Mars to Drop Brown and Blue M&M's as It Shifts to Natural Colors
Mars will relaunch M&M's without artificial dyes in August 2026, eliminating brown and blue varieties due to the high cost and technical challenges of natural coloring.
Mars announced that its upcoming August 2026 relaunch of M&M's will use natural colorants derived from sources such as beets and turmeric. The company said the reformulation makes it impractical to reproduce the brown and blue shades, which require spirulina extract that can cost up to $100 per pound and has caused equipment issues in production. As a result, the new lineup will be limited to red, yellow, green, orange and purple pieces.
The change revives a well-known anecdote from the 1980s involving the rock band Van Halen, whose concert contracts once demanded that no brown M&M's be present backstage. Former frontman David Lee Roth explained that the clause was a safety check to confirm that promoters had read detailed technical specifications for the band’s elaborate lighting rigs. He said the presence of brown candies would indicate a failure to follow the contract, prompting the band to halt the show.
"Many years ago, it was part of the Van Hallen contract … that there would be no brown M&M's found in the backstage area or the promoter would forfeit the entire show at full pay," Roth said in a 2012 interview.
Industry analysts note that the shift aligns with broader consumer trends favoring cleaner ingredient lists, while also presenting a cost challenge for manufacturers that rely on synthetic dyes.