In-N-Out Removing Artificial Ingredients From Popular Drinks

The burger chain will replace the ingredients with natural ones.

An In-N-Out Burger restaurant in Oakland, Calif., on Jan. 23, 2024. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Burger chain In-N-Out says it is taking artificial dyes out of some of its food and drinks, shortly after federal regulators announced a ban on several dyes and plans to work with companies to remove the rest voluntarily.

Lynsi Snyder, In-N-Out’s owner and president, told The Epoch Times via email on May 16 that the chain is removing Red No. 40, an artificial coloring, from its strawberry milkshakes and pink lemonade. The drinks will now contain natural dyes, including beta carotene.

The chain is also replacing Yellow No. 5 in its pickles, chilis, and house spread. That artificial dye will be replaced with turmeric.

In the future, In-N-Out will provide customers with ketchup that contains sugar as opposed to high-fructose corn syrup.

Snyder said that company officials “take pride in these improvements.” In-N-Out’s mission statement pledges to provide the freshest, highest-quality foods, she said.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), part of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), said in April that it was banning two synthetic dyes used in food and drinks, on top of a previously announced ban of Red No. 3.

Officials said they would be working with companies to voluntarily remove the remaining six artificial dyes that regulators had previously authorized,  including Red 40.

“In less than 30 days of HHS and FDA announcing plans to phase out petroleum-based dyes from the nation’s food supply, American fast-food chain, In-N-Out Burger, is voluntarily eliminating synthetic dyes from a few of its menu items,” Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wrote on the social media platform X on Thursday.

“I encourage more companies to prioritize Americans’ health and join the effort to Make America Healthy Again,” he added.

In-N-Out did not respond to a query asking whether it plans to remove dyes from additional menu items in the future.

Multiple other companies have recently said they would be removing dyes in the wake of the FDA’s announcement.

PepsiCo said that it would be removing dyes from certain brands, such as Lays, by the end of the year.

“In the next couple of years, we’ll have migrated all the portfolio into natural colors or at least provide the consumer with natural color options,” CEO Ramon Laguarta told investors in a call.

Tyson Foods CEO Donnie King said in a separate call that the company is working to eliminate synthetic dyes in a process expected to be finished by June.

The artificial dyes have been linked in research with behavioral problems. A clinical trial of several hundred children, for instance, determined that artificial colors “result in increased hyperactivity in 3-year-old and 8/9-year-old children in the general population.”