Heeding the call to ban artificial ingredients by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., PepsiCo isn't wasting any time getting started. 

Ramon Laguarta, PepsiCo Inc. chair and chief executive officer, said in an April 24 conference call that the company will reduce artificial ingredients and has already begun doing so, as Food Business News reported.

"We've been leading the transformation of the industry now for a long time on sodium reduction, sugar reduction and better fats," Laguarta said.

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"Sixty percent-plus of our (portfolio) today doesn't have any artificial colors," he said — and the company is "undergoing that transition."

Laguarta cited examples such as Lay's and Tostitos, which "will be out of artificial colors by the end of this year."

He added, "So, we're well underway."

RFK Jr. and Dr. Martin Makary, U.S. Food and Drug Administration commissioner, announced a ban on petroleum-based synthetic dyes from America's food supply last Tuesday.

As the HHS noted in its news release, among the steps to be taken are "establishing a national standard and timeline for the food industry to transition from petrochemical-based dyes to natural alternatives."

FOOD DYES TO BE PHASED OUT BY TRUMP ADMINISTRATION IN LATEST ROUND OF BANS

"Initiating the process to revoke authorization for two synthetic food colorings — Citrus Red No. 2 and Orange B — within the coming months; and working with industry to eliminate six remaining synthetic dyes — FD&C Green No. 3, FD&C Red No. 40, FD&C Yellow No. 5, FD&C Yellow No. 6, FD&C Blue No. 1, and FD&C Blue No. 2 — from the food supply by the end of next year."

Certified nutritionist and "Make America Healthy Again" supporter Liana Werner-Gray told Fox News Digital, "This is a huge win for public health and long overdue."

Werner-Gray is the author "The Earth Diet," which began as a blog about what she ate to help promote healing and remedy her health problems after she was diagnosed with cancer. 

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The Earth Diet, she said, is "all about going back to nature and eating foods from nature, eating real nutrition, eating foods that God provides us with naturally," she told Fox News Digital.

"I've personally eliminated artificial dyes like Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Blue 1 and others from my diet over 16 years ago when I started The Earth Diet, living a natural lifestyle," Werner-Gray said.

She would suffer from frequent major mood swings, anxiety, skin breakouts and energy crashes, as well as strong impulsive urges to eat processed food, she said.

"Once I removed these dyes and switched to natural, whole-food-based alternatives, those symptoms went away, too," Werner-Gray said, adding that her clients have reported similar outcomes. 

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In Werner-Gray's opinion, the manipulation of food has gone on far too long, she said.

"This move by the FDA under Secretary Kennedy and Commissioner Makary's leadership is a pivotal step toward restoring integrity in our food system," she said. 

"It's time we raise the standard. Clean, natural and nourishing food should be the norm, not a luxury."

In the April 24 conference call, PepsiCo's CEO noted that its chips, puffs and other snacks are safe to consume and that the company stands by the existing science, according to reports.

"Every consumer will have the opportunity to choose what they prefer," said Laguarta.

Fox News Digital reached out to PepsiCo for additional comment. 

Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., staged a sit-in on the steps of the U.S. Capitol on Sunday, taking a "moral moment" to reject President Donald Trump's agenda as Congress returns to Washington to negotiate the "big, beautiful bill."

On the final day of the two-week congressional recess, Booker and Jeffries discussed their relationship with faith, invited Americans to share their experience of Trump's first 100 days and sounded off on "what’s at stake with Trump’s budget." The sit-in's hours-long livestream had amassed hundreds of thousands of views on X and YouTube.

Instead of church on Sunday, the Democratic leaders opted for a "sacred civic space" outside the Capitol for more than 12 hours. Activists and politicians joined the Democrats throughout the day, including American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga.

"This is how we will stop cuts to Medicaid, this is how we will stop Trump and congressional Republicans' devastating agenda, this is how we will rise," Booker said on X at the end of the sit-in. 

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Democrats have been warning Americans about Trump's ambitious budget bill since he was elected in November, claiming his budget cuts will threaten funding for entitlement programs like Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare. The Trump administration has maintained that no cuts will be made to those services, despite the anticipated $1.5 trillion in spending reductions and extension of Trump's 2017 tax cuts. 

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT SENATOR BOOKER'S OVERNIGHT SPEECH

As Congress returns to session this week, committees begin mark-ups on the budget framework passed by both the House and Senate before recess, with plans to finalize legislation by Memorial Day.

Trump added pressure to the negotiations on Sunday, posting on Truth Social that it is a crucial week for the budget bill, "which will contain Massive Tax Cuts, Strong Border Security Measures, Major Military Advancements, Dramatic Deregulation, Powerful Spending Reforms, and more!"

"IT MUST BE DONE. We will unleash Economic Prosperity, and accelerate into the Golden Age of America," Trump said of his "big, beautiful bill."

However, Democrats have a drastically different depiction of Trump's vision for the country, and the 12-hour livestream on the Capitol steps covered their laundry list of concerns – everything from Department of Education cuts, Planned Parenthood funding and protecting Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits. 

"This is a moment of moral urgency. We are in this moment where Congress is going to come back tomorrow from a two-week recess, and the Republican leaders on your side of the Capitol are saying that they're going to force a bill through. They want to get it done during this work period and back over to the Senate to be voted on and put on the president's desk," Booker said to Jeffries. 

"This bill, we believe, presents one of the greatest moral threats to our country that we've seen in terms of what it will do to providing food for the hungry, care for the elderly, services for the disabled, health care for the sick," he added. 

Booker said the goal of the protest was to "center the stories of people who will be affected by this bill that will cut Medicaid so savagely and so many other things, to give tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans."

Booker, who celebrated his 56th birthday on Sunday, has been mocked by critics for similar stunts rejecting Trump's second-term agenda. The New Jersey senator broke the record for the longest-ever speech on the Senate floor last month, speaking out against Trump's executive orders, tax cuts and Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency for 25 hours. 

He also joined his Democratic colleagues ahead of Trump's joint address to Congress earlier this year in a social media campaign with identical scripts describing "S--- That Ain’t True" about the Trump administration. 

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who has drawn tens of thousands of supporters to his "Fighting Oligarchy" tour rallies across the United States, told NBC on Sunday that "what Democrats lack right now is a vision for the future," as the party struggles to find a consistent message and clear party leader in the aftermath of big November losses. 

Booker's office did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment by deadline.