The Colorful Change: Switching from Artificial to Natural Food Colors.

A scientist named Abby Tampow works at Sensient Technologies. She tries to match artificial colors with natural ingredients. She is helping food companies change to natural colors.

Health officials want companies to stop using artificial dyes by 2026. They think these dyes could hurt kids. Some states have banned Red 3, a dye that may cause cancer.

Changing from artificial to natural dyes is hard and expensive. There might not be enough natural stuff to make all the colors. It can take a long time to change just one product.

Natural dyes are made from things like vegetables and insects. These dyes are not as strong or stable as artificial dyes. Blue color is especially hard to make naturally.

People want artificial dyes out of food because they might be bad for health. But changing colors can make people unhappy if the food looks different. One company changed its cereal color and people did not like it.