"food colorings" news and stories

I have lately been reading in-depth articles on research and development in food and beverage trade publication on beverage colors. Drinks come in myriad of shades of the rainbow, and more. From neon colors to pastels, earth tones and cola and root beer browns.

For many years artificial colors were in. They were easy to make and stable over long periods of time. Then there were all the scares with artificial dyes over the years, like cancer and allergies. Combined with today's health consciousness, this has led to the development of new, natural colors. You would think this was easy but it has been a struggle. Natural colors are difficult to make stable, so they don't change shades or fade with time. Now it looks like the color stability problem is a thing of the past.

According to today's Wall Street Journal, some "artificial colors" in food aren't so artificial. The vivid orange and red colorings made from crushed, dried beetles, such as "carmine " and "cochineal", do not have to be revealed on ingredient labels under current FDA regulations. Colorings from crushed beetles are used in foods such as Good & Plenty candy, Tropicana Orange Strawberry Juice and Dannon Fruit on the Bottom Boysenberry yogurt.

After facing pressure from consumer groups, the Food and Drug Administration is soon expected to publish a new food labeling proposal for public review. New guidelines would require companies to disclose insect-derived colorings. Vegetarian and kosher groups were among the leaders of the movement to change labeling guidelines. Some companies currently list colors like "carmine" along with their ingredients, though many consumers do not know precisely what it is. Opponents of the labeling change argue that when other animal products are listed, their source is not revealed, saying "'Butter' doesn't say 'from cow.'"