HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. – alongside FDA Commissioner Marty Makary and NIH Director Jay Bhattacharaya – announced earlier this week plans to phase out petroleum-based synthetic dyes in the nation's food supply. The move, Fox News reports, is part of a broader effort by regulators to reexamine what Americans consume and inform them about ingredients added to their food that may pose health risks. Some food dyes Kennedy is working to eliminate by the end of 2026 include Yellow No. 5, Red No. 40, and others.
Brian Hooker, PhD is chief scientific officer of Children's Health Defense. He worked with Kennedy for more than a decade.
"By and large, [these dyes] are petroleum products," he tells AFN. "They're products of chemical synthesis, so none of them are really natural products that you would find in food substances already – and many of them have been linked to certain cancers …."
Many of those products, Hooker explains, are endocrine disruptors. "Meaning that they will mess around with different types of hormones within the body; and then also, some have been linked to neurological issues like ADD/ADHD and other neurodevelopmental issues."
He argues these additives should've been taken out before and points out that many countries in the European Union have already removed them from foods.
Synthetic vs. natural
How has the U.S. allowed these dyes to be present in food all this time if they really are so bad? Hooker responds:
"[In the U.S.], some of these have been grandfathered in over a long, long period of time – and when they were first tested, they were tested poorly and tested insufficiently for different types of cancers [being revealed] organs primarily responsible for detoxification."
He continues: "So, they've been in food for such a long time in the United states that the testing is finally just sort of catching up with them …. And food in the FDA has not been as strictly regulated as medicines and drugs, and so a lot of things have just sort of passed by."
Hooker predicts health outcomes would significantly improve in people if these petroleum-based substances were eliminated in foods.
"Right now, one in three individuals in the United States will be diagnosed with a cancer in their lifetime. That was not something indicative of the population back in the 1950s and 1960s. So, I think anything that we can do to reduce the [number] of synthetic products that have not been adequately tested is going to make a big difference."
As for the impact use of alternative, natural ingredients might have on food prices, Hooker suggests consumers are likely to see "small differences."
"… When you look at these alternatives and you start to ramp up production of these natural alternatives, then the economies of scale kick in … and really you're not talking about that big of a difference in price," he says.
Are politics involved?
Hooker contends this is all about children and their health, not a political issue. "When a child is sick, they're neither Democrat or Republican. They're just a sick child," he shares. "I believe firmly that RFK Jr is addressing the epidemic of chronic disease, especially in children."
Hooker also addressed the question whether Kennedy can ban these dyes without congressional approval. In a written email statement, he said:
"The FDA can remove them without congressional approval. However, the secretary is seeking a collaborative approach, urging food companies to voluntarily eliminate six dyes by next year. Additionally, it will begin banning two other dyes – Citrus Red No. 2 and Orange B – while encouraging companies to expedite the removal of the previously banned Red No. 3."
While there is no mandate for the food industry to comply with the phase-out of the synthetic color substances, Kennedy has stated "the industry has voluntarily agreed" with the plan. NPR quotes the National Confectioners Association as saying it would "continue to follow regulatory guidance" and would agree to eliminate the six petroleum-based dyes in favor of alternatives.
Editor's note: Hooker coauthored, with RFK Jr., the New York Times best-selling book "Vax-Unvax: Let the Science Speak."
