A better Butterfinger? Nestle to remove artificial ingredients from candy bars

Chocolate lovers in the U.S. can kiss artificial flavors and colors in Butterfingers, Crunch and Baby Ruth bars goodbye, as Nestle aims to become the first U.S. candymaker to remove such ingredients from its chocolate products.

Nestle USA announced this week that it will remove artificial flavors and FDA-certified colors from all of its chocolate candy. By the end of the year, more than 250 products and 10 brands will be free of artificial flavors and certified colors.

The reformulated candy bars will begin appearing on shelves by mid-year and will be identified by a “No Artificial Flavors or Colors” label on the package.

Doreen Ida, president of Nestle USA Confections & Snacks, said in a statement that the company conducted research on such brands as Butterfinger and found that U.S. consumers prefer candy brands to be free from artificial flavors and colors.

Nestle will replace artificial flavors and colors with ingredients from natural sources. For example, in Crunch bars, a natural vanilla flavor will replace artificial vanilla used now. The center of the Butterfinger bars will now have annatto, which comes from the seeds found in fruit from the achiote tree, to replace FDA-certified colors like Red 40 and Yellow 5.

“When making these changes to more than 75 recipes, maintaining the great taste and appearance consumers expect from the chocolate brands they know and love is our #1 priority,” Leslie Mohr, Nestle’s nutrition, health and wellness manager said in a statement. “We conducted consumer testing to ensure the new recipe delivers on our high standards for taste and appearance.”