Coloring is added to packaged foods and beverages to make them more visually appealing on supermarket shelves or to make up for natural variations in product color.

These colors can be naturally derived, often from fruit and vegetable juices, but others are artificial and made in a lab.

In fact, many of the foods and beverages Americans consume contain artificial dyes. A recent study found that 19 percent of products sold in the U.S. contained artificial dyes. The most common artificial dye, Food, Drug and Cosmetic Red #40, was found in 14 percent of foods and beverages.

Almost 30 percent of the products marketed to kids — candy, soft drinks, frozen meals and cereals — contained artificial dyes.

The widespread prevalence of artificial dyes did not surprise Elizabeth Dunford, corresponding author on the study, but, as she told TheDoctor in an email, she was surprised by the presence of artificial dyes in products such as hot dog buns, taco shells and bagels. Most consumers would not expect these products to contain artificial dyes, either.

“A lack of consumer awareness of these dyes makes them an additional concern after things like sugar, salt and fat, which people are more likely to be aware of,” said Dunford, an adjunct assistant professor of nutrition at the University of North Carolina.

Ingredients in nearly 40,000 foods and beverages sold in 2020 were analyzed for the study. The international team of researchers compared the sugar, sodium and saturated fat content of foods without artificial dyes to the content of foods with artificial dyes. Foods that contained artificial dyes contained 141 percent more sugar than those without dyes. Foods with artificial dyes, however, did have lower levels of sodium and saturated fat.

The researchers also looked at the presence of artificial dyes in five product categories most likely to be marketed to kids: candy, sugar-sweetened beverages, frozen meals, breakfast cereals and baked goods. Almost 30 percent of products in these categories contained artificial dyes compared to just 11 percent of foods in other categories.

Candy companies were more likely than other manufacturers to use artificial dyes. Candies from Ferrero (60 percent of its products) and Mars (52 percent) were the most likely to contain artificial dyes.

Almost 80 percent of sports drinks contained artificial dyes, regardless of the manufacturer. More than 50 percent of sports drinks made by PepsiCo contained artificial dyes.

Dunford said parents looking to limit artificial dyes in their children's diet only have to look out for a few words on the ingredients list. They should avoid foods with words like “artificial colors” on the packaging, for example, because they are likely made with artificial dyes.

Artificial dyes were found not just in brightly colored foods, but in products you wouldn't expect were artificially colored — such as hot dog buns, taco shells and bagels.

“Parents should look for products sweetened and colored naturally and avoid products containing artificial dyes and added sugars such as high-fructose corn syrup,” said Dunford. This sort of care is especially important for the parents of kids with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or other behavioral issues. These parents might consider eliminating foods and beverages with artificial dyes altogether, she suggested, because artificial coloring may make these issues worse.

Dunford, a research fellow at The George Institute for Global Health in Australia, would like to repeat this study in a few years to see if companies have followed through on their promises to stop adding artificial dyes to their products.

“This is not the first-time companies have promised to remove artificial dyes, so it will be important to redo this analysis to verify that changes have been made,” she said. The hope is that the news that artificial coloring is so commonplace may motivate policymakers to take regulatory action.

The study is published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.