M&M's fans, don't panic if your next handful looks a little different.

Mars is rolling out a new version of M&M's made without artificial dyes, and for a while, two familiar colors will be missing from the mix: blue and brown.

Before anyone starts a petition, this isn't permanent.

The naturally colored M&M's will debut exclusively on Amazon this August, but Mars is still trying to solve a surprisingly tricky problem. Finding natural alternatives for blue and brown coloring has proven harder than expected.

The company already has natural replacements for red, orange, yellow, and green using ingredients like beets and turmeric. Those colors may look slightly less bright, but they're ready for production.

Blue is the real troublemaker.

Mars has been experimenting with spirulina, a blue-green algae that's often called a superfood. The problem? It's apparently turning factory equipment into a sticky mess. Engineers are now trying to figure out whether they need new machinery or a different coloring ingredient altogether.

And brown? That gets even weirder.

Brown coloring actually requires blue coloring to create the proper shade, meaning the blue problem is causing a brown problem too.

The effort to eliminate synthetic dyes has become a massive project for Mars. The company reportedly considered reducing the number of colors entirely or introducing different shades, but they've decided to stick with the classic lineup.

Eventually.

A dedicated team is working on the issue as part of what Mars describes as a multimillion-dollar initiative.

The goal is to have naturally colored M&M's available in all six classic colors by 2028. Until then, the new dye-free versions will temporarily be missing blue and brown while the company works out the kinks.

The good news? Traditional M&M's aren't disappearing anytime soon. The classic artificially colored candies will continue to be sold alongside the new dye-free version for the foreseeable future.

So if you open a bag and don't see any blue M&M's, don't blame your friends for eating them first. Mars is still trying to figure out how to make pond scum look delicious