Color is an important aspect of our enjoyment of food. People “eat with their eyes” as well as their mouths. Imagine Thanksgiving dinner when the turkey has been slow roasted in the oven for hours so the juices slowly run off the meat and baste it to a deep golden color. Now, imagine Thanksgiving dinner when the turkey has been cooked in the microwave and the color is a creamy white like the mashed potatoes. What if the orange juice you drink in the morning wasn’t that bright, fresh orange color but was a dull, grayish orange instead.
The color of food helps us to determine its freshness. We know that fresh bananas are a nice pale yellow but over-ripe ones are brown and under-ripe ones are hard with a green peel. We take that information and store it in our memory to pull it out at a later date. If you were to be given a ripe, green banana you would probably hesitate to eat it because you would expect the taste to be different.
Because of this, we have found ways to add color to our foods to make them more palatable. Saffron and Tumeric are often used to provide a rich yellow color to foods. Blueberries and beets are also used for coloring food. Butter has been colored yellow as far back as the 1300’s.
Color variation in foods and the effects of food processing and storage often require that manufacturers add color to certain foods to meet consumer expectations of how the food should look. For example, some tree-ripened oranges are often sprayed with Citrus Red No.2 to correct the natural orangy-brown or mottled green color of their peels. Consumers expect to see a uniform orange color.
Today all food color additives are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to make sure foods are safe to eat. According to the FDA, a color additive is any dye, pigment or substance that
can impart color when added or applied to a food, drug, cosmetic or
to the human body. Certifiable color additives are manmade. Color additives that are exempt from certification include pigments from natural sources such as vegetables, minerals or animals.
There are nine certified colors approved for use in food in the
United States, and regulations limit the amount of color added to foods. In 1900, there were about 80 man-made color additives available
for use in foods. At that time there were no regulations regarding
the purity and uses of these dyes.
Food coloring is labeled FD&C. This stands for where the coloring may be used. Food, Drug and Cosmetic (FD&C) color additives can be used in foods, drugs or cosmetics.
FD&C Blue No.1 Bright blue
FD&C Blue No.2 Royal Blue
FD&C Green No.3 Sea Green
FD&C Red No.40 Orange-red
FD&C Red No.3 Cherry-red
FD&C Yellow No.5 Lemon Yellow
D&C Yellow No.6 Orange
When your food needs just a little boost, try adding food coloring to it. You can enhance the enjoyment your guests or family has by making it look more appetizing. If you are feeding smaller children, you can make the meal more fun by adding color to normally bland food. Try experimenting with different colors and combinations of colors. Make mealtimes fun.