Page 31 - ARUBATODDAY 22AUG,2015

FEATURE A31
Popular foods taking on new hues without artificial dyes
CANDICE CHOI
AP Food Industry Writer
TARRYTOWN, N.Y. (AP)
— Mozzarella cheese at
Panera restaurants won’t
be as glaringly white. Ba-
nana peppers in Subway
sandwiches won’t be the
same exact shade of yel-
low. Trix cereal will have
two fewer colors.
Food makers are purging
their products of artificial
dyes as people increas-
ingly eschew anything in
their food they don’t feel is
natural. But replicating the
vivid colors Americans ex-
pect with ingredients like
beets and carrots isn’t al-
ways easy.
In fact, General Mills
couldn’t find good alter-
natives for the blue and
green pieces in Trix, so the
company is getting rid of
those colors when the ce-
real is reformulated later
this year. The red pieces —
which will be colored with
radishes and strawberries
— will also look different.
“We haven’t been able
to get that same vibrant
color,” said Kate Gallager,
General Mills’ cereal de-
veloper.
The shift away from arti-
ficial dyes represents the
latest chapter for food
coloring in the U.S., which
has had a rocky history.
As recently as 1950, the
Food and Drug Adminis-
tration said children be-
came sick after eating
an orange Halloween
candy that contained a
dye. The agency eventu-
ally whittled down its list of She has tried alternatives
approved color additives
after finding several had
caused “serious adverse
effects.”
Now, more companies say
they are replacing artifi-
cial dyes with colors made
from fruits, vegetables and
spices, which are widely
considered “natural,” al-
though the FDA doesn’t
classify them that way. But
these present more chal-
lenges than artificial dyes.
In addition to costing
more, colors from fruits
and vegetables can be
sensitive to heat and acid-
ity. And since they’re used
in higher doses to achieve
boldness, tweaks to other
parts of recipes may be
Saturday 22 August 2015

In this photo from July 29, 2015, a berry pork sausage and chips, all colored with plant-based might be another crayon
in the crayon box,” said
natural food coloring, is presented at the GNT offices in Tarrytown, N.Y. Associated Press Steve Morris, Sensient’s
general manager of food
needed. Such adjustments a friend’s party. demonstrated how to colors for North America.
can be tricky for compa- “I’ll let him have the birth- get blue from spirulina by Sensient also developed
nies that manufacture on day cake,” she said. “But pouring a liquefied version a “deodorizing process”
massive scales. I’ll cringe.” of it through a coffee filter to remove flavors from in-
Still, companies want to to isolate the right color gredients. That allowed it
court people like Heather THE EVOLUTION OF NATU- to introduce an orange for
Thalwitzer, a 31-year-old RAL beverages made from pa-
prika.
Morris declined to detail
the company’s process.
But since the ingredient
is not “fundamentally
changing the form,” he
said the ingredients are still
within FDA guidelines of
permissible color sources.
Sensient said three-quar-
ters of its new projects for
clients in North America
involve natural colors.
Globally, its sales of colors
— natural and synthetic —
comes to about $300 mil-
lion.
COLORING INSIDE THE
LINES
In this photo from July 29, 2015, Christina Olivarez, GNT
corporate executive chef, prepares to add a plant-based
In this photo from July 29, 2015, a beaker filled spirulina extract natural food coloring to ice cream at the GNT offices in
is used to make a blue color at the offices of GNT in Tarrytown, Tarrytown, N.Y. Associated Press
N.Y. Associated Press components. There are seven synthetic
The approval of spirulina colors approved for broad
homemaker in Melbourne, Part of the challenge with extract also opened up use in foods. But these
Florida. Thalwitzer avoids colors from natural sources the world of greens, which dyes can be mixed to cre-
artificial colors because is that the range of hues can be made by mixing ate a wide range of colors.
she wants her 6-year-old has been limited. Blues, for blue and yellow. It turns The colors are made by
son to eat quality food instance, weren’t widely out plants like spinach synthesizing raw materials
and she said red dye has available the U.S. until brown in heat and aren’t from petroleum, accord-
been linked to “mania.” 2013. That’s when the FDA ideal for coloring. ing to the FDA.
approved a petition by Getting approval for a Synthetic colors still domi-
like naturally colored sprin- candy maker Mars Inc. to new color source can take nate in the U.S., but some
kles from Whole Foods, use spirulina extract as col- years, but it’s one way cite a study linking them
which her husband thinks oring in gum and candy. companies can fill out their to hyperactivity in children
taste like fish. But she can The alga can now also be palette of natural hues. In in calling for them to be
get along without such used in ice creams, drink coming weeks, an industry phased out. Lisa Lefferts
products. One year, she mixes and other products. group plans to submit a at the Center for Science
made cupcakes topped “That was a big thing for petition to use the cartha- in the Public Interest also
with a single blueberry for us,” said Stefan Hake, CEO mus in safflower for yellow, says artificial colors can be
her son’s birthday. of the U.S. division of natu- according to color maker used in deceptive ways.
There are times when Thal- ral color maker GNT. Sensient Technologies. “They mask the absence
witzer makes exceptions, At the company’s office “It’s just one more that of ingredients,” she said.q
such as when her son is at in Tarrytown, N.Y., Hake