No More Artificial Colors in Trix

Say goodbye to Red 40, Yellow 6, and Blue 1 in your Trix. General Mills is doing away with those and other artificial colors, plus all artificial flavors, in Trix, Cocoa Puffs, and Reese's Puffs cereals by the end of the year, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. But don't worry: Trix won't entirely be losing its iconic rainbow hue, as the company will move to dyes made from spices or fruit and vegetable juice concentrates, though a rep acknowledges the cereal won't be quite as bright—and the blue and green puffs will be missing, since those were too hard to duplicate. (In the case of Trix, turmeric, plus concentrates from radishes, strawberries, and blueberries, will be used. Judge for yourself how effective they are in the gallery.) As for the taste, the president of the company's US cereal business says customers shouldn't notice any difference.

General Mills, the first major US cereal maker to make such a big move away from artificial colors, says more than 60% of its cereals are already artificial color- and flavor-free, and that number will be 90% by the end of next year and 100% by the end of 2017. (Speaking of brightly-colored cereals, click for the shocking truth about Froot Loops.)