Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took a victory lap on Monday after a trade group announced plans to eliminate many artificial food dyes over the next few years.
Ice cream makers that produce about 90% of the ice cream and frozen dairy desserts in the U.S. have agreed to eliminate artificial dyes Red 3, Red 40, Green 3, Blue 1, Blue 2, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6 from their products by 2027. Kennedy and the International Dairy Foods Association, a trade group that represents dairy companies, made the announcement on Monday, soon before Sunday's before National Ice Cream Day.
"I applaud the International Dairy Foods Association for stepping up to eliminate certified artificial colors," Kennedy told USA Today in a statement. "The American people have made it clear — they want real food, not chemicals."
"This is a Renaissance moment in health in America," said Dr. Martin A. Makary, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. "And part of that is rewriting the broken food and nutrition guidelines of the United States. No longer are we gonna have a broken food pyramid and a continuation of a 70-year demonization of natural saturated fat."
Kennedy added, "I grew up in a world where milk was the healthiest thing that you could eat. There's been an attack on whole milk and cheese and yogurt over the past couple of decades."
He said, "There's tremendous amount of emerging science that talks about the need for more protein in our diet and more fats in our diet."
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.