Transition To Natural Food Colorants Is Plagued By Problems

Food and beverage manufacturers are beginning the transition from synthetic to natural dyes, but the switch is complicated and costly, and the results are not altogether esthetically pleasing, experts say. The impetus for major changes comes from Europe, where the European Commission responded to concerns over the safety of synthetic food colorants by imposing new requirements, including warning labels on packages, that have pushed food manufacturers to reformulate their products. The movement has spread to the U.S. Products from companies like Frito-Lay and Pepperidge Farm now contain no artificial ingredients, including synthetic dyes. But besides cost and complexity, reformulation with natural dyes has another downside: in some cases the quality of the product, color-wise, just isn’t the same.