Along with all the other high crimes and abhorrent human rights violations, the current administration is working to dismantle public health and to sow distrust in science. They’re also spreading blatant lies about medication and food safety – while dismantling the FDA. It’s enough to drive you crazy if not kill you, and that’s surely the point. So it’s wild to see food and restaurants companies capitulate to this and change their formulas based on whatever bullsh-t RFK Jr. saw on Mercola.com. Cheetos and Doritos are releasing dye and artificial flavor-free versions of their highly processed snacks under the NKD label. Did they not learn from the Crystal Pepsi fiasco? They have the same parent company! To be clear (pun intended*), this is not going to replace the nuclear orange versions that people know and love, it’s just another snack option. The NKD line will have Doritos Cool Ranch and Nacho Cheese flavors and Cheetos original and Flamin’ Hot. Products will be available in stores starting December 1st.
Some Cheetos and Doritos products will soon be available without bright artificial colors, but the the same iconic flavors.
PepsiCo, Cheetos and Doritos’ parent company, announced a “reinvention” of the two iconic snacks on Thursday with the launch of new Simply NKD Doritos and Cheetos flavors, additions to the two brands’ already beloved lineups of snacks.
The NKD products will be available in four flavors: Doritos Simply NKD Nacho Cheese, Doritos Simply NKD Cool Ranch, Cheetos Simply NKD Puffs and Cheetos Simply NKD Flamin’ Hot.
PepsiCo said its research and development teams brought the products to life from concept to completion in just eight weeks.
“The result? Same crunch. Same flavor. Same joy — just without added color,” PepsiCo said in a release.
That’s not reassuring that it took only eight weeks to develop four products and I would be surprised if they taste ok. Who is their target market? Surely not ants. There must be handfuls of people who want to eat Doritos and Cheetos but don’t want to have artificial colors and flavors. Maybe there are parents who want their children to be able to try these without all the additives though. (Incidentally, “natural” flavors and colors are not really natural and can be made from allergenic sources products for that though.
After I wrote this story I started getting ads for “Simply Doritos” and “Simply Cheetos” snacks, which are also dye free and artificial flavor free. They are made with different ingredients though. I guess that’s the difference. It seems more like a branding decision where the Simply versions weren’t doing as well. I’ve never heard of them before, but the Simply Cheetos and Doritos are all available at my local Walmart.
*I’ve obviously been influenced by Kismet. Photos credit PepsiCo via press release
We are way behind Europe on this issue, and I would be surprised if similar product formulations hadn’t been selling for years in that market. Also, yay for all of the people with food dye allergies
They’ve probably been selling this version in Europe for years. They don’t allow most of that artificial junk over there. Not a fan of this administration or RFK, but we really should clean up our food. There’s no reason to be putting Red #40 in chips.
I agree!
Cleaning up the American food supply and beauty products should have been a Democrat led initiative years ago.
Democrat*ic* led initiative.
But otherwise, yes.
They also have ‘Baked” versions of these products. So that’s three different “natural” alternatives to the real stuff. I think I’ve had the Simply Cheetos before and they tasted nothing like Cheetos. I say if you are that concerned with eating “healthier” chips – just purchase healthier chips. There are lots of healthy options on the market.
Hasn’t Europe been all over this. At any rate this will help the MAHA wellness parents who don’t believe in food dyes. Honestly, would buy. They are probably marked up a dollar for taking additives out.
I was just thinking that .. they will be more expensive while they remove an ingredient… I’ll try them, tho…
I’ve had the Simply Ruffles and I like them better because they’re significantly less greasy than original ruffles. That being said, I really don’t think the dye is the problem when it comes to something like Flamin’ Hot Cheetos..
I think these companies are essentially trialing new recipes because they see the writing on the wall for a lot of artificial dyes and other additives. CA has been moving fairly aggressively in the last several years to ban ingredients. Companies generally can’t afford to just drop out of the CA market entirely- “as goes California, so goes the nation”