Duncan Hines parent Conagra Brands says it will phase out artificial colors

Key Points

• Chicago-based Conagra Brands, parent to Duncan Hines and other brands, will remove artificial colors from its frozen foods by the end of this year, stop offering them to K-12 schools by the 2026-27 school year, and fully eliminate dyes across its portfolio by end of 2027.
• This move follows similar announcements from Nestle, Kraft Heinz and General Mills as the industry responds to rising consumer and regulatory pressure.
• The U.S. government has ramped up scrutiny of synthetic dyes, banning Red 3 in January and aiming to eliminate all artificial colors by 2026 through FDA initiatives.
• While many of Conagra’s products already use natural dyes like turmeric and annatto, some items such as Duncan Hines pie fillings and Swiss Miss pudding still contain synthetic colors like Red 40 and Yellow 5.

Conagra Brands, the parent company of Duncan Hines, Slim Jim and other brands, is the latest big food company to say it’s discontinuing the use of artificial dyes.

In a statement released Wednesday – the same day as a similar statement from Nestle – Chicago-based Conagra said it will remove artificial colors from its frozen foods by the end of this year. Conagra’s frozen brands include Marie Callender’s, Healthy Choice and Birds Eye.

Conagra said it won’t offer products containing artificial colors to K-12 schools by the beginning of the 2026-2027 school year, and it will work to discontinue artificial dyes across its entire portfolio by the end of 2027.

Kraft Heinz and General Mills made similar pledges earlier this month.

The federal government has stepped up its scrutiny of artificial colors in recent months. In January, days before President Donald Trump took office, the U.S. regulators banned the dye called Red 3 from the nation’s food supply, nearly 35 years after it was barred from cosmetics because of potential cancer risk.

In April, Trump’s Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and FDA Commissioner Marty Makary said the agency would take steps to eliminate synthetic dyes by the end of 2026, largely by relying on voluntary efforts from the food industry.

Many of Conagra’s products already make a point of using natural dyes. On a jar of Vlasic kosher pickle spears, Conagra notes that they’re colored with turmeric, not the synthetic Yellow 5. For the cheesy color in its frozen vegetable sides or its Orville Redenbacher popcorn, Conagra uses annatto, a plant extract.

But some of Conagra's products still rely on synthetic colors. Duncan Hines’ Comstock County Cherry pie filling uses Red 40, for example, while its Creamy Strawberries n’ Cream Frosting uses both Red 40 and Yellow 5. Conagra's Swiss Miss Butterscotch pudding contains Yellow 6, Red 40 and Blue 1.