Red Natural Colors for High pH Applications.
Color has tremendous influence on our preference of food and beverages. How a product looks impacts the consumer’s purchase and even influences how food and beverages are perceived through taste. In recent years, food colorants have come under increasing global attention for their possible health effects from allergies, aluminium content and potential behavioral problems in children. In addition to synthetic colors, carmine despite being a natural colorant has also been under increased scrutiny. As a result, food manufactures are reformulating recipes and incorporating ingredients which will enable products to display “cleaner labels”
The growth of natural colors increased 29% between 2007 and 2011. In contrast the growth rate for synthetics was only 4%. Of the global colors share, natural colors increased from 34% in 2007 to 39% in 2011. The segment is now worth an estimated USD $570 million.2 Kalsec® has broadened its red color product portfolio for manufacturers who would like to switch to naturally-sourced colors. This study focuses on Kalsec®Vegetone® Vivid Red high stability colors formulated for a wide range of pH conditions. The primary natural sources of these new red colors are tomato and beet.
Higher stability of Vegetone® Rich Red lycopene compared to paprika, a common carotenoid used in many applications, indicates that it can easily replace paprika and perhaps synthetics colors and can still provide a viable product. Also, lycopene provides a more attractive red as against the orange hue of paprika and thus may be more appealing.
Adv Food Technol Nutr Sci Open J. 2014; 1(1):10-16. doi: 10.17140/AFTNSOJ-1-103