WK Kellogg said Thursday that it will remove artificial colors from all its cereals by the end of this year.
The change comes a year ahead of schedule. Kellogg said last August that it would remove synthetic dyes from its cereals by the end of 2027.
But the company said Thursday it has identified fruit- and vegetable-based juices that will give cereals like Froot Loops and Apple Jacks their distinctive colors. The Battle Creek, Michigan-based company said it has also invested in equipment that will allow it to transition to natural colors.
We have artificial-free Froot Loops up here in Canada. Compared to US Froot Loops, they don’t look neon but actually taste better since they’re colored with natural dyes.
So are you one of those people who think the blue M&Ms taste better? It’s okay, you can tell us.
Cost savings or actual health benefits?
What was I thinking… cost cutting or course.
Marketing. The artificial dyes they use are the least of their cereals’ problems, and there’s no reason to believe natural dyes will be any better for the health than the artificial ones. And if natural dyes were cheaper they would have been used long ago.
That stuff is still terrible for you if you eat it regularly, with or without artificial coloring.
Indeed. It is like eating a bowl of candy for breakfast.
Categorically, yes, but that doesn’t change the US needing to get these dyes out of its foods yesterday. Within the health catastrophe Trump, RFK Jr., their followers, etc. are creating, I’ll gladly take and ride this one point we can apparently all agree on that these dyes serve no good purpose and need to go.
Edit: And I wouldn’t even stipulate “if you eat it regularly”. It’s enriched with a token amount of Vitamins and minerals of course, but that’s practically a participation trophy for cereals (seriously, the micronutrient profile is fucking pathetic); everything else about it is utter trash, and it’s terrible for you from the jump.
Removing dyes from overly sugary cereals is rearranging deckchairs on the titanic. Its completely missing the point of what makes these foods bad for you.
Those dyes are directly linked to cancer and have been for years.
So is obesity of course. But two things can be true at the same time. They should ban artificial dyes from all food anyway it has no real purpose
Genuine question: Is it directly linked to cancer to a serious degree or in the same way that everything is technically linked to cancer?
Do you have a source for this? As someone with a young child, I’ve gone out of my way to research and avoid artificial dyes, and cancer literally never showed on my radar
I won’t begrudge someone who eats a bowl of cereal occasionally as a treat any more than I would someone who has an occasional bowl of ice cream. Both are OK in moderation but not great if you’re eating it everyday. And yes, I’ll take an improvement vs doing nothing, but no one should be fooling themselves that this change makes sugary cereals ok for daily consumption.
Now we just need everyone to stop putting paprika into fucking everything for color (I’m allergic, not to color but paprika)
Does that mean you’re allergic to peppers? Isn’t paprike just dried and powdered red pepper?
They could just stop putting it in right now, and then “transition to natural colors” when it happens.
They could even come up with some stupid fiction about why it was happening--the parrot has sensitive eyes so they had to turn off the color, and then they learn that a little color is okay. Or a bad guy turned off the color in froot loops land, and the parrot had to defeat the bad guy and turn it back on, but they can’t turn it up too high, or the bad guy will return.
Do they even have their own marketing department to do that with anymore? I would be surprised to find out that wasn’t outsourced like 25-30 years ago.
I’ve been getting Trader Joe’s fruitie cuties and they taste a bit like Froot Loops, however they use vegetable juices to get the color. They’re still not super bold colors, but they look more natural. I’m curious if that’s what will happen to Kellogg’s cereal colors.
fruit- and vegetable-based juices
I assume this is some marketing speak for puppies and orphans.
Uhh it’s been artificial dye free in Canada for a long time, they’re dragging their feet still.
They have enough stock on hand to make enough until the end of the year. As true libertarians, they will not improve their product unless they believe that it will make them more money.
Libertarian police
I was shooting heroin and reading “The Fountainhead” in the front seat of my privately owned police cruiser when a call came in. I put a quarter in the radio to activate it. It was the chief.
“Bad news, detective. We got a situation.”
“What? Is the mayor trying to ban trans fats again?”
“Worse. Somebody just stole four hundred and forty-seven million dollars’ worth of bitcoins.”
The heroin needle practically fell out of my arm. “What kind of monster would do something like that? Bitcoins are the ultimate currency: virtual, anonymous, stateless. They represent true economic freedom, not subject to arbitrary manipulation by any government. Do we have any leads?”
“Not yet. But mark my words: we’re going to figure out who did this and we’re going to take them down … provided someone pays us a fair market rate to do so.”
“Easy, chief,” I said. “Any rate the market offers is, by definition, fair.”
He laughed. “That’s why you’re the best I got, Lisowski. Now you get out there and find those bitcoins.”
“Don’t worry,” I said. “I’m on it.”
I put a quarter in the siren. Ten minutes later, I was on the scene. It was a normal office building, strangled on all sides by public sidewalks. I hopped over them and went inside.
“Home Depot™ Presents the Police!®” I said, flashing my badge and my gun and a small picture of Ron Paul. “Nobody move unless you want to!” They didn’t.
“Now, which one of you punks is going to pay me to investigate this crime?” No one spoke up.
“Come on,” I said. “Don’t you all understand that the protection of private property is the foundation of all personal liberty?”
It didn’t seem like they did.
“Seriously, guys. Without a strong economic motivator, I’m just going to stand here and not solve this case. Cash is fine, but I prefer being paid in gold bullion or autographed Penn Jillette posters.”
Nothing. These people were stonewalling me. It almost seemed like they didn’t care that a fortune in computer money invented to buy drugs was missing.
I figured I could wait them out. I lit several cigarettes indoors. A pregnant lady coughed, and I told her that secondhand smoke is a myth. Just then, a man in glasses made a break for it.
“Subway™ Eat Fresh and Freeze, Scumbag!®” I yelled.
Too late. He was already out the front door. I went after him.
“Stop right there!” I yelled as I ran. He was faster than me because I always try to avoid stepping on public sidewalks. Our country needs a private-sidewalk voucher system, but, thanks to the incestuous interplay between our corrupt federal government and the public-sidewalk lobby, it will never happen.
I was losing him. “Listen, I’ll pay you to stop!” I yelled. “What would you consider an appropriate price point for stopping? I’ll offer you a thirteenth of an ounce of gold and a gently worn ‘Bob Barr ‘08’ extra-large long-sleeved men’s T-shirt!”
He turned. In his hand was a revolver that the Constitution said he had every right to own. He fired at me and missed. I pulled my own gun, put a quarter in it, and fired back. The bullet lodged in a U.S.P.S. mailbox less than a foot from his head. I shot the mailbox again, on purpose.
“All right, all right!” the man yelled, throwing down his weapon. “I give up, cop! I confess: I took the bitcoins.”
“Why’d you do it?” I asked, as I slapped a pair of Oikos™ Greek Yogurt Presents Handcuffs® on the guy.
“Because I was afraid.”
“Afraid?”
“Afraid of an economic future free from the pernicious meddling of central bankers,” he said. “I’m a central banker.”
I wanted to coldcock the guy. Years ago, a central banker killed my partner. Instead, I shook my head.
“Let this be a message to all your central-banker friends out on the street,” I said. “No matter how many bitcoins you steal, you’ll never take away the dream of an open society based on the principles of personal and economic freedom.”
He nodded, because he knew I was right. Then he swiped his credit card to pay me.
…add one to the pile of “why tf wasn’t this done like 20 years ago”.
Baby steps I guess, but that baby is currently staggering its way through a forest fire in the context of the rest of current events, so it’s kinda hard to give a shit about cereal right now.
That shit is ao terrible for you, the colours aren’t even the main problem. And somehow it’s for children.
I think you can do white with natural lead.
Ah so that’s what’s in M&Ms
And corn syrup… LOTS of corn syrup (check the shell ingredients if you don’t believe me)
Cadmium yellow, checking in.
… red maybe?
At least it’s asbestos free
…so far
