Via NYT: Kraft Heinz to Eliminate All Chemical Dyes Over Next 2 Years. Three quick thoughts. 1) I have no objection to this, and indeed think it is a good thing. 2) This is the kind of thing a certain kind of Democrat would have championed in the past, with Republicans saying that the government should leave businesses alone and let the market decide. 3) This in no way justifies giving RFK, Jr. the job he has, nor does it come close to making up for the damage he is doing to public health.
Steven L. Taylor is a Professor Emeritus of Political Science and former College of Arts and Sciences Dean. His main areas of expertise include parties, elections, and the institutional design of democracies. His most recent book is the co-authored A Different Democracy: American Government in a 31-Country Perspective. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas and his BA from the University of California, Irvine. He has been blogging since 2003 (originally at the now defunct Poliblog).
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I’m going to be interested to watch the elimination of chemical food dyes. As you note, this is a good thing. However, Americans have been very much trained to expect food to be certain colors. A local baker recently experimented a bit with this, by eliminating green food coloring from her pistachio muffins. Controlling for foot traffic and several other variables, she had way more waste/leftovers on the days when she left the food coloring out, vs. when she used it. No other changes to the recipe, prices, or her marketing. People just didn’t buy them when the color was duller.
@Jen: You are right. The dairy lobby in Wisconsin outlawed dyes in margarine to keep the attractive yellow out. I know that salmon farmers add marigolds to their fish food pellets to make the flesh of the salmon that color we expect. It will be interesting to see the exact details of the ban. I think that products containing cochineal will advertise as all natural and organic without disclosing that it is made from an insect.
The chemical compounds in marigolds that provide the coloring have official food additive “E” numbers that classify them as coloring agents. E numbers cover both naturally occurring and synthetic molecules. The FDA’s list of FD&C numbers (eg, the now-banned-in-the-US red dye no. 3, E127) only covers synthetics.
@Michael Cain: I remember Perdue commercials that boasted of using marigolds in their chicken feed, which was interesting because it seemed clear the purpose of the marigolds was coloration. Here’s an excerpt of a story on these ads from 2011:
“This seal verifies we feed my fresh, all-natural chickens an all-vegetarian diet, including corn, soybeans and marigolds,” Jim Perdue says in one commercial. In another spot, he describes the diet as having “no animal byproducts, no animal fat.”
Of course Vance did that on purpose. He isn’t dumb. If I were Alex Padilla, I’d start calling him “Jim-Bob” or something like that. And when questioned, respond with, “I guess I mixed him up with some other hillbilly”.
I’m going to be interested to watch the elimination of chemical food dyes. As you note, this is a good thing. However, Americans have been very much trained to expect food to be certain colors. A local baker recently experimented a bit with this, by eliminating green food coloring from her pistachio muffins. Controlling for foot traffic and several other variables, she had way more waste/leftovers on the days when she left the food coloring out, vs. when she used it. No other changes to the recipe, prices, or her marketing. People just didn’t buy them when the color was duller.
@Jen: You are right. The dairy lobby in Wisconsin outlawed dyes in margarine to keep the attractive yellow out. I know that salmon farmers add marigolds to their fish food pellets to make the flesh of the salmon that color we expect. It will be interesting to see the exact details of the ban. I think that products containing cochineal will advertise as all natural and organic without disclosing that it is made from an insect.
This MAGA miscreant should be placed on a terrorist watchlist.
@DK:
Watch Trump try to overturn a civil verdict.
@Slugger: Is animal feed (marigolds in fish food) a dye?
@Joe:
The chemical compounds in marigolds that provide the coloring have official food additive “E” numbers that classify them as coloring agents. E numbers cover both naturally occurring and synthetic molecules. The FDA’s list of FD&C numbers (eg, the now-banned-in-the-US red dye no. 3, E127) only covers synthetics.
@Michael Reynolds: I mean, would Roberts & Co. stop him?
@Michael Cain: I remember Perdue commercials that boasted of using marigolds in their chicken feed, which was interesting because it seemed clear the purpose of the marigolds was coloration. Here’s an excerpt of a story on these ads from 2011:
Of course Vance did that on purpose. He isn’t dumb. If I were Alex Padilla, I’d start calling him “Jim-Bob” or something like that. And when questioned, respond with, “I guess I mixed him up with some other hillbilly”.
Tit for tat is a thing.