Why Skittles and M&M’s Digging in on Synthetic Dyes Should Alarm Every American Parent
By Craig Bushon Media Team
In an era when even fast-food giants are rethinking their menus and major corporations like PepsiCo, Kraft Heinz, and General Mills are pledging to phase out synthetic food dyes, it’s frankly astonishing that Mars—the maker of Skittles and M&M’s—is doubling down on using petroleum-based chemicals to color their candies.
Let’s be clear: this isn’t about aesthetics. This is about health. For decades, studies have raised serious questions about synthetic dyes like Red 40, Yellow 5, and Blue 1. These dyes have been linked to hyperactivity and behavioral problems in children, and some research even suggests potential carcinogenic effects. That’s why the European Union has long required warning labels on products containing these additives, and why many of these same companies already sell dye-free versions of their products overseas.
So why not here in America? Mars once promised to transition to natural colors. That was in 2016, under growing global pressure. But today, they’ve quietly walked that back. Their explanation? Consumers supposedly “prefer the vibrant look.” Translation: profits over people. It’s cheaper to keep pumping out bright artificial rainbows, and U.S. regulators are lagging far behind Europe in protecting consumers from questionable additives.
Meanwhile, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s FDA has announced plans to phase out eight synthetic dyes by 2027—an overdue move. But Mars and other candy giants are digging in, arguing these chemicals are “safe” simply because the FDA has long permitted them. Never mind the mounting evidence, never mind the bipartisan momentum in states like California, Texas, West Virginia, and Utah to ban or label these dyes in school foods. Never mind the millions of parents who are increasingly reading labels and demanding better.
It’s also telling that Mars makes dye-free Skittles and M&M’s for markets where regulations are tougher and consumers are more health-conscious. That means the technology exists, the supply chains exist, and the recipes exist. They just aren’t willing to bring them here—where children continue to be the biggest consumers of these brightly colored, chemically engineered treats.
This should be a wake-up call. If these multinational giants can give European kids safer versions of their candy, why not ours? The answer, sadly, is because they don’t have to. In the U.S., the regulatory bar is lower, the lobbying is stronger, and the public pressure hasn’t reached a tipping point.
It’s time it did. American children deserve better than to be treated as a dumping ground for ingredients already flagged in other developed nations. And parents deserve honesty, not excuses, from billion-dollar companies whose marketing specifically targets kids.
At the end of the day, if Mars won’t voluntarily clean up its iconic candies, we should keep the pressure on lawmakers, retailers, and schools to do what Mars refuses to do: put our children’s health first.
Because bright colors shouldn’t come at the cost of our kids’ well-being.
