And quite frankly the only reason many of these dyes were used was for marketing purposes.  

 
People are often wildly unaware of what things are harmful and what isn’t. You get people freaking out about fluoride in our water supply completely unaware that fluoride is a natural mineral, and the amount allowed in the water supply is lower than what’s found in nature.  

 
Then you have people who eat processed carbs, food dyes and sugar not knowing the risks they pose.

I'm not sure it balances out all the BAD this HHS is doing with the Anti-vaxx delusional moronic stupidity.  

I agree with RR regarding additives used primarily for marketing. I'm fine with plain tan Cheerios and Alpha-Bits and I don't need or eat colorful Froot Loops; "natural" Froot Loops would be fine with me if they existed. Chocolate lovers were faced with the M&M Red Dye Scare in the 1970s. The sugar coating will promote tooth decay regardless of the color!  
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BUT a lot of this stuff goes through historic changes. The early (1800s) introduction of processed foods greatly IMPROVED US public health by lowering the cost of food, reducing waste due to spoilage (stories about Twinkies and McD's hamburgers remaining unspoiled and edible for DECADES), reducing illness due to the addition of essential or beneficial nutrients and so on. Once "things" (society, commerce, food packaging, health care, etc.) changed, many of those new-fangled additives were no longer necessary.  
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At one time, vitamin fortified beer was proposed as a way to improve the health of indigent alcoholics. Since they will use their meager resources to buy booze over food, at least provide some vitamins or other nutrients along with their alcohol fix. There have been several such beers over the years but they were controversial. (Note to self: develop chicken and steak flavored protein fortified beers.)  
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Another problematical additive is high fructose corn syrup which has probably contributed to the increase in obesity and metabolic syndrome in the US since the 1960s. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-fructose_corn_syrup#Obesity_and_metabolic_syndrome HFCS (made from corn) was originally developed to deal with (cane and beet) sugar shortages and their high cost. I.e., it was intended to "help" to lower the cost of foods (which it did) but had other unintended consequences. Even if you accept that there is no proof of the metabolic differences between sucrose and HFCS, it did lower the cost of such sweeteners and increased their use and consumption = more empty calories (Big Gulp http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Gulp#Controversy ) than a pre-HFCS diet.
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Another controversial area is GMO (Genetically Modified Organism / Foods): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetically_modified_food_controversies . The intention was to improve foods, lower their cost, etc. but some people are afraid of anything GMO "Franken-foods." There is a lot of Vitamin A deficiency in East Asia. There is a GMO rice, Golden Rice http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_rice , that provides a natural source of Vitamin A and could reduce blindness in East Asia. It has been a tough sell and faces a lot of opposition. There are several strains of GMO soybeans. Every now and then, you might read an article about "food X made from "ORGANIC" soybeans found to contain GMO soy." Some people believe that the GMO strains have spread their genes to EVERY crop of soybeans all over the globe and that EVERY soybean product contains some amount of GMO soy.  
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But don't forget cosmetics! There are lots of FDA approved dyes used in cosmetics! Imagine a world w/o luscious red lips, sultry eye-shadowed eyes, rosie cheeks, brightly colored manicured nails, etc., etc., etc.. Who wants plain tan "Cheerios" BCD?