FDA, NIH announce food safety collaboration as FDA gives nod to 3 new natural food colorings

Everzure, a blue food dye extracted from the algae Galdieria sulphuraria, has received approval for use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. This image was published on the website of the coloring creator Fermentalg.

New forms of blue and white colorations have been approved for the safe dye palette for American foods, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Meanwhile, FDA and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will team up on "a new, joint innovative research initiative" devoted to analysis of ultraprocessed foods.

The food safety developments both were announced May 9 as steps in the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) initiative led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) under President Donald J. Trump.

What's on the menu?

FDA and NIH will collaborate on a new Nutrition Regulatory Science Program. The goal is to "accelerate a comprehensive nutrition research agenda" that supports a food and nutrition policy that ultimately leads to healthier food and diets for Americans. The announcement said they aim to answer questions such as:

• How and why can ultra-processed foods harm people’s health?
• How might certain food additives affect metabolic health and possibly contribute to chronic disease?
• What is the role of maternal and infant dietary exposures on health outcomes across the lifespan, including autoimmune diseases?

Jay Bhattacharya, MD, PhD
_{© National Institutes of Health}

“Nutrition has always been a priority at NIH. By teaming up with the FDA, we’re taking a major step toward answering big questions about how food affects health — and turning that science into smarter, more effective policy," NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya, MD, PhD, said in the announcement. "It’s time to tackle the chronic disease crisis head-on. That’s why NIH is making this investment alongside the FDA.”

Related: Trump wants RFK Jr. to Make America Healthy Again. This is what they need to know about ultraprocessed foods

Food additives approved

FDA also announced approval for three color additives derived from natural resources. The OK comes after last month’s news conference and announcement about the priority to phase out petroleum-based food colorings. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, FDA’s government leader, announced that priority as part of the Make America Healthy Again initiative under President Donald J. Trump.

Kennedy and FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, MD, MPH, published comments in the FDA announcement.

“Today we take a major step to Make America Healthy Again,” Kennedy said. "For too long, our food system has relied on synthetic, petroleum-based dyes that offer no nutritional value and pose unnecessary health risks. We’re removing these dyes and approving safe, natural alternatives — to protect families and support healthier choices.”

Martin Makary, MD, MPH
_{© U.S. Food and Drug Administration}

There will be more to come. Makary recalled his April comments that FDA would approve new color additives and accelerate the review of others.

“FDA staff have been moving quickly to expedite the publication of these decisions, underscoring our serious intent to transition away from petroleum-based dyes in the food supply and provide new colors from natural sources,” he said in the news release.

The new additives

The FDA announcement said the new additives are:

• Galdieria extract blue, a blue color derived from the unicellular red algae Galdieria sulphuraria. The FDA has approved the color additive for use in nonalcoholic beverages and beverage bases, fruit drinks, fruit smoothies, fruit juices, vegetable juices, dairy-based smoothies, milk shakes and flavored milks, yogurt drinks, milk-based meal replacement and nutritional beverages, breakfast cereal coatings, hard candy, soft candy and chewing gum, flavored frostings, ice cream and frozen dairy desserts, frozen fruits, water ices and popsicles, gelatin desserts, puddings and custards, and whipped cream, yogurt, frozen or liquid creamers (including non-dairy alternatives), and whipped toppings (including non-dairy alternatives). The petition was submitted by the French company Fermentalg. That company has eight inventions through 82 patents related to the algae processing and use.
• Butterfly pea flower extract, a blue color that can be used to achieve a range of shades including bright blues, intense purple, and natural greens. Produced through the water extraction of the dried flower petals of the butterfly pea plant, this color additive is already approved for use in sport drinks, fruit drinks, fruit and vegetable juices, alcoholic beverages, dairy drinks, ready to drink teas, nutritional beverages, gums, candy, coated nuts, ice creams, and yogurt. the approval of a petition by St. Louis, Missouri-based Sensient Colors LLC expands the approved use for coloring ready-to-eat cereals, crackers, snack mixes, hard pretzels, plain potato chips (restructured or baked), plain corn chips, tortilla chips, and multigrain chips.
• Calcium phosphate, a white color approved for use in ready-to-eat chicken products, white candy melts, doughnut sugar, and sugar for coated candies. The petition was filed by Innophos Inc. of Cranbury, New Jersey.