Overview

• Over 40 ice cream producers representing more than 90% of U.S. sales pledged to eliminate Red 3, Red 40, Green 3, Blue 1, Blue 2, Yellow 5 and Yellow 6 by 2028, with many targeting the end of 2027.
• The commitment, announced in a ceremony with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., FDA Commissioner Marty Makary and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, follows an April federal roadmap from HHS and the FDA.
• Manufacturers cited mounting consumer demand for cleaner labels and state-level dye bans such as West Virginia’s school meal restrictions as key motivations for the voluntary phase-out.
• The FDA’s recent approval of plant-based colorants, including a gardenia-derived blue pigment, is expected to ease reformulation efforts across the industry.
• Annual U.S. ice cream consumption averages about 19 pounds per person and domestic production reached roughly 1.31 billion gallons in 2024, underscoring the initiative’s market-wide significance.