NBC News went to PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay R&D center in Plano, Texas, to see — and taste – what Doritos and Cheetos without synthetic colors would be like.
In both text and a four-minute video, Justin French, senior director of R&D for PepsiCo Foods, showed an NBC reporter how beets, radishes, paprika, annatto and turmeric will change the color, and sometimes the taste, of the iconic American snacks. But not by much.
Although the revamped products are not final, those are the likely replacements for, primarily, Red 40, Yellow 5 and Yellow 6, which apparently are used in some Cheetos and Doritos products.
PepsiCo vowed in July to remove the synthetic colors targeted by FDA and Health & Human Services Dept. – Blue 1 & 2, Green 3, Red 3 & 40 and Yellow 5 & 6 – largely by the government “suggested” deadline of Jan. 1, 2027, and also said in July those colors were to be out of school snacks by the start of this school year. The reds and yellows are used in Cheetos and Doritos.
“They come with their own flavor, right, just like a vegetable would, and we’re blending them into those seasonings. So you really have to manage those flavors together,” Denise Lefebvre, senior vice president of global foods research and development at PepsiCo, said in the accompanying story. “They’re sensitive to light. They’re sensitive to oxygen.”
It’s a good watch and read; see the story and video here.
Dining and Cooking