Nestlé look to remove all artificial food colouring

Nestlé, with Irish headquarters in Citywest, has announced that they will remove all artificial food colouring from their products globally by the end of 2026.

Nestlé Ireland of Citywest Business Campus is set to undergo changes as they look to remove artificial food colouring from their foods across the world before the end of the year, following on from the fulfilling of a commitment to do so in the US market.

The move would make the food manufacturer the first major company to make such a decision on a global scale.

Nestlé’s products include coffee and tea, candy and confectionery, bottled water, infant formula and baby food, dairy products and ice cream, frozen foods, breakfast cereals, dry packaged foods and snacks, pet foods, and medical food.

The previously unreported target comes as food companies face mounting pressure to offer healthier products amid the rapid rise of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs and growing consumer scrutiny of food ingredients.

“By the end of the year we will have the global Nestle portfolio free of artificial colours,” Stefan Palzer, Nestle’s technology chief, told Reuters in an exclusive interview at the firm’s Swiss headquarters in Vevey.

Last year, the company had made a commitment to remove artificial food colouring from products in the USA and did so within their planned timeline of 12 months.

Nestlé stated that it has been actively removing synthetic colours from its products over the last decade and working to identify alternative solutions in recipes where they are still used.

Speaking on the US decision last year, the company said: “This effort is part of the company’s ongoing commitment to provide consumers with a range of high-quality, nutritious foods and beverages that reflect the diversity and choices that they want.”