Doritos and Cheetos are going dye-free with a new line of snacks, and we have questions

The days of orange powder fingers—and the resulting shuffle dust all over your couch—are on the way out. PepsiCo, the parent company of Frito-Lay’s snack brands Cheetos and Doritos, is making a new version of the popular, fiery-colored snack food without artificial flavors and dyes. The company launches Updated range of snacks under its new Simply NKD brand on December 1st, and they won’t look as vibrant and unnaturally colored as they once did.

Only the appearance of the snacks is changing, according to the company, which says the snacks’ taste — and crunch — will be the same as they always were. This new line is not an alternative to the original neon-colored snacks, but rather an alternative for those who want to avoid artificial colors and flavors.

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First offerings in the line will be Doritos Simply NKD Nacho Cheese and Cool Ranch flavors, as well as Cheetos Simply NKD Puffs and Flamin’ Hot. If you feel the need to get it as soon as it becomes available, you can Pre-order them now.

PepsiCo reports that it took just eight weeks from concept to completion to develop the brand. Kraft Heinz says it needs two years before the company is ready Do the same with the equally shiny Jell-O and Kool-Aid.

Goodbye, red dye No. 3

These moves come in response to the Trump administration’s campaign Removal of petroleum dyes from food; The Food and Drug Administration banned it Red Dye No. 3 in January 2025. US Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. called on US food companies to phase out the use of synthetic petroleum-based food dyes.

According to PepsiCo, Simply NKD products are “completely colorless,” although the images provided do not appear to support this claim. Cheetos chips appear yellowish-beige in color, and Doritos chips look similar to regular, unflavored tortilla chips.

But without their distinctive glow-in-the-dark colors, are these still the snacks we know and love? The distinct color definitely adds to the guilty pleasure vibe.

It’s not clear if they are still included Shettlethe famous sticky flavor dust that makes it impossible to touch anything while you’re making Cheetos and that coats your fingertips in an orange color that’s really hard to remove.

A PepsiCo representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

If anyone has been tricked into thinking Simply NKD’s new snacks are health food, they should think again. PepsiCo has not released an ingredient list for its Simply NKD line, however Cheetos puffedFor example, it contains 200mg of sodium and 13% of the recommended daily amount of fat for just 13 puffs or so.