Little Debbie Is Getting a Big Makeover

Little Debbie, the entrepreneurial child behind America’s leading snack cake empire, is changing up her style and officially entering what I’m going to call her “clean girl” era. (Haha. I thought I was pretty clever for that one.) Anyway, McKee Foods, the parent company of Little Debbie, announced that they will be following the FDA’s initiative to phase out petroleum-based synthetic dyes by 2027. What does this mean for the Cosmic Brownie and its rainbow sprinkles? Is nothing sacred anymore? Let’s talk about it. 

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How different will Little Debbie products look? 

Natural food dyes are less vibrant than synthetic dyes. Since Little Debbie snack cakes are historically loaded with synthetic dyes, so the change is going to be noticeable. I don’t think we’re getting a “NKD” Doritos situation (where all the color has been stripped from the product), but there’s a good chance they will look (and taste) a little different. 

Hold up—taste different?! Why would they taste different, Ariana? It’s just food dye!

Look, we tried NKD Doritos when they first came out, and we could tell them apart from the OGs in a blind side-by-side taste test. The difference was subtle but definitely present. The lack of food dyes could have slightly altered their taste, but our leading theory is that Doritos tried to compensate for the lackluster look of their new chips by making them taste better (yes, better) than the originals. We found the flavor to be slightly sharper and tangier, in a good way. So it might not be all bad news here. Debbie might take a page of Doritos book and subtly up the quality of her snack cakes.

For many people, though, the whole charm of Little Debbie snack cakes is how egregiously processed and sugary they taste. I will personally be mourning the vibrant rainbow sprinkles on the Cosmic Brownie—I just know those aren’t going to look the same. But only time will tell how this makeover will go for Deb. And hey, if it helps ease the sting of this news, Little Debbie also just released new oatmeal creme pie ice cream bars for summer. Maybe I should have led with that. Oh well. Toodles!