Walmart is planning to remove synthetic food dyes and 30 other ingredients from its store brands by the beginning of 2027. It’s a move experts say seems to be largely consumer driven.
David Just is a behavioral economist and the Susan Eckert Lynch Professor in Science and Business at Cornell. He said Walmart’s decision shows customers care about this issue.
"When Walmart's doing it, it tells you that this issue has reached middle America,” he said. “This is not just a small group anymore that's pushing for these types of changes."
Just said Walmart customers are price sensitive, so he thinks the company will be able to make the changes without passing on large price changes to consumers. But customers may see some changes in products.
"If it was intended to make it look like a natural product, then it's probably going to be a very subtle effect,” he said. “Whereas, if it's green ketchup that was dyed green to make it attractive to kids, well, yeah, this could have an impact to how vibrant that color is."
And Just said, while you probably won’t notice any big difference in your health due to Walmart’s switches, it doesn’t hurt to be safe.
"We don't have any screaming red flags that this is going to be dangerous, and people should not consume these (products)," Just said. "What we have are a couple of strange correlations and interactions that have appeared now and again in the literature that make you wonder if this is the best alternative."
Some other companies like Pepsi and Nestle are already limiting or eliminating artificial food dyes. And Just said if a large retailer like Walmart is doing this, it’s likely we’ll see more companies following its lead.
