Big Changes for Breakfast

Kellogg says it will remove artificial food dyes from its U.S. breakfast cereals.

If you’ve ever eaten a breakfast cereal that turned milk pink or blue, it may be because the cereal contained brightly colored food dye. That’s about to change. WH Kellogg says it will remove artificial food dyes from breakfast cereals sold in the United States by the end of 2026.

It’s not that Kellogg cereals like Froot Loops and Apple Jacks will be colorless. The company says it will maintain the colors by replacing the artificial dyes with fruit juices. This is something Kellogg has already done with its cereals that are sold in Canada and some other countries, where there are rules on how and when certain food dyes can be used.

Consumers (people who buy products) and U.S. and state government officials have been urging Kellogg to remove the dyes. And earlier in 2026, the retail company Target said it would stop selling cereals with artificial dyes. This is because research suggests that these ingredients can contribute to hyperactivity and other health problems.

“More and more consumers are looking for foods made with simple, recognizable ingredients, and we are proud to meet those expectations,” Kellogg’s Chief Growth Officer Doug VandeVelde said in a statement.

Did You Know?

More than two billion boxes of cereal are sold each year in the United States alone!

Where Cereal Got Its Start

The National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, Maryland; Photo illustration Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

James Caleb Jackson

Did you know that breakfast cereal was first intended as a health food?

An American named James Caleb Jackson developed the first ready-to-eat breakfast cereal in 1863. Jackson, who was a doctor, believed that many sicknesses could be cured by eating a better diet. He focused on breakfast.

At the time, many Americans started their day with eggs, bacon, chicken or beef, hot cereal, toast, butter, and jam. Jackson thought this was all too much for the digestive system to handle.

He developed “granula,” a cereal that was ready-to-eat, meaning it didn’t need to be cooked.

“He baked graham flour into brittle cakes, which he then crumbled and baked again,” according to The New York Times Magazine.

Granula wasn’t too similar to the breakfast cereals we eat today. For one thing, it was so hard that it had to be soaked in milk overnight.

Not surprisingly, Jackson’s granula wasn’t very popular. But it inspired a man named John Harvey Kellogg to make his own ready-to-eat cereal in the 1870s or 1880s. Kellogg’s first cereal was made from wheat flour, oatmeal, and corn meal. He called it “granola.”

People liked granola better than granula, and Kellogg decided to invent other cereals. Today, the Kellogg company is one of the most popular cereal makers in the United States.

Great Tastes

Did you know that humans can sense five basic tastes? They are salty, sweet, sour, bitter, and a meat-like flavor called umami. We’re able to taste foods and drinks because of our tongues.

Learn more about the tongue at Britannica!

WHAT'S THE WORD?

chowhound

Part of speech:

noun

Definition:

: a person who likes to eat

Definitions provided by

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Criss Cross

Can you figure out where each word goes?

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“In the News: Big Changes for Breakfast.” Britannica School, Encyclopaedia Britannica, 23 Aug. 2026. https://news.eb.com/level1/big-changes-for-breakfast. Accessed 24 Aug. 2026 [Replace this date with today’s date.]