Are Cheetos Still Cheetos Without the Bright Orange Color? We May Find Out

Shoppers picking out foods and beverages naturally pay close attention to price and flavor. But color also plays a big role, and some familiar hues could soon change. 

U.S. regulators earlier this year said the government would phase out the use of petroleum-based synthetic dyes from the food supply—including eight specific ones—by the end of next year, citing “no nutritional benefit” and risks to “children’s health and development.” Big brands have already begun to adapt to the move, part of President Donald Trump’s “Make America Healthy Again” effort.

Some experts say that means consumers should prepare for supermarket favorites to look different soon. That could change shopping habits, since color is one way companies tempt people to try a product and then to buy it again. 

“We’re attracted to food by all of our senses,” said Sherry Coleman Collins, a registered dietitian nutritionist. Food makers sometimes use coloring to evoke a flavor, she said: Strawberry milk, she said, can be made to look pink even if it doesn’t contain strawberries. Red can enhance the perception of sweetness, according to food scientist and consultant Bryan Quoc Le, while blue can decrease it.

“When we look at food, we expect it to look a certain way,” Coleman Collins said. 

Experts Say Consumers ‘Take Color for Granted’

Froot Loops’ rainbow-colored cereal, the bright orange of Cheetos and Twizzlers’ deep red are examples of brands leveraging color—in some instances using artificial colors—to make their products distinctive.

“You’re going to see how important color is in the coming years,” said Le. “A lot of consumers take color for granted because we’ve had such vibrant colors for so long in the food industry.”

Some brands have already announced changes. PepsiCo (PEP) has said it would cut its use of artificial dyes, and on Thursday said it will remove them from its educational portfolio for the coming school year.

Kraft Heinz (KHC) said it would cut artificial colors from its products sold in the U.S. by the end of 2027. And the International Dairy Foods Association this week said it would remove some artificial colors from certain ice creams by the end of 2027. 

Companies that offer natural food colorings could benefit. Pablo Elizondo, a color specialist with Capol, which makes them from vegetable and fruit extracts, said his company has seen increased outreach from the food industry in recent weeks. Ube, matcha, and butterfly pea flower—they can be used to conjure up purples, greens and blues, respectively—are natural colorants that could see increased use, market research firm Datassential said in a recent report. 

Candy, Elizondo said, is one category in which his company already has alternatives for many colors. “The brightness of some might be difficult to achieve on a one-to-one basis,” he said. “But we have alternatives for blues, reds, yellows and oranges.”

But by removing synthetic food dyes, consumers “could see some muted colors” popping up when they shop, according to Le. “Natural food coloring ends up not having the same level of robustness during the manufacturing process,” he said. 

And natural colorants can have unwelcome side effects, some experts say. Spirulina, an algae, is sometimes used to give a vibrant green or green-blue color, according to Coleman Collins.

“But the more you add it,” she said, ”the more bitter the flavor becomes.”