Duke Dining will eliminate all artificial dyes and additives from menu items on campus by the start of the spring semester. The changes mostly surround menu modifications, but a visible example of the initiative’s impact is the removal of tea syrups from the Brodhead Center’s drinking stations.
The goal is part of the True Blue initiative, an effort announced over the summer to reinforce Duke Dining’s mission to “prioritize student health” and “support whole food nutrition.”
The list of substances Duke Dining plans to remove includes dyes such as Blue No. 1 and Red No. 40 and sweeteners like high fructose corn syrup. The Food and Drug Administration has started to phase out some of the dyes and additives on Duke’s list from food manufacturing, but others on Duke’s list remain permitted for use in food products…