WASHINGTON, June 22 (UPI) -- General Mills will remove all artificial colors and flavors from its cereals by the end of 2017, starting with Trix, Cocoa Puffs and Reese's Puffs.
The company announced the move on Monday.
"Consumers increasingly want the ingredient list for their cereal to look like what they pull out of their pantry," Jim Murphy, president of General Mills cereal division, told the Star Tribune, adding that consumers do not want labels full of "colors with numbers and ingredients you can't pronounce."
More than 60 percent of General Mills' cereals currently do not have artificial colors and flavors, such as Cheerios. The company hopes to be 90 percent artificial-free by the end of 2016.
"We've continued to listen to consumers who want to see more recognizable and familiar ingredients on the labels and challenged ourselves to remove barriers that prevent adults and children from enjoying our cereals," Murphy said in a statement.
General Mills joins a growing trend of companies choosing to abandon artificial colors and flavors. Other companies announcing the removal of artificial colors and flavors include Nestlé and Kraft.
The shift away from artificial use by General Mills will apparently affect Trix cereal the most, which will no longer carry the green and blue colors for its sweetened corn puffs because a proper natural color substitute could not be found.