Different colored M&M's for different countries?

Question

I heard once that some countries have different colored M&M's than the the standard colors (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, brown, violet) due to offending people. Is this true?

Answer 1

The fact that certain M&M colors were banned in certain countries is true, but not because of "offending" people.  Rather, they were been banned because of health concerns.

Red candies were eliminated in 1976 due to health concerns over the dye amaranth (FD&C Red #2), which was a suspected carcinogen, and were replaced with orange-colored candies. By 1987, the public had forgotten the scare, and the red candies were reintroduced, but they also kept the orange colored M&M's. M&Ms currently contain Allura red AC (FD&C Red #40).

In Europe, Allura red AC (E129) is not recommended for consumption by children. It is banned in Denmark, Belgium, France, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Austria, and Norway.  Instead, Cochineal (E120) is used in the red shells.