Your favorite In-N-Out burger might look the same, but some of the ingredients behind its familiar flavors have changed. The popular fast-food chain has been making adjustments to its menu, replacing certain artificial food dyes with naturally derived alternatives and swapping high-fructose corn syrup for regular sugar in selected products.
The changes have attracted attention from customers who want to know more about what goes into their favorite fast-food orders. And it is not just the burgers. Strawberry Shakes, Signature Pink Lemonade, pickles, chilies and even the chain’s spread have been part of the ingredient updates.
The company confirmed several of these changes in May 2025, with additional updates announced in September 2026. However, there is an important distinction between changing a few ingredients and reformulating an entire menu. Here is what In-N-Out has actually changed.
Turmeric Has Replaced Yellow 5 in Three Familiar Ingredients
One of the biggest changes involves Yellow 5, a synthetic food coloring used to give food a yellow appearance.
In a May 15, 2025, statement, In-N-Out owner and president Lynsi Snyder confirmed that the company had replaced Yellow 5 with turmeric in its pickles, chilies and spread.
Turmeric is probably more familiar as a golden-colored kitchen spice, but it also has a role in food coloring. In this case, the chain uses it to provide the color previously supplied by the synthetic dye.
These might seem like small changes, but they affect ingredients customers regularly encounter when ordering burgers. Pickles and spread, for example, are part of what gives an In-N-Out burger its recognizable appearance.
The company’s official ingredient list currently confirms turmeric in its pickles, chopped chilies and spread.
Strawberry Shakes and Pink Lemonade Have New Coloring Ingredients
The drink changes are another interesting part of In-N-Out’s ingredient updates.
The company confirmed that it removed Red 40 from its Strawberry Shakes and Signature Pink Lemonade. Instead, it uses beta carotene and vegetable juice to provide their color.
That means customers can still order these familiar drinks, but the ingredients responsible for their appearance have changed.
According to the company’s current ingredient information, strawberry syrup contains vegetable juice and beta carotene. Signature Pink Lemonade also lists both ingredients as coloring agents.
There is one detail worth clearing up, though. The company’s announcement specifically identified Red 40, not Red 3. There is no verified evidence that In-N-Out previously used Red 3 in these products or removed it as part of this particular reformulation.
The distinction matters because both dyes have appeared in wider conversations about artificial food coloring.
High-Fructose Corn Syrup Is Out of Several Products
Food coloring was not the only thing on the company’s ingredient-update list.
In-N-Out also confirmed that it had replaced high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) with natural sugar in selected products.
The changes included its shake mix, strawberry syrup, spread and Signature Pink Lemonade. Ketchup was also included in the plan, although the company was still transitioning to a new formulation when it made its May 2025 announcement.
By September 2026, reporting from KTLA confirmed that ketchup packets and dispensers were using real sugar instead of HFCS.
It is a notable change, but customers should not assume every product is now made with regular sugar.
The chain’s current ingredient information still lists HFCS in several fountain drinks, including Coca-Cola, Cherry Coke, Barq’s Root Beer, 7-Up and Dr. Pepper.
Some products also continue to contain ordinary corn syrup or corn syrup solids. These are different from high-fructose corn syrup, so the distinction is important when discussing what the company has actually removed.
The Ingredient Changes Go Beyond Dyes and Sweeteners
In-N-Out has also made other adjustments that customers might not immediately notice when placing an order.
According to Snyder’s May 2025 statement, the chain replaced artificial vanilla with natural vanilla in its shake mix. It also replaced artificial flavors with natural flavors in its chocolate syrup and hot cocoa.
The company said it had replaced calcium propionate with natural enzymes in its buns and removed cottonseed oil.
It also replaced its tabletop sucralose and saccharin sweetener packets with a stevia leaf extract option and introduced oat milk creamer as a non-dairy alternative.
Then came another round of updates in September 2026.
The company announced that sesame flour had been removed from its hamburger buns across its 10-state footprint. It also changed its salt packets from iodized salt to sea salt.
These changes are separate from the earlier artificial-dye substitutions, but they demonstrate that the company has continued reviewing its ingredients.
Did New FDA Rules Force In-N-Out to Make the Changes?
The timing of the ingredient updates has led to questions about the government’s role.
In April 2025, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Food and Drug Administration announced an initiative encouraging food manufacturers to phase out several petroleum-based synthetic dyes.
However, this was not an immediate nationwide ban on every artificial dye mentioned in the announcement.
The FDA’s October 2026 industry tracker lists the removal of certified colors from In-N-Out’s Strawberry Shakes and Signature Pink Lemonade as complete.
Red 3 has a separate regulatory history, with the FDA setting a January 15, 2027, compliance deadline for its removal from food.
Still, there is no verified evidence that Red 3 was part of In-N-Out’s documented ingredient changes.
Snyder also explained that the company had been making ingredient improvements over the previous decade. Therefore, it would be misleading to suggest that the entire reformulation happened because of new federal rules.
Does This Mean In-N-Out’s Food Is Healthier?
It is tempting to assume that replacing artificial dyes and high-fructose corn syrup automatically makes a fast-food meal healthier. However, ingredient substitutions do not tell the whole nutritional story.
For example, replacing Red 40 with vegetable juice and beta carotene changes the source of the coloring. It does not automatically change the overall nutritional value of the drink.
The same applies to replacing HFCS with regular sugar. The FDA has stated that it is unaware of evidence showing a safety difference between foods containing common HFCS formulations and foods with comparable amounts of similar glucose and fructose sweeteners.
In-N-Out’s current nutrition information lists its 15-ounce Strawberry Shake at 610 calories and 63 grams of total sugar.
That is a useful reminder that an ingredient update does not necessarily mean a product has become a low-sugar or low-calorie option.
Customers Can Expect More Ingredient Conversations
In-N-Out’s changes are part of a wider conversation about food ingredients and what customers expect from restaurant chains.
Other fast-food companies, including McDonald’s and Burger King, announced their own ingredient initiatives years before In-N-Out’s 2025 announcement.
For customers, the important thing is knowing which changes are real rather than assuming every menu item has been reformulated.
In-N-Out has replaced certain artificial dyes, updated sweeteners in selected products and made additional changes to its buns and salt packets. But it has not eliminated every artificial color, additive or corn-derived sweetener.
Your favorite order may still look and taste familiar. The difference is that some of the ingredients behind it have changed, and customers now have more reasons to pay attention to the labels.
