Tyson Foods
CompleteEliminate petroleum-based color additives across Tyson, Jimmy Dean, and Hillshire Farm products
Deadline End of May 2025
First major company to finish; marked Complete on the FDA tracker since May 2025.
Living Record
The Dye Pledge Scoreboard
In April 2025 the US government asked food companies to give up the six petroleum-based food dyes voluntarily. Pledges followed. Deadlines are now arriving. This page keeps score: what was promised, in the company's own scope, and what can actually be verified.
Last verified July 13, 2026 · updated monthly and whenever a deadline passes
13 companies tracked with pledges
3 verified complete
3 majors with no pledge at all
Two rules keep this page honest. First, a company gets Complete only when its own announcement or the FDA's tracker says so, and the scope is always the company's: a pledge covering cereals is scored on cereals, not on everything else the company sells. Second, a deadline that has arrived without confirmation is marked unconfirmed, not missed; companies deserve the check before the verdict, and this page gets re-verified monthly.
Remember what "voluntary" means here: apart from one legally binding agreement noted below, nothing on this board is enforceable. The FDA has revoked exactly one dye, Red 3, with a food compliance deadline of January 15, 2027. The other six remain fully legal in the US; the EU's approach was never a ban either, but a mandatory warning label on the Southampton dyes.
Nestle USA
CompleteEliminate FD&C colors from the entire US food and beverage portfolio
Deadline Mid-2026
Announced completion June 15, 2026, on schedule. The biggest full-portfolio finish so far.
Target (private label)
CompleteAll cereals sold in store and online free of certified synthetic colors
Deadline May 31, 2026
Retailer-side pledge, marked Complete on the FDA tracker.
General Mills
Half deliveredRemove certified colors from all US cereals and all K-12 school foods by summer 2026; full US retail portfolio by end of 2027
Deadline Summer 2026 (cereals, K-12); end of 2027 (all retail)
K-12 school foods finished early, in March 2026. The cereal half is still In Progress on the FDA tracker with no completion announcement as of July 13; the summer window runs into September. History note: General Mills pledged dye-free cereals once before, in 2015, and reversed on Trix in 2017.
General Mills certified colors page · Food Dive: natural-color Trix and Lucky Charms launch (March 2026)
Campbell's
Deadline now, unconfirmedStop producing food and beverages with FD&C colors (remaining users: Lance, V8 Splash, regional snack and cookie brands)
Deadline Second half of fiscal 2026
The committed window is essentially now. Still listed In Progress on the FDA tracker as of June 16, and we found no completion statement either way as of July 13.
Campbell's announcement (September 2025) · FDA pledge tracker
Kraft Heinz
On trackEliminate FD&C colors from all US products (main users: Crystal Light, Kool-Aid, MiO, Jell-O, Jet-Puffed); no new US launches with FD&C colors, effective June 2025
Deadline End of 2027
June 2026 progress report: 90 percent of the portfolio already FD&C-free, 450+ formulas locked or in trials, 15 brands renovated. The hard cases (bright blue drink mixes) are the remaining 10 percent.
PepsiCo
PartialRolling: dye-free Cheetos and Doritos lines (launched); Lay's, Tostitos, Quaker updates in 2026; core Gatorade flavors to fruit- and vegetable-derived colors by fall 2026; portfolio target end of 2027
Deadline Rolling, through end of 2027
The new "NKD" Cheetos and Doritos lines are dye-free and marked Complete, but the originals still sell with dyes alongside them. Gatorade is In Progress. An options strategy so far, not a removal strategy.
Food Dive: Gatorade natural colors (April 2026) · FDA pledge tracker
WK Kellogg Co
On trackNo new products with FD&C colors from January 2026; school-channel cereals by the 2026-27 school year; existing cereals (Froot Loops, Apple Jacks) by end of 2027. Also signed a legally binding agreement with the Texas Attorney General to remove artificial dyes from cereals by end of 2027, the first enforceable dye commitment anywhere on this board.
Deadline End of 2027 (legally binding for cereals)
The only pledge on this board a court can enforce. Everything else here is a press release.
Texas AG agreement (August 2025) · Food Dive: WK Kellogg commitment
Conagra Brands
Milestone unconfirmedFrozen portfolio dye-free by end of 2025; no certified colors to K-12 schools by the 2026-27 school year; full US retail portfolio by end of 2027
Deadline End of 2025 (frozen); end of 2027 (all)
The end-of-2025 frozen milestone has passed and we found no public confirmation it was met. FDA tracker: In Progress.
CSP Daily News: Conagra, Nestle, Smucker pledges (June 2025)
J.M. Smucker
In progressRemove FD&C colors from consumer foods (mainly sugar-free spreads, toppings, and the Hostess portfolio); no dyed products to K-12 schools by the 2026-27 school year
Deadline End of 2027
On the FDA tracker as In Progress; the Hostess snack-cake portfolio is the heavy lift.
Hershey
In progressRemove synthetic dyes from the snacks portfolio (Jolly Rancher, Twizzlers, KitKat, SkinnyPop, Dot's)
Deadline End of 2027
A full-portfolio commitment covering some of the most dye-dependent candy on shelves.
Mars
Options onlyIntroduce dye-free varieties of chocolate M&M's, original Skittles, original Starburst, and Extra gum in 2026, sold alongside the originals. No portfolio-wide commitment or deadline.
Deadline 2026 (alternative varieties only)
The weakest pledge from a major. Mars made a portfolio-wide dye pledge in 2016 and later abandoned it; advocacy trackers still class the company as having no full plan.
Food Manufacturing: Mars dye-free varieties (August 2025) · CSPI commitment tracker
McCormick
No deadlineReformulating flavors, seasonings, and condiments (McCormick, Frank's RedHot, French's)
Deadline None stated
On the FDA tracker with the deadline column reading N/A. A pledge without a date is a direction, not a commitment.
Coca-Cola
No pledgeNo concrete commitment
Deadline None
One year into the phase-out era, no scope, no deadline, nothing on the FDA tracker.
Mondelez
No pledgeNo concrete commitment
Deadline None
Told Consumer Reports it is "actively working" on a transition; has published no scope or deadline.
Unilever
No pledgeNo concrete commitment
Deadline None
No published plan as of the April 2026 reviews or the June 2026 tracker updates.
The context that makes the scoreboard make sense
The pledges answer an April 22, 2025 HHS/FDA announcement asking industry to phase out FD&C Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Blue 1, Blue 2, and Green 3. The FDA now frames end of 2027 as the target for the industry overall, and it maintains its own public pledge tracker, which this page checks against and goes beyond.
Reformulation is real work, and the replacements now exist: since 2025 the FDA has approved a run of natural color sources, including galdieria (algae) blue, expanded butterfly pea flower extract, calcium phosphate white, and gardenia blue. Consumer Reports' one-year review, in April 2026, found overall progress modest and uneven, with 66 percent of Americans favoring a mandatory phase-out over the honor system. And the states are not waiting: at least nine have enacted school-food dye laws, West Virginia first among them.
One more calibration, because this site does not do scare framing: the EU never banned these dyes. Europe requires a warning label about children's activity and attention on some of them, sets lower permitted doses, and lets the market do the rest, which is why so much European candy went natural-color years ago. The American experiment now running is whether press releases can accomplish what Europe did with labels. This scoreboard is the measurement.
Method
Statuses are verified against the FDA pledge tracker, company newsrooms and press releases, Consumer Reports, and CSPI's corporate commitment tracker, in that order of authority. Scope language is quoted or tightly paraphrased from the company's own announcement. Corrections are welcome via the About page and will be noted here.