Dozens of ice cream companies on July 14 said they’ve pledged to eliminate artificial colors from their products by the end of 2027, in a development hailed by U.S. officials including Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
“We have all come together as the ice cream industry to lead major change and to make this commitment to remove artificial colors,” Andy Jacobs, CEO of Turkey Hill Dairy and chairman of the International Dairy Foods Association ice cream board, said at a press conference in Washington alongside Kennedy.
The association unveiled the voluntary commitment, which it said has been signed by dozens of companies. The names of all of the companies have not been made public.
The commitment states in part that the association will work with dairy companies and suppliers to make sure ice cream companies have an adequate supply of alternatives to synthetic dyes and that the ice cream makers will stop using the artificial dyes by the end of 2027.
“This is a great day for dairy, and a great day for Make America Healthy Again,” Michael Dykes, CEO of the association, told the briefing.
Kennedy’s Make America Healthy Again initiative, also known as MAHA, involves improving the food supply. The Food and Drug Administration, part of his Department of Health and Human Services, has been banning some available synthetic dyes and approving new alternatives derived from plants.
Other dyes are still allowed by regulators, but officials said earlier in the year they hoped to secure voluntary removals of those additives, and a number of companies, including General Mills and Kraft Heinz, have said they’ll be removing them.
With the commitment announced on July 14, about 35 percent of the American food industry has made commitments to remove the additives, on top of 35 percent that already produce chemical-free food, Kennedy said.
“We can’t make MAHA succeed without the partnership of the American farmer,” he said. “Our job is to help them to open the doors, to make sure that they have adequate resources in their supply chains, and that the approvals for new chemical-free dyes are happening very quickly.”
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary also appeared at the event.
After the officials and dairy producers spoke, they enjoyed bowls of ice cream.
The announcement came several days after the Consumer Brands Association, which represents food and beverage manufacturers such as PepsiCo, reiterated its view that synthetic dyes are safe but said it was encouraging manufacturers to remove them from products served in schools by the fall of 2026 due to evolving consumer preferences.
Jacobs, the Turkey Hill Dairy CEO, said the ice cream makers’ commitment stemmed in part from changing preferences as well as evolving regulations.
“This is about showing consumers and our communities that we are stepping up,” he said.
