Natural food coloring is unappealing
There is a growing movement toward usage of organic products with no additives, but truth be told, many people would find untouched foodstuffs inedible to the eye. Butter is normally white, but colored yellow for eye appeal. Off-colored foods may be perfectly edible and delicious, but may seem inferior by appearance. For example, often tree-ripened oranges are sprayed with a red coloring to correct the natural orangy-brown or mottled green color of their peels to the bright orange we expect. Food coloring is added to ice creams and sherbets to again meet consumer expectations. Would a candied apple taste as good without that bright red coating? Of course it would, but sales would drop dramatically.
Food color additives
The FDA separates color additives for foods into two categories: Certifiable or Exempt from Certification. Cerfiable color additives are man-made. They must be tested for consumption safety and approved or certified by the FDA to be added to their list. There are nine certified color additives on the FDA approved list from which a multitude of colors can be mixed.
Certified color additives are known as dyes or lakes. Dyes are water-soluble and be used in beverages, dry mixes, baked goods, confections, dairy products, pet foods, and other products. Lakes will not dissolve in water and are more stable than dyes. They are best-used in foods containing fats and oils or those foods which do not contain a lot of moisture to dissolve dyes, such as tablets, cake mixes, hard candies, and chewing gum.
Color Additives Certifiable for Food Use (January, 1993)
Exempt from Certification are those color additives derived from natural resources which are known to be safe to consume. These exempt additives come from such sources as vegetables, minerals, animals as well as man-made concoctions from natural foodstuffs. Normally man-made color additives have no flavor, while colors made from natural foods may well impart some unexpected flavor and color results. Keep this in mind if you plan on using homemade natural color additives at home.
