The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a final order revoking the authorized use of Orange B as a food color additive and simultaneously proposed revoking Citrus Red No. 2, the agency announced July 22. Both are petroleum-derived synthetic dyes, and their removal — one finalized, one in proposed rulemaking — signals a sustained regulatory push toward cleaner ingredient decks across the food and beverage supply chain.
For beverage formulators and contract manufacturers, the practical exposure is limited but real. Orange B has historically been authorized only for use in frankfurter and sausage casings, making its direct beverage application negligible. Citrus Red No. 2, however, has been permitted on the skin of certain Florida oranges, a detail with downstream relevance for fresh-squeezed and cold-pressed juice operations, as well as co-packers sourcing whole citrus for RTD beverage programs. Any supplier using treated fruit in a production run would need to confirm compliance once a final rule is published.
Regulatory Timeline
The Orange B revocation takes effect as a final order, meaning manufacturers must move immediately to reformulate or discontinue any affected products. The Citrus Red No. 2 proposal enters a public comment period before a final rule is issued, giving beverage and juice operators a window to audit sourcing contracts and notify co-manufacturing partners. Both actions fall under the FDA's broader initiative to eliminate outdated color additive authorizations — many of which were grandfathered in under mid-20th-century review standards that predate modern toxicological benchmarks.
Supply Chain Implications
For the broader beverage industry, the more significant signal is directional: the FDA is actively revisiting the full roster of certified synthetic color additives, and beverage SKUs built on legacy dye approvals face growing regulatory risk. Suppliers, co-packers, and brand owners sourcing ingredients subject to color additive certification — particularly in energy drinks, sports beverages, flavored waters, and juice-based RTDs — should treat this dual action as a prompt to review their formulation documentation with TTB and FDA compliance counsel.
Natural colorant suppliers, including those offering annatto, beta-carotene, spirulina, and fruit-and-vegetable juice concentrates, stand to benefit as reformulation pressure accelerates. Several large beverage contract manufacturers have already begun offering natural-color reformulation services as a standard co-pack option, responding to retailer planogram requirements from major off-premise chains that have added clean-label mandates to their private-label and national-brand shelf standards.
This latest FDA action reinforces what procurement and R&D teams across the beverage supply chain have been anticipating: the window for synthetic dye reliance is narrowing, and proactive ingredient substitution is increasingly a commercial necessity, not just a marketing preference. Operators in the juice and RTD segment tracking this rulemaking should file comments during the proposed-rule period to protect sourcing flexibility.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
