We’ve come to expect food dyes in packaged treats and snacks, like when your kid’s tongue turns blue from candy or their fingertips turn orange from cheese puffs, because many of these grocery store staples contain artificial dyes and colors.
But are artificial food dyes harmful? Krista Jensema, former clinician manager and pediatric specialist at Doherty Nutrition’s North Dallas location, says the evidence of the negative effects of artificial dyes is inconclusive because a lot of the studies are contradictory. “As a country, we’re just not there yet with some of our scientific testing. We just don’t know everything yet,” says Jensema.
But, she adds, “just because we don’t have the strongest supporting evidence doesn’t mean that there isn’t some sort of sensitivities and other things that we noticed, anecdotally, within kids specifically, that we attribute as potentially an issue with food dyes or other additives,” she says.
When in doubt, go organic. USDA.gov states that “Regulations prohibit organically processed foods from containing artificial preservatives, colors, or flavors.” If you want to play it safe and avoid artificial colors altogether, a good general rule to follow is to look for the USDA Organic seal on food packages.
Artificial colors to look out for
Yellow No. 5 and No. 6 make cheese-flavored foods look tasty but have potential neurobehavioral effects in children. There’s another covert operative sneaking onto food labels. Caramel coloring, which is made by heating a sugar compound, isn’t marketed with a color number combination, it seems safe—unless you know its chemical names. One version of caramel coloring—4-methylimidazole—is listed on California’s known-carcinogen (cancer causing) list. You can call it 4-MEI. Only the manufacturer knows exactly which caramel color formulation is in your food—that one, or a consumer-demanded revised version—so it’s best to avoid products with that listed on the ingredients list.
A lot of brands may use fruit and vegetable juices or other natural products for coloring, like beta-carotene, chlorophyll, titanium dioxide, mica, iron oxides and carmine. Keep in mind, if carmine appears in an ingredients list, be aware that the bright red hue is extracted from beetles. It’s been used safely in foods and cosmetics for years, but carmine can cause anaphylactic shock in rare allergic reactions.
Brands without artificial colors or dyes
We read the labels for you and found widely-available brands that offer dye-free alternatives. Feel free to click the links below for further reading on specific products. Please note that none of these contain affiliate links, and DFWChild does not benefit from mentioning any of these products.
For some quick and easy browsing, you can find snacks that are free of artificial dyes at Target or on Amazon. A few brands that are completely free of artificial dyes, according to their own labels, include:
- Burt’s Bees (lip balms, skin care and kids’ cold and cough remedies)
- Tom’s of Maine (toothpaste, soaps and deodorant)
- Annie’s (macaroni and cheese, cookies, crackers, fruit snacks and cereals)
- Good & Gather at Target (fruit snacks, drinks, dairy, packaged and frozen foods)
- Quaker (oatmeal, granola bars and cereal)
- Nature’s Path (oatmeal, grits and toaster pastries)
- Simple Mills (crackers, baking mixes, cookies and pancake mixes)
- Amy’s Kitchen (frozen entrees, pizzas, soups and burritos)
Health & Beauty
Even though we don’t intentionally eat lip balm or toothpaste, chances are you may ingest some of it, so check out the above mentioned Burt’s Bees and Tom’s of Maine for those beauty and wellness products. If you’re looking for vitamins, cold remedies or other medications that do not contain artificial dyes look to the following:
- Vitamins: Olly, Zarbee’s and Wellements
- Cold and cough remedies: Ricola, Zarbee’s, Hyland’s Naturals and Robitussin Naturals
- Prescription medicines: Ask the pharmacist for “dye-free” options
Canned and Packaged Foods
Canned, packaged and frozen prepared food brands that do not contain artificial dyes:
- Macaroni and cheese: Kraft Mac & Cheese and Goodles
- Pizza: Newman’s Own
- Soups: Progresso (it’s phasing out artificial colors, but some options are artificial dye free, like Tomato Basil, Traditional Chicken Noodle and Traditional Split Pea with Ham)
Dairy
Dairy product brands that do not contain artificial dyes:
- Flavored yogurt: Stonyfield Organic, GoGo squeeZ, Oui by Yoplait, GoGurt yogurts and Yoplait Original
- Flavored milk: got milk? Magic Straws and Horizon Organic
- Ice cream: Ben & Jerry’s
- Pudding: GoGo squeeZ
Dye-free Candy
Food dye and candy are longtime friends. But, luckily, they don’t always go hand-in-hand. The following candy brands do not contain artificial dyes:
- Hard candies and jelly beans: Shop on NaturalCandyStore.com; at Trader Joe’s for Scandinavian Swimmers, Sour Jelly Beans and Candy Coated Chocolate Peanuts; UNREAL, Surf Sweets, YumEarth and Smart Sweets
- Chewing gum: Glee Gum, PÜR and Simply
- Mints: Altoids (peppermint flavor only), PÜR and Simply
Dye-free Baking
Nothing creates special memories in the kitchen quite like baking. The following baking product brands and items do not contain artificial dyes:
- Baking mixes: Trader Joe’s Yellow Cake & Baking Mix, Bob’s Red Mill and Krusteaz (the brand is slowly removing artificial colors from its mixes; double check the specific mix to ensure it’s dye-free—current dye-free options include Cinnamon Swirl Crumb Cake, Honey Cornbread, Vanilla Pound Cake and the gluten-free cake mixes)
- Pudding mixes: Simply Delish
- Marshmallows: Dandies Vegan Marshmallows
- Sprinkles: India Tree Nature’s Colors line
- Gelatin: KNOX Gelatine
- Food coloring: India Tree Nature’s Colors line and McCormick Nature’s Inspiration Food Colors
Dye-free Fruit Snacks
When you process real food and package it for convenience, color is naturally lost. So brands usually add coloring to get the fruit to pop or at least back to the natural color. Look for these brands below that exclude artificial dyes:
- Flavored applesauce and fruit blends: GoGo squeeZ, Mott’s and Once Upon a Farm
- Fruit cocktail: Dole Sunshine fruit bowls (except Cherry Mixed Fruit, which has Red #3 in the cherries) and Del Monte fruit cups in 100% fruit juice
- Dried and candied fruit: Trader Joe’s dried and freeze-dried fruits, Simply, Bare and Newman’s Own
Dye-free Snacks
If you’re lucky enough to find a savory snack without food dye, chances are you’re still getting monosodium glutamate (MSG), a flavor enhancer linked to everything from nausea and headaches to overstimulation of the nervous system. The good news is, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration requires it to be listed on ingredient lists when it’s added to foods. So be sure to double check ingredient lists if you’re concerned about it.
These snack brands that do not contain neither artificial dyes nor MSG:
- Crackers: Back to Nature and Made Good
- Cookies: Joe-Joe’s Cookies and Maple Leaf Cookies at Trader Joe’s, Back to Nature and Made Good
- Flavored Chips: Pirate’s Booty and Cape Cod
- Fruit-flavored snacks and chews: Mott’s, Black Forest and Welch’s Fruit Rolls
Dye-free Drinks
While we would love for our kids to only drink water when they’re thirsty, sometimes you can’t kick the craving for fruit juice or flavored water. These drink brands are our top picks for options that do not contain artificial dyes:
- Flavored tea: Sweet Leaf Iced Teas and Pure Leaf
- Flavored water: Topo Chico and Hint
- Sparkling water: Hint and La Croix
- Soda: Hansen’s and Olipop
- Fruit drinks: Capri Sun and Mott’s
Dye-free Cereals
As much as we would like to make our kids pancakes from scratch or homemade muffins each morning, let’s face it: Weekday mornings are hectic and time is in short supply. If the convenience of processed breakfast foods is a must, check out these breakfast brands that do not contain artificial dyes:
- Breakfast cereal: Kashi, Cascadian Farm Organic, Chex and Cocoa Puffs
- Breakfast bars and packaged pastries: Nature Valley, Cascadian Farm Organic and LÄRABAR
Natural ways to dye foods and Easter eggs
When baking or dying Easter eggs, we typically turn to artificial food dyes to add color. But there are ways to dye foods using natural ingredients.
You can use India Tree’s Nature’s Colors food coloring or use produce and spices you likely have in your cupboard or fridge. If you’re opting to make your own colors, be sure to manage your kids’ expectations (the colors might not be as vibrant as if you used artificial food coloring or dyes). Note: You’ll get the best color outcomes on white eggs. According to Martha Stewart, you can achieve the colors with the following ingredients:
- Yellow: turmeric
- Brown: black coffee
- Orange: yellow onion skins
- Pink: beets
- Blue: red cabbage
RELATED: Easy Easter Traditions to Start With Your Kids
Images: iStock
