On April 22, 2025, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced plans to phase out all petroleum-based synthetic food dyes due to growing concerns about their potential health effects.

Since these dyes have been used for nearly a century, why is this happening now? Does this decision accord with the published science? Should we expect litigation to emerge given these announcements? What about “regrettable substitution”?