Synthetic colorants were preferred for decades because they are relatively inexpensive, easy to use, deliver bright colors in a variety of food matrices, and perform in consistent and predictable ways. That all changed about 20 years ago as natural and clean-label concerns began to take hold among consumers.

Today, the gradual shift in dominance of natural colors over artificial ones has ramped up ten-fold now that the Dept. of Health and Human Services has targeted elimination of artificial food colors as a major goal.

The argument over whether or not natural colors and artificial colors are better or worse than each other is irrelevant. As a consumer-driven requisite, the fact is many product makers are finding themselves having to shift to natural colors in short order.

There are challenges. Synthetics are available in concentrated form and dissolve readily in water (dyes) or disperse well in fat-based systems (lakes). Highly stable in most applications, they generally are resistant to heat, light, and low pH.

Today, color makers recognize this strengthening consumer preference for natural versus synthetic colors and other ingredients, irrespective of the safety of artificial ones. This has led to the development of natural sources of colors previously available only in synthetic form, such as high-intensity blues, vivid red, bright greens, sunny yellows, and clean whites. Technological leaps have been made in fine-tuning these natural colorants to get stronger tones and a more comprehensive variety of shades. Examples include tomato-derived colorants that range from bright gold to deep vermillion.

Make it Last

Technologists also have responded to the performance challenges regarding natural food and beverage coloring agents, with innovations that allow use of natural food colorants in increasingly challenging applications.

Food scientists continue to seek ways to close the stability gap between naturals and synthetics. For example, the tocopherol form of vitamin E, and extracts from sources such as rosemary, act as “sacrificial” antioxidants to protect carotenoid colorants from oxidative degradation, therefore lengthening the shelf life of these colorants in application.

These natural antioxidants can be used where it is necessary to combine the antioxidant intimately with the carotenoid to achieve stabilization. While simple in fat-based formulations in which antioxidant and color are readily soluble, it is more challenging when the colorant is incorporated into a water-based matrix.

Many natural colorants—such as anthocyanins from red radish, purple sweet potato, red cabbage, and black carrot—contain their own attached co-pigment. This greatly enhances their stability, permitting use across a greater pH range. Similar technologies and discoveries continue to expand the non-synthetic colorant toolbox.

In this section, we offer detailed listings for suppliers of natural and artificial colorants, including those fruit, vegetable, and other ingredients that have a secondary use as natural colorants. Click the box for references by company name, headquarters, and website.