Correction: The Blue and Brown M&M’S aren’t being eliminated. They are just not included in this initial FD&C-free lineup. Mars aims to have the full core blend available by 2028. More here in this link: https://www.mars.com/news-and-stories/articles/mars-wrigley-us-extends-consumer-choice
It sounds wild, but it is entirely true. Mars (the maker of M&M’s) is rolling out a brand-new, artificial dye-free version of M&M’s on Amazon, and blue and brown are completely missing from the bag.
This change is a direct result of pressure from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) initiative to push petroleum-based synthetic dyes out of the U.S. food supply.
Replicating those colors naturally turned out to be an absolute nightmare for Mars.
Why Blue and Brown Got the Boot
While Mars successfully used natural sources like beets and turmeric to recreate red and yellow, blue proved to be a multi-million-dollar roadblock:
- The Algae Problem: To replace artificial Blue 1, Mars used spirulina extract (a blue-green algae powder). KGW
- The Machinery Meltdown: Spirulina doesn’t dissolve perfectly in water. Because blue requires a massive amount of pigment to look right, the thick sludge kept clogging the factory’s spray nozzles and creating machine build-ups, which posed sanitary and operational hazards. KGW
- The Cost: Spirulina is incredibly expensive—running anywhere from $20 to $100 per pound, compared to about $10 a pound for turmeric. KGW
- Why Brown Suffered too: To get that classic chocolate-brown candy shell color, the factory actually relies on a mixture that includes blue dye. No blue, no brown.
What the New Bags Look Like
Mars executives briefly considered releasing a warm-toned bag featuring just red, orange, and yellow, but reportedly killed the idea because “the sunset vibes were too strong.” Instead, they decided to launch the natural line with red, yellow, orange, and green.
They also experimented with adding new natural colors like pink and purple to fill the void, but felt it ruined the classic M&M’s aesthetic.
Don’t panic if you love the full rainbow, though. Mars is treating this as a transition phase rather than a permanent deletion. They’ve hired over 100 new employees specifically to solve the spirulina problem, and their current goal is to figure out the engineering and bring blue and brown back—completely natural—by 2028