The FDA is phasing out synthetic dyes. Food companies have committed to pulling Red 40, Red 3, and others from shelves. The $3 billion natural color market is about to absorb a billion more in conversions. Synbio has a window. #SynBioBeta2026 is May 4-7th in San Jose, California, you can learn more about the conference and get your tickets here: lnkd.in/g6S399km At @SynBioBeta 2026, a Planetary Health track session examines how to capture this moment: Birgit Cameron (CEO & Co-founder, Prism Bio), Ricky Cassini (CEO, Michroma), Gregory Hocking (VP Global R&D New Innovation Territories, Mars Snacking), and Erum Azeez Khan (Partner, Messaginglab). Birgit Cameron co-founded Prism Bio to produce a full spectrum of natural colorants from photosynthetic bacteria via fermentation, with photo- and thermo-stability across a broad pH range and a proprietary ColorSwitch technology that can change color using laser light. Ricky Cassini co-founded Michroma in 2019 to build fungal biofactories for natural food colors using CRISPR-enhanced filamentous fungi. His flagship Red+ is pH and heat stable enough to survive pasteurization, cooking, and extrusion, and earlier this year Michroma won the Global Food Tech Award Americas at Future Food-Tech and the Kraft Heinz Innovation award. He's a Forbes 30 Under 30 and MIT Innovator Under 35. Gregory Hocking brings the view from inside one of the world's largest food companies: what Mars Snacking actually needs from a bio-based color supplier before it can go on a label that reaches billions of consumers. The session runs May 7 from 3:30-4:15 PM in the Planetary Health track.
