Blue and Brown M&M's Are Out As Mars Grapples With New FDA Food Dye Requirements

It's not how the company wanted to celebrate its 85th birthday...

Few candies are as iconic as Mars, Incorporated's M&M's. The colorful, candy-coated shells of the beloved chocolates have drawn eyes and tempted tongues with ease since 1941. The candy was a collaboration between Forrest Mars Sr. and Bruce Murrie, the son of the president of Hershey, with the intent of being sold to soldiers who could pocket the sweets without fear of them melting like traditional uncoated chocolates. In the years since, M&M's have become a staple treat for people all over the world.

There have been numerous changes to the color lineup of M&M's across the decades. In the '40s, the original colors were red, brown, yellow, green, and violet; in 1976, red was removed over health concerns about a red food dye (that ironically wasn't part of Mars' formula for the color) and replaced with orange; in 1987, red made a comeback; and in 1997, fans voted to add blue to the lineup at the expense of tan, which was retired. Now, two colors find themselves on the chopping block thanks to new food dye regulations from the FDA: blue and, of all colors, brown (it's really that hard to make?!).

In 2025, the FDA made the announcement that it would be requiring food makers to move away from petroleum-based food dyes, with actual regulations coming into effect in early February of this year. This has put Mars in a pickle, as the company has been using these harmful dyes in its M&M's candies for years. In an effort to comply with the new federal requirements, Mars has been experimenting with new dye formulas, but to little success.

Mars has found a couple of alternative ingredients, but they're either prohibitively expensive or proving problematic to implement from a manufacturing position (one batch of dye was gumming up sprayers, for instance). Thus, when Mars revealed its new, FDA-compliant, artificial ingredients-free M&M's will be launching in August, it was with the caveat that blue and brown will not be available as part of the initial lineup. Mars is hoping to bring the colors back by 2028. As the company turns 85 this year, it's a bit of a downer to see the colors go, but it's certainly worth the cost of keeping Americans healthier.

Will blue and brown ever return? Tell us what you think on social media!

Source: The Wall Street Journal