels to tell the difference, according to NBC News.
Mars President Anton Vincent admitted the transition is not easy. "It was a challenging and daunting situation... You're messing with an 85-year-old icon," he said. The company dedicated roughly 100 employees to reformulating the product. Mars executives also considered a three-color bag but rejected it because the palette looked too much like a sunset, Fox Business reported.
Critics Ask: Is 'Natural' Candy Still Just Junk Food?
Not everyone is cheering. Some health experts warn that swapping dyes doesn't make ultra-processed food healthy. They argue that colorful candy encourages overeating, and a "natural" label may make things worse by giving consumers false confidence. The HHS reports that 6 in 10 Americans have at least one chronic disease and 1 in 3 teenagers is prediabetic.
Industry leaders are also skeptical about the taste. Kirk Vashaw, CEO of Spangler Candy, put it bluntly: "If people are celebrating and eating treats, they don't want to be tasting beets." Past attempts to go natural in the U.S. — like Trix cereal — faced consumer backlash and were reversed, The Guardian noted. The success of natural M&M's may be the first real test of whether Americans will accept the change.
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