In-N-Out, a much-loved burger outlet once-exclusive to California but now spanning much of the West Coast with its 418 restaurants, has announced a shake-up to its recipes.
The move comes in response to US health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, 71, announcing a ban on various artificial ingredients.
In-N-Out is removing now-banned colourings from its Signature Pink Lemonade and Strawberry milkshakes, along with moving to use ketchup made with sugar rather than high-fructose corn syrup.
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While the colourings themselves haven’t been named, RFK Jr named eight dyes that were in line for a ban, saying they’re 'clearly associated with a grim inventory of diseases, including cancers, behavioural disease and neurological disease like ADHD'.
One of those is Red 40, a petroleum-based dye that’s been earmarked as a potential hyperactivity trigger in children.
The others were: Green 3, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Blue 1, Blue 2, Citrus Red 2, and Orange B.
While the high-fructose corn syrup hasn’t been banned as yet, RFK Jr has previously said its links with a heightened diabetes risk, obesity, and poor appetite control could see it get the ban treatment too.
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While eight artificial dyes have been banned, a few natural food colourings have recently been approved for use in America by the FDA, including: Galdieria blue which is made with microalgae, butterfly pea flower extract sourced from petals, and calcium phosphate.
An In-N-Out spokesperson said of the changes: “As part of our ongoing commitment to providing our customers with the highest-quality ingredients, we have removed artificial colouring from our Strawberry Shakes and Signature Pink Lemonade.
“We’re also in the process of transitioning to an upgraded ketchup, which is made with real sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup.”
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In-N-Out hasn’t announced any other recipe changes in line with the bans.
Food and drink giant PepsiCo announced in late April that it had begun phasing out the ingredients named in the US health secretary’s ban proposals.
Cheetos, Lay’s, Tostitos and Doritos will all include more natural ingredients as part of the move, according to PepsiCo CEO Ramon Laguarta, citing shifts in consumer preferences.
Rachael Davis