The Wall Street Journal reported that Mars, the maker of M&M’s, intends to release a version of the candy without synthetic colors later this year. The initial naturally colored blend will lack blue and brown, two of the candy’s classic shades, the Journal said.
The Journal sent a video journalist to a Mars factory in Topeka, Kan., to document the company’s efforts to develop a natural replacement for the bright blue dye that gives M&M’s their signature hue. The report described the challenges of finding a natural blue colorant that can be produced at industrial scale and that matches the appearance of the artificial dye consumers expect.
Natural blue is considered one of the hardest colors to replicate from plant- or algae-based sources, the Journal noted. Brown is typically achieved by mixing several colors, including blue, making it another casualty of the absence of a viable natural blue.
The move comes as consumers increasingly turn away from artificial ingredients, the Journal reported, and Mars is among several major food companies responding to that shift. The company did not specify a launch date for the naturally colored M&M’s beyond later this year.