With all the hype around red food dye lately and the FDA banning Red Dye 3, there’s a lot more interest in what’s actually coloring our food. Turns out, artificial dyes are everywhere, and they’re not exactly bringing anything useful to the table. They don’t add flavor, texture, or nutrition—just a bright, fake color to make processed food look more appealing. Strip away the dye, and what’s left is usually just sugar and marketing.
Cotton Candy
This is nothing but spun sugar and food coloring. It looks exciting because of the artificial pinks and blues, but strip away the color and it’s just pure sugar with zero substance. There’s no fruit, no added value, just a carnival trick to make sugar air seem more fun.
Fruit Snacks
The packaging makes them look like a health-conscious choice, but most fruit snacks have about as much real fruit as a gummy bear. They’re made of corn syrup, gelatin, and a mix of artificial colors like Red 40 and Yellow 5. They’re candy pretending to be something better.
Flavored Sports Drinks
Neon blue, radioactive yellow, and electric red don’t come from nature. These drinks are mostly sugar water with a dose of salt and a splash of food dye. They’re sold as a “performance booster,” but for the average person, they’re just overpriced sugar bombs with no real benefit.
Breakfast Cereals
Cereals like Lucky Charms with brightly colored marshmallows aren’t just packed with sugar, they’re also loaded with artificial dyes. Those marshmallows are nothing more than dehydrated sugar sponges coated in synthetic color. The cereal itself is also dyed to look more appealing, turning breakfast into a candy bowl.
Gummy Bears & Worms
These chewy, fruit-shaped snacks have exactly zero actual fruit in them. They’re made of corn syrup, gelatin, and artificial dyes like Red 40, Yellow 5, and Blue 1. The colors don’t add flavor, they just trick you into thinking you’re eating something fruity when you’re really just chewing flavored gelatin and sugar.
Powdered Drink Mixes
That vibrant fruit punch color? Fake. The “blue raspberry” flavor? Also fake. These drink mixes are just colored sugar powder that dissolves in water, making a cheap, artificial version of juice with nothing real in it. The flavors come from chemicals, and the bright colors are just there to make you think it tastes better.
Rainbow-Colored Ice Pops
Those cheap freezer pops with bright colors have nothing natural about them. They’re literally just frozen sugar water with a heavy dose of artificial dye. The flavors are barely distinguishable, and the only reason they seem exciting is the neon colors designed to make them look fun.
Candy-Coated Chocolates (M&M’s, Skittles, etc.)
The chocolate or sugary centers are secondary to the color. These candies are dunked in artificial dyes to create that signature rainbow effect, making them more about looks than actual taste. Without the color, they’d just be dull little sugar pellets with no visual appeal.
Jelly Beans
The shiny coating and vibrant colors are all artificial. These little sugar bombs are made from corn syrup, fake fruit flavors, and a thick layer of synthetic dye. The glossy finish doesn’t make them taste better, it just makes them look more edible.
Artificially Flavored Yogurts
That bright pink “strawberry” yogurt? It’s mostly sugar, artificial flavoring, and Red 40. The fruit content is minimal, but the dye makes it look more like the real thing. Without it, you’d be looking at a dull, unappetizing beige instead of the fake pink that makes people think it’s healthier.
Sour Candy (Sour Patch Kids, Warheads, etc.)
The extreme sourness comes from acids, but the ridiculous colors are pure synthetic dye. Without the neon blues, greens, and reds, these candies wouldn’t look nearly as exciting. They’re engineered to be as visually loud as possible to keep you reaching for more.
Frosted Toaster Pastries (Pop-Tarts, etc.)
The bright icing, colorful sprinkles, and fruit-flavored fillings are just layers of artificial dye. The “strawberry” or “blueberry” inside is mostly sugar and food coloring. Without the dye, the filling would be a washed-out brownish mush that no one would be excited to eat.
Bubblegum
There’s nothing natural about that bright pink color. It’s a mix of synthetic dye and artificial flavoring, with sugar acting as the glue to hold it together. The color has no purpose other than making it look fun to chew, but take that away, and it’s just a wad of sweetened rubber.
What You Need To Know About Artificial Sweeteners
Are you still trusting those little packets of sweetness in your coffee every morning? It might be time to rethink that. Artificial sweeteners seem like the perfect solution—no sugar, no calories, no problem, right? Well, not exactly. Turns out, what’s hiding in those sweeteners isn’t so sweet after all. From messing with your metabolism to possibly creating more cravings, these so-called “healthier” options could be doing more harm than good.
Read it Here: What You Need To Know About Artificial Sweeteners
10 Controversial Food Ingredients Used In America That Are Banned Globally
Around the globe, countries take varied approaches to food safety, setting their own rules on which ingredients and production methods are deemed acceptable. What’s routine in the U.S. food industry often faces stricter scrutiny abroad. With the U.S. grappling with high rates of chronic illnesses and food-related disorders, it begs the question: could certain widely-used, yet overseas-banned, additives be contributing to America’s public health challenges?
Read it Here: 10 Controversial Food Ingredients Used In America That Are Banned Globally
*Select images provided by Depositphotos.
Gina Matsoukas is an AP syndicated writer. She is the founder, photographer and recipe developer of Running to the Kitchen — a food website focused on providing healthy, wholesome recipes using fresh and seasonal ingredients. Her work has been featured in numerous media outlets both digital and print, including MSN, Huffington post, Buzzfeed, Women’s Health and Food Network.
