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    Colors

    Aiding the appearance of food and beverages

    Food coloring is in many food and beverages we encounter every day. Although we may not realize it, food colors and additives are responsible for keeping our food looking and tasting the way we expect. Many of the foods we encounter every day would not have the vibrant color we are used to if food coloring wasn’t so typical. In fact, many foods would look completely different and nowhere near as appealing without food coloring.

    Fruit and vegetable juices in glass bottles

    Natural food coloring

    Natural food coloring is responsible for keeping our foods' appearance matching our expectations. As eating is a full sensory experience, we tend to avoid foods with a color that doesn’t reflect the taste or freshness we are looking for.

    As a response to the trend of moving away from processed foods and ingredients, natural food coloring has become increasingly popular. Some of the natural colors we use today are the same as what people have used for centuries including:

    • Carotenoids

      Carotenoids, which are used mainly for their orange, red, and yellow colors, function as antioxidants in your body. They reduce free-radicals and help your eyes and skin, and lower your risk for cancer and other diseases. One of the most popular carotenoids is beta-carotene, which comes from sweet potatoes and pumpkins — it's often added to dairy products like margarine and cheese because it’s soluble in fat.

    • Chlorophyll

      It's in all green plants and algae and is essential for their photosynthetic processes. We owe the oxygen in our atmosphere to chlorophyll. Not only that, but it gives mint and lime-flavored foods like ice cream and candy the color we want.

    • Anthocyane

      Anthocyanins are organic substances that give fruits such as blueberries, cranberries, and grapes their intense red, violet or blue coloring. They are very popular as natural dyes. Thanks to their water solubility, anthocyanins - unlike many other natural dyes - are suitable for use with a particularly large number of different products. Water-based products such as soft drinks, desserts and even dark corn chips are colored by anthocyanins.

    • Turmeric

      It comes from the root of the turmeric plant that grows most abundantly in Southeast Asia and India, hence its association with some of that region's most popular foods. It's not only a favorite for its excellent flavor but the vibrant yellow color that it naturally imparts.

    Ice cream scoops of different colors and flavors

    The process of food coloring

    What defines a good food color? It all comes down to how well the coloring interacts with your product:

    Your food coloring must dissolve evenly. Depending on your product, this may mean having a food dye that dissolves well with dairy products or in water. In either case, the color must react with its solute to break down into individual molecules — just like when you stir salt or sugar into a glass of water — it thoroughly mixes to form a homogenous solution.

    Another characteristic of a quality food coloring, is its ability to maintain its color when dissolved. Food color keeps its color in a solution, unlike other substances like salt or sugar, because its molecules require less energy to give off color. Food coloring absorbs lower-energy light to produce the visible colors we see with the naked eye.

    Get in contact

    Please contact our food experts and specialists for more information on the food colors we can offer you for your product. We are looking forward to working with you on the color of your product.

    Please submit the form and a Brenntag representative will contact you shortly.

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