Overview
- Mars plans a limited August launch of Amazon-exclusive M&M’s that use natural dyes and omit the blue and brown pieces while the company continues product testing.
- The company says existing full-color M&M’s will remain available in stores and through other online channels during the limited rollout.
- Mars has been unable to reproduce blue and brown at scale because both depend on large amounts of synthetic Blue No. 1 and the natural alternative spirulina proved thick, costly, and prone to gumming factory equipment.
- The company has created a roughly 100-person team, upgraded about 300 machines and added new cleaning equipment, and aims to return to all six original colors with natural dyes by 2028.
- The move follows the FDA’s plan to phase out petroleum-based synthetic dyes by the end of 2026 and echoes broader food-industry reformulation efforts that earlier backtracked in 2016 but now face renewed political and regulatory pressure.