The Maillard Reaction Products (MRPs) such as Glucose-tyrosine (Glu-Tyr) and Xylose-arginine (Xyl-Arg) have antioxidant, antimutagenic, and antibacterial effects. However, to date, still little is known about the other biological effects of the MRPs. In this study, we investigated whether the fructose-tyrosine MRP, 2,4-bis(p-hydroxyphenyl)-2-butenal (Fru-Tyr), could modulate cell cycle progression and NF-κB activity, and thereby induce apoptotic cell death of colon cancer cells. Treatment with different concentrations (10-40 μg/ ml) of Fru-Tyr for 24 h inhibited colon cancer cell (SW620 and HCT116) growth followed by induction of G₂/M phase cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner. We also found that Fru-Tyr suppressed tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α)-induced NF-κB transcriptional activity. Moreover, Fru-Tyr induced the expression of apoptotic gene, cleaved caspse-3. These results suggest that Fru-Tyr inhibited colon cancer cell growth through induction of G₂/M phase cell cycle arrest and apoptotic cell death by modulating of NF-κB.