“BATTLE CREEK, Mich. -- Executives from Italian food giant Ferrero hopscotched around the U.S. in late June, touring cereal factories at the center of one of the most unusual public-health controversies in years.
President Trump's top health official, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., had said the artificial dyes in WK Kellogg's Froot Loops, a fixture in grocery store cereal aisles since 1963, were poisoning America's children.
Ferrero had offered to buy the 119-year-old cereal business, which was struggling. But acquiring Kellogg meant stepping into a political mess. Kennedy had vowed to crack down on processed food, and was blasting big food companies for using the dyes and other additives.
After weighing Kellogg's financial and political problems, Ferrero cut its offer by about $75 million, according to a recent securities filing, agreeing to buy the company in a deal that valued it at about $3.1 billion.
The Trump administration's "Make America Healthy Again" agenda has shaken big food companies already reeling from shifting consumer preferences. States across the country have taken up the MAHA cause, passing laws to restrict the sale of certain foods and, in some cases, investigating food companies' health claims.
Executives at big processed-food makers are trying to determine how much of what Kennedy and MAHA want will actually happen, and how it could affect their bottom lines. Their challenge is to balance his push for what he sees as healthier food with their need to make products that consumers will buy.
Some companies have assembled special teams to navigate MAHA, drawing up lists and "heat maps" to track ingredients coming under scrutiny, and assessing which ones they might have to remove or label. Executives have compared dealing with MAHA to battling the mythical Hydra -- cut off one head and two more spring up.
"Every day I wake up to something new being proposed," said Darren O'Brien, chief corporate and government affairs officer for Oreo-maker Mondelez, which uses ingredients that Kennedy has criticized, including artificial dyes, emulsifiers [1] and seed oils [2].
Beginning in June, a string of companies including Kraft Heinz, General Mills and Nestle pledged to remove artificial dyes from their U.S. products. Candy-maker Mars said recently that it would offer some M&M's, Skittles and other sweets without the dyes next year. The Consumer Brands Association, a major industry trade group, encouraged food and beverage makers to nix the dyes by the end of 2027.
Makers of old-line brands like Lunchables, Twinkies and Trix were struggling long before Kennedy arrived in Washington to head the Department of Health and Human Services. Sales have slumped for many big food companies that sharply increased their prices in recent years.
Climbing costs, soaring use of weight-loss drugs, heightened scrutiny over ultraprocessed foods and growing consumer demand for fresher, healthier fare are compounding the challenges.
An S&P index tracking packaged food and meat companies has fallen about 16% over the past year, while the overall market gained about 14%.
Food companies are making big moves to adjust. Kraft Heinz is preparing to split into two companies, following a big merger of brands a decade ago. Conagra and General Mills shed legacy brands such as Chef Boyardee and Yoplait. At least five major food companies have announced this year that they plan to replace their CEOs, setting up the highest C-suite turnover in at least a decade, according to JPMorgan Chase.
An HHS spokesman said that Kennedy values ongoing engagement with the food industry and is encouraged by the steps many companies are taking to improve nutrition and public health.
Since the early 20th century, Kellogg has been nearly synonymous with Battle Creek -- also known as Cereal City -- with its sprawling factory spreading the aroma of toasted grain around town.
Founded in 1906 as the Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company, Kellogg pioneered vitamin-fortified cereal and produced K-rations for U.S. troops during World War II. Tony the Tiger and Toucan Sam, the mascots of Frosted Flakes and Froot Loops, were known to generations of children.
But Americans have fallen out of love with breakfast cereal, causing problems for Kellogg. The company had ballooned in size over the years, adding snack brands such as Pop Tarts, Pringles and Cheez-Its. In 2023, Kellogg Co. separated its North American cereal business from snacks, renaming it WK Kellogg -- and it has posted year-over-year sales declines in every quarter since.
Kennedy made Froot Loops an early target in his MAHA campaign. He chastised the cereal giant for using artificial dyes in the U.S., while selling cereal with naturally derived colors across the border in Canada.
Last fall, Kennedy confidante Vani Hari, a food activist who calls herself the Food Babe and has 2.3 million Instagram followers, led a protest outside Kellogg's headquarters, with demonstrators carrying signs that read "ditch the dyes" and "stop poisoning us."
Hari also took her fight to Capitol Hill and state legislatures. At hearings, she displayed different boxes of Froot Loops, and she has accused Kellogg of selling a less safe product to American children.
Hari has targeted Kellogg CEO Gary Pilnick himself in social-media posts, such as one showing a fake package for a Pilnick Halloween costume, labeled as including "poisonous artificial dyes" and "cancer and obesity."
Pilnick, who is 60 years old, hasn't publicly pushed back. "Sometimes you would rather not be in the news," he said last year.
Kellogg and other food companies have said artificial dyes are safe and highly regulated. Kellogg has said that the vast majority of its sales come from cereals that don't contain artificial colors, and that it offered different versions of its products internationally because consumers' preferences vary across markets.
A Kellogg spokeswoman said that the company agrees with the Trump administration's focus on health and wellness, and that it has changed its cereals over time to suit consumers' changing tastes, such as offering more whole grains and fiber and less sugar and sodium.
Most of its cereals, she said, start with a grain that is puffed, toasted, flaked or shredded, and many contain just four ingredients plus vitamins and minerals, which the company has begun noting on some packaging.
For a product like Froot Loops, removing artificial dyes from the cereal sold in the U.S. wouldn't be simple.
In Canada, the dough for Kellogg's traditional Froot Loops is made at a plant in Belleville, Ontario, using coloring derived from carrots, watermelon and blueberries. (Its marshmallow version uses artificial dyes.) To switch to natural dyes in the U.S., Kellogg would need to secure huge quantities of new ingredients and retool parts of its plants, installing new pumps and other equipment.
Kellogg announced a decade ago that it would remove artificial colors and flavors from its branded cereals by the end of 2018. But naturally dyed Froot Loops didn't test well with consumers.
Shortly after Trump's re-election, food industry lobbyists began mounting a defense on Capitol Hill. Early on, some focused on "MAHA-curious" lawmakers they thought might be sympathetic to the agenda, according to a person familiar with the matter. They told them the industry works to produce safe, convenient and affordable food, and in some cases they brought in-house scientists to explain what certain ingredients actually do.
CBA, the food-industry trade group, called for policies grounded in science and common sense. The group set up a meeting in March between Kennedy and the CEOs of major food companies.
Kennedy asked that Kellogg's Pilnick attend, according to people familiar with the matter. During the meeting, Pilnick sat at a conference table near the CEOs of Tyson Foods and J.M. Smucker. Kennedy made one of his top priorities clear: Artificial dyes must go. Pilnick posed for pictures with Kennedy.
Inside the Consumer Brand Association, food company executives were split over how to navigate the situation, according to people familiar with the matter. Some went through multiple "stages of grief" before deciding to remove artificial dyes from their products, one of the people said. Others have resisted any retreat, urging the group to mount a stronger defense.
Later in March, CBA brought Kennedy a proposal. The group said its members would work to phase out artificial dyes from foods, and asked for the administration's help on issues from natural dyes to tariffs, according to a document reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.
Atop CBA's wishlist was for Kennedy to help prevent a patchwork of state laws with different requirements on artificial dyes, food additives and other matters.
Kennedy hasn't done that. Instead, he publicly thanked the governors of states that have tightened food regulation, crediting them with giving HHS more leverage over food companies.
For Kellogg, the prospect of removing artificial dyes adds to financial pressures at a time when cereal, once a mainstay of American breakfast tables, is in decline. For more than a decade, consumers have been trading their cereal bowls for yogurt, bars, shakes and other such fare.
In the 12 months ending Aug. 9, U.S. consumers spent $197 million less on ready-to-eat cereal than they did in the year-earlier period, according to market-research firm NielsenIQ. In a 2023 survey, 39% of American adults reported that they eat heavily sweetened cold cereal such as Froot Loops, according to research firm Mintel. In this year's survey, that figure has fallen to 31%.
Cereal's lackluster outlook helped spur Kellogg Co.'s move to separate cereal from its larger and faster-growing snacks business, which it named Kellanova. That move effectively put a for-sale sign on the cereal business.
Ferrero, whose sprawling portfolio includes Nutella and Tic Tacs, approached Kellogg in April, according to the recent security filing. The two companies had done business before. In 2019, Ferrero bought Kellogg's Keebler cookie business and other brands for $1.3 billion.The 79-year old, family-owned company has been scooping up other U.S. brands, including Butterfinger candy bars and Blue Bunny ice cream. Executive Chairman Giovanni Ferrero, grandson of Ferrero's founder, was behind a corporate overhaul that has led to the dealmaking spree.
Ferrero believes the cereal aisle has suffered from a lack of innovation, an area the company considers a strength, according to people familiar with the matter.
Over time, Kellogg's posture on artificial dyes changed. In April, Kellogg said it planned to remove dyes from products made for schools. The company also said that it would work with federal officials to ultimately remove them from all its products.
Ferrero executives ultimately determined that they could handle MAHA. Costs to reformulate Kellogg products appeared manageable, and executives felt reassured by their experience in Europe, where they have worked to comply with tighter regulations. They also don't see Kellogg's problems as unique -- much of the food industry faces the same pressures.
A private-equity firm also bid for Kellogg, according to people familiar with the matter. Early in the morning on July 10, Kellogg's board of directors agreed to sell the company to Ferrero for roughly $3 billion.
Later that day, Pilnick addressed employees in a town hall at Kellogg's headquarters. Executives said that Kellogg's planned investment in the local cereal plant would continue.
A week later, Kellogg said it would remove artificial dyes from all its products by the end of 2027.
"Froot Loops is finally following its nose -- toward common sense," Kennedy said on X. He called on more companies to follow suit.” [3]
1. Emulsifiers in food are additives that blend ingredients that don't normally mix, like oil and water, to create a smooth texture and prevent separation. They are found in many processed foods, including mayonnaise, ice cream, bread, and salad dressings, and are required by law to be listed on the ingredient label. While generally recognized as safe (GRAS) by authorities like the FDA, some research suggests potential links between certain emulsifiers and negative health effects, such as inflammation and gut health issues, particularly with increased consumption of ultra-processed foods.
What they are and how they work
Function:
Emulsifiers are molecules with both water-attracting (hydrophilic) and oil-attracting (hydrophobic) parts. This allows them to bind oil and water together, creating a stable emulsion like mayonnaise.
Benefits:
Improved Texture & Consistency: They create the smooth textures consumers expect in products like ice cream and sauces.
Stability: They prevent ingredients from separating, extending a food's shelf life.
Appearance: They enhance the overall appearance and appeal of food.
Common examples
Natural:
Lecithin (from soy or egg yolk), mustard, honey, and xanthan gum are natural emulsifiers.
Plant-based:
Guar gum, carrageenan (from seaweed), and pectin (from fruit) are other examples.
Synthetic:
Mono- and diglycerides, polysorbate, and carboxymethylcellulose are synthetic options.
Health considerations
Regulation:
Emulsifiers are regulated by food safety authorities like the FDA and EFSA and are considered safe within approved limits.
Potential Risks:
Some studies suggest a link between certain emulsifiers and an altered gut microbiome, which could lead to inflammation and chronic diseases.
Moderation:
While occasional consumption is unlikely to cause significant harm, a diet rich in ultra-processed foods, which often contain these emulsifiers, may pose risks.
How to reduce intake
Choose natural emulsifiers: Opt for products with natural emulsifiers like lecithin or mustard.
Avoid ultra-processed foods: These foods are more likely to contain synthetic emulsifiers.
Look at the ingredient list: Emulsifiers are listed, so you can identify and avoid specific types if desired.
2. The claim that seed oils are bad is a controversial one, with mixed evidence to support it.
Arguments Against Seed Oils:
High in omega-6 fatty acids:
Seed oils are rich in omega-6 fatty acids, which can promote inflammation when consumed in excess.
Processed and refined:
Seed oils are typically processed and refined, which may remove beneficial nutrients and introduce harmful chemicals.
Oxidative stability:
Seed oils are relatively unstable and prone to oxidation during heating, producing free radicals that can damage cells. Avoid heating them. Add after coocking.
Linked to chronic diseases:
Some studies have associated seed oil consumption with an increased risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes.
Arguments in Favor of Seed Oils:
Provide essential fatty acids: Seed oils contain essential fatty acids, such as omega-6 and omega-3, which are necessary for bodily functions.
Low in saturated fat: Most seed oils are low in saturated fat, which is considered unhealthy.
Source of vitamins and antioxidants: Seed oils can be a good source of vitamins E and K, as well as antioxidants.
Moderation is key: When consumed in moderation, seed oils without heating can be part of a healthy diet.
Conclusion:
The evidence on whether seed oils are bad for health is mixed. While some concerns exist regarding their high omega-6 content, processing methods, and oxidative stability, seed oils also provide essential nutrients and may have health benefits when consumed in moderation without heating.
3. RFK Jr.'s MAHA Agenda Is Shaking Big Food Makers --- Kellogg buyer weighs attack on dyes and processed food. Newman, Jesse; Tucker-Smith, Owen. Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 27 Aug 2025: A1.
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