ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The FDA announced the agency is going to be taking steps to eliminate synthetic dyes by the end of 2026.

The goal is to remove any type of artificial agent like Red 40, Blue 1, Yellow 5 and more from food products across the country.

The reason being is to improve the health of children after recent studies have shown the dyes can cause behavioral problems like hyperactivity and attention issues.

KOB 4 spoke with Chelsea Sanchez, a pediatrician with Optum New Mexico. She says while the dyes may not be a direct cause of behavioral issues, the dyes do increase them in kids who may have conditions like ADHD.

“So conduct disorders, things that have big behaviors, hyperactivity, those kinds of things that we’ve seen negatively effected by food additives. We don’t know that they’re caused by food additives or food dyes, but we do see kiddos with more of those behaviors if they have foods that have a lot of additives in them,” said Sanchez. 

This is not going to be an overnight process. U.S. Health officials are currently working to roll out a timeline for the food industry to switch to natural alternatives by the end of 2026.

Most parents we talked to say they can tell a major difference in their kids after they eat food with dyes.

One local mom, Chelsea Harding, said she even noticed her daughter’s handwriting is different when she eats food with dyes.

“When we do like her writing and stuff, she can’t focus. Her handwriting looks like a kindergartener. She’s in second grade and her handwriting is actually really good, but when she has dyes just that rest of the week of schooling her is like really hard for her to focus, no matter how many breaks we do,” said Harding. 

For folks who are concerned about having dyes in their food, Sanchez says simply reading nutrition labels will be the best way to avoid them. 

“If you check the label it’s listed, they have to list it. So, even though the FDA has kept it in our food, they have made it mandatory for people and companies to label the food. So if you just flip over the package you’ll be able to see if there’s any of those reds, yellows, blues, any colors that we like to see elsewhere but not in our food,” said Sanchez. 

The removal of dyes does not mean that all of your favorite candies and bright-colored chips are going to be going away.  This simply means that companies in the food industry are going to be required to find nature alternatives to the synthetic dyes and replace them.