M&M’s are entering their Make America Healthy Again era.
But as a result, two historic colors may end up in the can.
As the iconic candy marks its 85th year this summer and in a broader effort to remove artificial dyes, M&M’s will debut a natural-ingredient version.
And while the brand can figure out how to make red, orange, and yellow M&M’s without artificial dyes, blue and brown are on the chopping block.
As pressure mounts from Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s MAHA movement to ditch synthetic food colorings, candy giant Mars is spending millions of dollars to reinvent one of America’s most recognizable treats.
But replacing the bright blue shell that has been part of M&M’s rainbow since 1995 has turned into a surprisingly sticky problem.
The culprit is spirulina, the high-protein ingredient often touted as a superfood, which is apparently gumming up the machines at the Mars facility that produces 600 million M&M’s every day.
According to a Wall Street Journal report, Mars selected spirulina as the best natural substitute for the artificial dye Blue 1.
But the algae-based ingredient requires roughly seven times as much pigment to achieve that M&M “cerulean” hue and ends up creating a thick, foamy mixture that leaves an unwanted plaque, much like what you try to avoid after eating candy.
The coated remnants are said to cause a buildup in pipes and, eventually, mold, which poses a food-safety hazard.
“It’s the hardest thing I’ve had to do in my career,” Claire Hewitt, the Mars executive overseeing the multimillion-dollar initiative and self-described “chief color officer,” told the Journal.
The blue problem has become so complicated that Mars will debut naturally colored M&M’s in August without two of its classic shades, because brown relies heavily on blue coloring to achieve the look.
The company experimented with other options, including purple and pink candies, but executives ultimately decided neither looked right. Mars even considered releasing a three-color mix before settling on a four-color lineup.
More than 100 employees have worked on the project across Mars facilities, experimenting with just how to crack the coloring code. But the task would come with an expensive overhaul.
To combat the gunk, Mars must upgrade more than 300 machines across its M&M’s plants to handle spirulina, which would include installing new mixing tanks, paddles, and motors, Hewitt told the Journal.
And cleaning the new cleaning equipment would require hotter water, more force, and more time.
The costly makeover comes as the MAHA movement pushes food manufacturers to phase out synthetic dyes, which Kennedy has linked to various health concerns, particularly in children.
Food companies have largely defended the additives as safe and approved by regulators, but growing pressure and restrictions have caused many brands to explore natural alternatives.
While Mars actually pledged in 2016 to remove artificial colors from its food products, it then walked back those plans for candy, saying at the time, shoppers weren’t particularly concerned about the dyes in occasional treats.
Now the company appears committed to offering consumers another option. Naturally colored M&M’s will initially be sold exclusively through Amazon, while the traditional artificially colored version isn’t going anywhere for now.
The ultimate goal is to recreate all six classic M&M colors using natural ingredients by 2028.

A TikTok video showing a woman dancing in a Walmart checkout line after what a caption described as a $3,000 EBT purchase has sparked debate on X about public assistance programs.
The video was uploaded on X by the user MatrixMysteries and got more than 75,000 views as of publication. The post claimed the woman used $3,000 in Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) funds. However, the amount stated in the post has not been independently verified by the Daily Dot.
The original video, which was uploaded by TikTok user @blackbeauty_235, shows a woman dancing next to a cart full of items like milk and cereal while standing in a Walmart checkout line. The line, “spending our 3k in food stamps at Walmart,” shows up in the video. But no details regarding her situation or the size of her household were given.
One X user argued that public aid should only be given to one child per household and only until the child is old enough to go to school. Others focused on bigger financial challenges that older Americans face. “75-year-old women who have worked 40 years, with no childcare, paid into SS their entire lives! They get 1800 a month, not even enough for rent. Choosing between food and medicine,” one user said as they urged recipients who are healthy and physically fit to look for work.
An X user suggested that people who boast about receiving government benefits should face more restrictions.
A commenter who said they grew up in South Dakota wrote that benefit distribution dates were known as “food check day.” Some commenters said they had worked multiple jobs rather than seeking assistance.
EBT cards are used to distribute benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
However, as scholars and anti-hunger activists note, social media videos often lack information about recipients’ financial status, family size, or eligibility requirements.

The empty nest is filling back up.
Millions of young adults are delaying life on their own as high housing costs keep them living with mom and dad. In 2025, 25.2 million adults under 35 lived with a parent, according to new data from Realtor.com. That amounts to roughly one in three people in that age group.
The numbers point to a housing market that remains difficult to break into, even for young adults with jobs and college degrees, the outlet reported.
“The adults living with their parents today are largely employed, and many hold college degrees,” Hannah Jones, senior economist at Realtor.com, said in a statement. “What’s holding them back isn’t a lack of qualifications, but rather, at least in part, a lack of housing they can actually afford. This is a supply story, not an employment story.”
GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS ADD NEARLY $132K TO COST OF NEW HOME, BUILDERS SAY
That supply problem has been years in the making. The U.S. is short roughly 4 million homes, with entry-level properties especially scarce. The gap has widened since construction slowed following the 2008 financial crisis, Realtor.com reported.
About 70% of 25- to-34-year-olds living with their parents have jobs. In 2000, about one in nine employed adults in their late 20s lived at home. By 2025, that share had climbed to nearly one in seven.
For many young Americans, moving out has become increasingly expensive.
The national median home listing price is $430,000, up 34.4% from 2019, while the median asking rent has climbed to $1,673, up 17.9% over the same period, according to Realtor.com.
MEDIAN US HOME PRICE PROJECTED TO HIT $1 MILLION BY 2050 — RIGHT AS MILLENNIALS RETIRE
The delayed move into independent living could eventually translate into a wave of future housing demand.
As affordability improves or more homes are built, millions of young adults who postponed renting or buying could enter the market, Realtor.com reported.
“Twenty-five million adults living with their parents represents a generation of latent demand the market hasn’t absorbed,” Jones said. “Every adult still in a childhood bedroom is a household not formed, a lease unsigned, a starter home unpurchased. The typical first-time buyer is now 40 — that’s not a coincidence, it’s the math of a market that hasn’t built enough.”
The delay can also have long-term financial consequences.
Each year spent living at home can delay a young adult’s ability to build housing equity, Realtor.com noted.
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The outlook is not getting easier. According to new projections from National Association of Realtors (NAR) chief economist Lawrence Yun, the national median home price is on track to hit $1 million by 2050 — just as millennials reach the traditional retirement age.
“Essentially, in about 25 years the national median home price will be a million dollars,” Yun said at a conference in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday. “It may be hard to envision that, but back in 1990, the national median price was $90,000.”

The Telegraph notes that Kennedy has already barred Citrus Red No. 2 and Orange B dyes, with the FDA working on also phasing out a variety of others. Figuring out natural colors has turned into a multimillion-dollar headache for the candymaker, which produces 600 million M&M’s a day in the US, per the Journal. Beets and turmeric handled red, orange, and yellow, while green can be achieved with spirulina, a blue-green algae.
Blue, however, has become what one dye executive calls the “holy grail.” Mars turned to spirulina for that, too, but its blue candies need more spirulina than green ones, and the algae tends to clog spray nozzles, leading to cleanup after making the blues that would be too disruptive to production. Brown M&M’s also partly depend on blue coloring to achieve their hue.

In late 2027, Qantas will launch the world’s longest nonstop flight, from Sydney (SYD) to London (LHR), using specially configured Airbus A350-1000ULRs, in what’s referred to as “Project Sunrise.” With a flight time of well over 20 hours, these flights will be an absolute marathon, especially for those in economy.
Fortunately the airline has been promising especially generous seat pitch in economy, though guess what? Well, the airline has now backtracked, and if you want more legroom, you’ll probably have to pay for it. Qantas management’s ability to overpromise and underdeliver never ceases to amaze me, and I don’t think the airline gets enough criticism for it.
Qantas Airbus A350ULRs will have less seat pitch than promised
Since 2022, Qantas has been hyping the passenger experience on its new Airbus A350-1000ULRs, promising how all passengers will “experience a new standard of comfort” on these planes. As part of that, the company has explicitly been promising 33″ of pitch in economy, with no strings attached. For example, here’s a direct quote from former Qantas CEO Alan Joyce:
“Economy travellers will have an OLED 13-inch TV screen, foot net and convenient storage space within arms’ reach to store glasses and personal items. The team has spent extensive time testing ergonomics, lumbar support and breathability of the seat fabrics in the new Economy seat which will have 33 inches of legroom.”
Typically on wide body aircraft, 31″ of pitch is the standard, so a couple of extra inches can make a difference. But really, it makes sense to offer a little more space, given the absolutely wild lengths of these flights, plus that they’ll come at a premium in terms of pricing. As it turns out, the airline now has a new strategy, and is now just promising that more than 70% of economy seats will have 33″ or more of pitch.
As reported by Executive Traveller, what’s going on here is that rather than offering everyone in economy 33″ of pitch, the airline will instead have sections with 32″ of pitch, 33″ of pitch, and 34″ of pitch. Qantas will offer an “economy plus” cabin, with 34″ of pitch, but that’s only made possible by reducing seat pitch by one inch in the back of the cabin, so that will have 32″ of pitch. Meanwhile the center of the economy cabin will have 33″ of pitch.
Qantas is great at hyping, bad at delivering
Qantas is a funny airline, because I know a lot of Australians have fond feelings about the company, given that it’s the national carrier (though there’s no denying the carrier’s image has taken a toll in recent years).
I know some people think I dislike Qantas, or something, but that’s not at all the case. I find most Qantas employees to be absolutely lovely, and I think the airline has great lounges. My issues with the airline is that I think the onboard product is just whatever (aside from the friendly crews), and I don’t love all the ways the airline has tried to screw its workforce over the years.
But as someone who has been covering the industry for close to two decades, what stands out to me most about Qantas is the never ending hype. I get it, it’s smart for airlines to try to generate good publicity from what they have planned, because good marketing can shift loyalty and passenger perception.
But I just can’t think of another airline that so consistently overhypes what it’s going to do. We’re talking announcing things so many years in advance, and also, often not actually following through on promises.
This is of course the perfect example of that. The airline promised 33″ of pitch for everyone in economy, but has now backtracked on that. Similarly, earlier I wrote about how the airline promised a Qantas First Lounge Heathrow, claiming it would have amazing apron views, and direct boarding from the lounge. As it turns out, the airline had never actually secured a space, so that was all just fantasy.
My goal isn’t to be overly critical here, but instead, to be balanced. All too often, media gives an airline credit for the announcements they make, but then don’t call them out when they don’t deliver on those promises. So they get the good publicity from taking some “liberties,” but not the bad publicity associated with making baseless announcements. So I at least try to be balanced here, and call things as I see them.
Bottom line
Qantas is getting closer to launching its Project Sunrise flights, between Sydney and London, using Airbus A350-1000ULRs. The airline has been promising a new level of comfort, including 33″ of pitch in economy.
Unfortunately the airline has now backtracked on those plans. It wants to introduce an extra legroom economy section, but rather than taking out a row of seats, the airline is instead simply reducing seat pitch in the back of economy, which will now see 32″ of pitch.
While that’s still a respectable amount of pitch compared to other planes, I wouldn’t want to be stuck in one of those seats for 20+ hours straight. And it’s also sad how the airline spent years hyping all of this extra space, only to then go back on that promise.