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Dunkin’ Brands eliminates artificial colors from doughnutsDunkin’ Brands eliminates artificial colors from doughnuts

Sister brand Baskin-Robbins also to eliminate synthetic dyes

Bret Thorn, Senior Food Editor

January 5, 2018

2 Min Read
dunkin
Dunkin'

Dunkin’ Donuts is the latest chain to move toward clean labels, having removed artificial colors from all of its doughnuts in the U.S., parent company Dunkin’ Brands Group said Thursday.

The company, based in Canton, Mass., had previously pledged to get rid of all artificial dyes from its food and beverages at the more than 8,800 domestic Dunkin’ Donuts units by the end of 2018. It said by the end of the year that artificial dyes also would be removed from beverages, baked goods, breakfast sandwiches and coffee flavorings.

Dunkin’ Brands said sister company Baskin-Robbins also would remove artificial dyes from it ice creams, syrups, sauces, sprinkles and drinks.

It said both brands still could have artificial dyes in branded ingredients from its suppliers that are used in toppings, ice cream inclusions and decorative elements.

“Eliminating artificial dyes from our donuts is an incredible milestone moment for a fun brand whose products are synonymous with bright, colorful confections,” Dunkin’ Donuts U.S. chief marketing officer Tony Weisman said in a statement. “After years of research and development, we are thrilled to be taking such a big step in providing guests with simpler ingredients while still delivering the delicious taste and vivid colors expected with our donuts.”

Dunkin’s move comes after many other large chains also removed artificial ingredients from their food. In 2016, Panera Bread completed the removal of 96 artificial ingredients from its supply chain, and Papa John’s, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, Subway, Noodles & Company and others also committed to removing artificial colors from their food.

To celebrate the removal of artificial colors, Dunkin’ Donuts has introduced a blue Snow Flurries Donut decorated with snowflake sprinkles, all with natural coloring. The doughnut will be available for an unspecified limited time. 

Contact Bret Thorn at [email protected]

Follow him on Twitter: @foodwriterdiary

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About the Author

Bret Thorn

Senior Food Editor, Nation's Restaurant News

Senior Food & Beverage Editor

Bret Thorn is senior food & beverage editor for Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality for Informa’s Restaurants and Food Group, with responsibility for spotting and reporting on food and beverage trends across the country for both publications as well as guiding overall F&B coverage. 

He is the host of a podcast, In the Kitchen with Bret Thorn, which features interviews with chefs, food & beverage authorities and other experts in foodservice operations.

From 2005 to 2008 he also wrote the Kitchen Dish column for The New York Sun, covering restaurant openings and chefs’ career moves in New York City.

He joined Nation’s Restaurant News in 1999 after spending about five years in Thailand, where he wrote articles about business, banking and finance as well as restaurant reviews and food columns for Manager magazine and Asia Times newspaper. He joined Restaurant Hospitality’s staff in 2016 while retaining his position at NRN. 

A magna cum laude graduate of Tufts University in Medford, Mass., with a bachelor’s degree in history, and a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Thorn also studied traditional French cooking at Le Cordon Bleu Ecole de Cuisine in Paris. He spent his junior year of college in China, studying Chinese language, history and culture for a semester each at Nanjing University and Beijing University. While in Beijing, he also worked for ABC News during the protests and ultimate crackdown in and around Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Thorn’s monthly column in Nation’s Restaurant News won the 2006 Jesse H. Neal National Business Journalism Award for best staff-written editorial or opinion column.

He served as president of the International Foodservice Editorial Council, or IFEC, in 2005.

Thorn wrote the entry on comfort food in the Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America, 2nd edition, published in 2012. He also wrote a history of plated desserts for the Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets, published in 2015.

He was inducted into the Disciples d’Escoffier in 2014.

A Colorado native originally from Denver, Thorn lives in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Bret Thorn’s areas of expertise include food and beverage trends in restaurants, French cuisine, the cuisines of Asia in general and Thailand in particular, restaurant operations and service trends. 

Bret Thorn’s Experience: 

Nation’s Restaurant News, food & beverage editor, 1999-Present
New York Sun, columnist, 2005-2008 
Asia Times, sub editor, 1995-1997
Manager magazine, senior editor and restaurant critic, 1992-1997
ABC News, runner, May-July, 1989

Education:
Tufts University, BA in history, 1990
Peking University, studied Chinese language, spring, 1989
Nanjing University, studied Chinese language and culture, fall, 1988 
Le Cordon Bleu Ecole de Cuisine, Cértificat Elémentaire, 1986

Email: [email protected]

Social Media:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bret-thorn-468b663/
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Twitter: @foodwriterdiary
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