Kellogg says it will remove artificial dyes from cereals by the end of 2027

Paxton launched an investigation earlier this year into whether Kellogg violated state consumer protection laws by continuing to use blue, red, yellow, green, and orange artificial dyes. Around the same time, U.S. health officials said that they would urge foodmakers to voluntarily work toward removing petroleum-based colors.

Both Kellogg and General Mills, another major U.S. cereal maker, said they would. General Mills later joined Kraft Heinz, Nestle, Smuckers and some other food manufacturers in announcing target dates for making all their products without artificial dyes.

But Paxton's office said Kellogg was the first to sign a "legally binding" agreement. "Following months of investigating and negotiating, I'm proud to officially say Kellogg's will stop putting these unhealthy ingredients in its cereals," the attorney general said in a statement.

Details about the terms of the agreement Kellogg signed, which is legally known as an assurance of voluntary compliance, were not immediately clear. The company did not comment on it directly when reached by The Associated Press on Thursday but said it appreciates "the opportunity to work collaboratively with the Texas AG's office and share their focus on health and wellness."

Kellogg also pointed to its earlier commitment to phase out FD&C dyes, which are synthetic additives that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved for use in food, drugs and cosmetics. It said it already planned to stop launching new products with the dyes in January.

"We have announced we are reformulating our cereals served in schools to not include FD&C colors by the 2026-27 school year," Kellogg said in an emailed statement Thursday. By the end of 2027, "we will completely remove FD&C colors from the small percentage of our foods that contain them today."

According to Kellogg's website, 85% of the cereal the company sells contains no FD&C colors — and none of its products have included Red No. 3 for years. Federal regulators banned that dye from food in January.

Synthetic dyes have long been used to make brightly colored cereals, drinks, candies, baked goods and even products like cough syrup. But health advocates have called for the removal of artificial dyes from foods, citing mixed studies indicating they can cause neurobehavioral problems, including hyperactivity and attention issues, in some children.

The FDA has maintained that its currently approved dyes are safe and that "the totality of scientific evidence shows that most children have no adverse effects when consuming foods containing color additives."

Pressure on the food industry has increased since Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an outspoken critic of such synthetic additives, became President Donald Trump's health secretary.