January 06, 2026

Coloring Outside the Lines

Dialogue author Arlin Wasserman encourages the food industry to avoid getting defensive in response to the MAHA movement and instead to celebrate the positive steps food companies have taken to replace artificial ingredients in food formulations.

A vibrant pile of colorful gummy bears and candy.

Arlin Wasserman

Food Technology Magazine

As we enter the new year, it’s a great time to reflect on whether it will be a year of blue skies and orange sunsets—or if it will be a drearier time. The same uncertainty applies to breakfast cereals, candies, snacks, and many other packaged foods in 2026 as the use of synthetic colors increasingly is viewed as “out of bounds.”

Members of the current administration, along with influential consumer health advocates, continue to apply pressure on the food industry, rallying their constituencies around concerns about synthetic coloring agents and other artificial ingredients.

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Authors

Arlin Wasserman Food Industry Advisor

Arlin Wasserman is the founder and managing director of Changing Tastes, where he helps companies identify and catalyze shifts in the way business and consumers think about food.