Dozens of people gathered outside the WK Kellogg Co. headquarters Tuesday. in Michigan and demanded that the company remove artificial colors from its breakfast cereals in the US.
Kellogg, the maker of Froot Loops and Apple Jacks, announced nearly a decade ago that it would remove artificial colors and ingredients from its products by 2018.
The company has also done this in other countries. For example, in Canada, Froot Loops are colored with concentrated carrot juice, watermelon juice and blueberry juice. Natural colors are also used in Australia and the United Kingdom. But in the US, the grain still contains artificial colors and BHT, a chemical preservative.
On Tuesday, activists said they had filed petitions with more than 400,000 signatures asking WK Kellogg to remove artificial colors and BHT from their cereal. Protesters said there is evidence that artificial food colorings can contribute to behavioral problems in children.
“I’m here for all the mothers who struggle to feed their children healthy food without added chemicals,” said Vani Hari, a food activist who previously pressured Kraft Heinz to remove artificial colorings from macaroni and cheese.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says it has researched and evaluated the effects of color additives on children’s behavior, but believes that most children do not experience any adverse effects from consuming them.
Battle Creek, Mich.-based WK Kellogg — a cereal maker that became a separate company last year when its snack division was spun off into Kellanova — said Tuesday that its food is safe and that all ingredients meet federal regulations.
“Today, more than 85% of our cereal sales do not contain colorants from artificial sources,” the company said in a statement. “We are continually innovating new grains that do not contain colorants from artificial sources across our leading brands, providing our consumers with a wide choice of nutritious foods.”
Kellogg said it announced its plan to remove artificial colors and ingredients nearly a decade ago because it believed customers were looking for foods with natural ingredients and would welcome the change. But the company said it found consumer preferences varied widely across markets.
“For example, there has been a better reception in the Canadian market for our breakfast cereal recipes that use natural color alternatives than in the U.S.,” the company said.
Still, Kellogg may need to reconsider. Last month, Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom of California signed a bill banning six food dyes in food served in the state’s public schools, making it the first state in the US to take such a step.
California law bans four of the dyes now used in Froot Loops: Red Dye No. 40, Yellow Dye No. 5, Yellow Dye No. 6 and Blue Dye No. 1.
