The FDA Wants Synthetic Dyes Like Red 40 Out of Food. What's on Your Syrup Shelf?

In April 2025, the FDA announced a plan to get petroleum-based dyes out of the U.S. food supply. The list includes Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Blue 1, Blue 2 and Green 3. Those are the dyes behind a lot of the bright colors in food and drinks.

The FDA is asking food and ingredient makers to replace them with colors from natural sources, and it's fast-tracking approval of new natural colors to make that easier. For now, that part is a request, not a ban.

Red 3 is a different story. The FDA revoked its approval in January 2025, and food makers have until January 15, 2027 to take it out.

States are moving too. California bans the sale of food containing Red 3 starting January 1, 2027. Utah and Arizona began pulling Red 40 and other synthetic dyes from school meals this school year, and Virginia's school rule starts July 1, 2027. West Virginia passed the broadest law, covering all food sold in the state, but a federal judge has put that part on hold.

Some of those same dyes show up in the syrup on coffee and soda shop shelves.

What's on your shelf

Start with the brightly colored flavors: blue raspberry, cherry, strawberry, watermelon, green apple. But any flavor can have them, so the label is the only way to know.

Checking takes about a minute. Synthetic dyes have to be listed by name in the ingredients. Look for Red 3, Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Blue 1, Blue 2 or Green 3. They're sometimes written the long way, like FD&C Red No. 40.

Why it matters to your shop

Customers read labels, and parents ask about dyes. When someone asks if the blue drink has dye in it, you want a straight answer, not "let me check."

Those questions come from the same headlines you've seen. Between the FDA, the state laws and big food companies announcing they'll drop these dyes, more of your customers have heard of Red 40 than ever before.

That's also an opening. A shop that can say "no synthetic dyes in our syrups" has an easy answer at the counter, and something worth putting on the menu board.

If your syrups have them now, it's easier to switch before customers start asking than to explain after.

Why shops are switching to Dopoco

Dopoco is a powder flavor concentrate that comes in stick packs. One packet, sugar and water makes a full liter of syrup.

None of our nearly 50 flavors use synthetic dyes. So when a customer asks if your syrup has synthetic dyes, the answer is no.

And that's just one of the reasons shops switch. Big-name bottled syrup runs about 25 to 30 cents an ounce by the case, and 35 to 39 cents by the single bottle. Dopoco works out to about 15 to 18 cents an ounce, depending on how much you order. A shop pouring 100 ounces of flavor a day would save $2,700 to $5,600 a year compared with buying by the case, and $6,000 or more compared with single bottles. And the flavor stays dry in the packet until you need it, so you mix syrup fresh in about 90 seconds.

Try it in your shop

We'll send your shop 3 flavors free. You just cover shipping.

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Fine print: Free samples are for coffee shops, soda shops and other beverage businesses. One kit per business. Shipping is paid at checkout.