Food is changing rapidly. In 2015 alone, more than ten major food manufacturers and restaurants made public commitments to reduce or eliminate artificial flavors and colors from their brands. The drivers behind these announcements range from FDA notices to growing public concerns about specific additives and demands for improved transparency.
With so much movement in the marketplace, we decided to keep and make available a tally of the public commitments made by grocers, restaurants and food manufacturers on food additives.
As more companies revisit their policies and practices, EDF is sharing a Blueprint for Safer Food Additives that helps businesses achieve leadership in this space. Companies need to move beyond marketing responses to the latest consumer survey or social media campaign. Building consumer confidence and securing true leadership involves going beyond just what is legal towards policies that promote continuous improvement.
Please let us know if you have any suggestions to improve the list — especially if we have missed a company.
Grocers – National and Regional (in chronological order)
| Name | Products Affected | Additives Removed or Banned | Date of Commitment | Effective Date |
| Whole Foods | All products | > 70 artificial flavors, colors, preservatives, and sweeteners, and questionable ingredients | 1980 and growing | 1980 |
| Trader Joe’s | Private label | Artificial flavors, preservatives and colors, MSG, and artificial trans-fat | 2007 | 2007 |
| Safeway | Select private label | No artificial flavors, colors or preservatives | 2011 January | 2011 January |
| Kroger | Select private label | > 100 artificial colors, flavors, preservatives, and sweeteners, and questionable ingredients | 2012 | 2012 |
| Target | Private label | > 90 ingredients including artificial colors, flavors and preservatives | 2013 June | 2013 June |
| ALDI | Select private label | > 125 artificial ingredients and preservatives | 2014 | 2014 |
| SuperValu | Private label | > 100 ingredients | 2015 February | 2015 February |
| Meijer | Select private label | > 120 artificial ingredients including flavors, colors and preservatives | | 2016 |
| Giant/Stop and Shop (Ahold Delhaize) | Private label | >95 Artificial colors, flavors and preservatives | 2016 February | 2016 February |
| Food Lion/Hannaford (Ahold Delhaize) | Private label | >95 Artificial colors, flavors and preservatives | 2016 February | 2016 February |
| H-E-B | Select private label | >200 synthetic ingredients | 2016 September | 2016 September |
| ShopRite | Private Label | >100 ingredients including artificial additives, flavors and preservatives | 2016 December | 2016 December |
| Target | Children's private label food | Artificial flavors, preservatives, sweeteners and colors | 2017 July | 2018 December |
| Hy-Vee | Select private label | >200 artificial ingredients or synthetic chemicals | 2017 August | 2018 July |
Restaurants – National and Regional
| Name | Products Affected | Additives Removed or Banned | Date of Commitment | Effective Date |
| Chipotle | Food it makes | Only uses a narrow list of ingredients that excludes artificial flavors and colors | 1993 | Ongoing |
| Panera | Food it makes | > 100 artificial flavors, colors, preservatives, and sweeteners, and other unnecessary ingredients | 2014 | 2015 December |
| McDonald’s | Chicken – Grilled artisan | Artificial flavors, colors and preservatives | 2015 April | 2015 April |
| Pizza Hut | Nationally available pizzas | Artificial flavors and colors, MSG, artificial trans fats, and, in meatballs, artificial preservatives | 2015 May | 2015 July |
| Taco Bell | 95% of core food items | Artificial flavors and colors and added trans fat. | 2015 May | 2015 December |
| Papa John’s | Pizza it makes | > 75 artificial flavors, colors, preservatives and sweeteners, and questionable ingredients | 2015 June | 2016 December |
| Subway | Food it makes | Artificial flavors, colors and preservatives | 2015 June | Uncertain |
| Noodles & Company | Food it makes | > 75 artificial flavors, colors, preservatives, and sweeteners and other unnecessary ingredients | 2015 October | 2015 October |
Food Manufacturers – National
| Name | Products Affected | Additives Removed or Banned | Date of Commitment | Effective Date |
| Hershey’s | Most chocolate brands | Artificial flavors and colors | 2015 February | 2015 December |
| Nestle | Chocolate candy, some beverages, and frozen pizza and snacks | Artificial flavor and colors (chocolate candy), Artificial flavors and colors (some beverages), Artificial flavor (frozen pizza and snacks) | 2015 Feb, April, June | 2015 December |
| Kraft Heinz | Macaroni and cheese (original only) | Artificial flavors, colors and preservatives | 2015 April | 2015 December |
| General Mills | Branded cereals | Artificial flavors and colors from artificial sources | 2015 June | 90% by 2016 December |
| Campbell’s | Soups | Artificial flavors and colors | 2015 July | 2018 December |
| Kellogg’s | Branded cereals, some snack foods and some frozen foods | Artificial flavors and colors | 2015 August | 2018 December |
| Mars | All products | Artificial colors | 2016 February | 2021 February |
| Panera at Home | Refrigerated soup, mac& cheese, pasta, salad dressings in addition to artisan frozen bread, sliced sandwich bread and coffee | > 100 artificial flavors, colors, preservatives, and sweeteners, and other unnecessary ingredients | 2016 June | 2016 December |
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