Why are Artificial Colors Added to Foods?

Consumers are often confused about the use of added colors in the food industry. It is sometimes seen as trying to trick the customer in some way. And there are even conspiracy theorists who see any added colors as a collusion between the food industry, the FDA, and Big Pharma. Yet, it is not just "they" who add colors to food. We all do it. Why do we add tomato paste to a sauce or soup? Won't tomatoes do the job? We add tomato paste, not only for a concentrated tomato flavor, but to get a deeper, richer looking tomato color. Why? It makes the food look more appetizing, and our eyes inform our stomachs as much as smell and taste does. Cooking changes food color. Let me give you an example. Cooking acidic sauces, like a tomato sauce, in an aluminum pan, can discolor the sauce. It will tend to turn it a bit browner. What would you do if your tomato sauce became discolored in this way? You'd add color and try to repair it even if the additional ingredient had nothing to do with flavor! You wouldn't serve a discolored or brown or dull sauce to your kids, because they are too darn picky! They expect their spaghetti sauce to be nice and red. Our eyes provide us the first judgement and if the food doesn't pass this first test, we may not eat it. Color counts, pure and simple. Think about this for a minute. From an early age we learn what colors go with what foods, and furthermore, we learn to associate the vividness of these colors with the quality of said food. If a dark green vegetable looks grayish green and "lifeless" we know it's not fresh or of good quality. When a sliced apple turns brown, we know it's been sitting around for awhile. We even figure an egg with a rich dark yellow yolk will be more tasty than one with a light and dull yolk. And what's more, we'd probably be correct. But those are the colors of single foods as they come to us from nature. Once we start combining foods together in the presence of heat, acids, etc. the colors change, and not always for the better. All sorts of things are added in common home recipes for the purpose of adding color; it's not just the province of manufactured foods. But, what you may not realize is that if coloring were not added to many of the foods you buy, you might tend to think had low quality, because the color would be inconsistent, or muted, or dull. Paprika and turmeric do as much for color as they do for taste. And one of the most expensive food ingredients you can buy, saffron, is prized as much for the rich yellow color it gives, as for the flavor it brings. Color additives, therefore, make food more attractive and appetizing. They even help us to identify the foods we buy and eat. Are the bright, deep colorants that are used in today's food really necessary? Of course not, and it can be difficult to justify, especially when the colors come from a lab instead of from nature. But you must realize that the uniformity and attractiveness you have grown to expect in manufactured foods would not be possible without them. It's ironic that so many people think that added color, and all sorts of other things, are the food industry trying to get over on us, because that very same industry is not above using those reactions to manipulate us with marketing. For example, we expect a product that tastes like a strawberry, to be the color of a strawberry, and this is purely instinctive. In reality, it is not logical for a drink flavored with strawberries to be the exact color of a strawberry, but we identify the color with the fruit, and so "strawberry colored" soda might be more appealing than clear strawberry soda. Now this is, changing, though, as clear drinks come on the market with the word "natural" attached to them. And this has entailed its own marketing campaign. Now try your own experiment and infuse a drink with a fruit flavor. It's not logical at all to expect it to be the original color of the fruit, but it is no more logical to expect it to appear as clear as water! Each instance is a manipulation, whether the product's color is exaggerated through dyes, or whether the flavor is completely artificial and no color is imparted to the product. Neither is "natural" in any true sense of the word, if there is a true sense. The soda maker may try to use a "naturally occurring" pigment, but these have many failings because they are not stable in all conditions. So, a consistent color would be very difficult to come by, and regardless how much consumers cry out for natural products, they expect consistency in those products! The reason that food colors are added to foods is the same reason that professional chefs pay close attention to how food is arranged on a plate and the balance of colors in a dish. Flavor and color perception are closely linked. When colorants are used correctly, they are there to enhance the appearance of food that is already of good quality and safe to eat. Now, colorings should never be used to cover up bad food! However, the idea that the only purpose of food colorings is to provide aesthetic appeal to foods overlooks to close link between the coloring of food and our perception of its quality and healthfulness. No matter the importance, though, it is hard to argue that the large range of colorings, some of which my have unknown effects on the body, is essential. Before I end this, I should clarify the use of the term artificial in the title of this video. You'll notice that I've hardly used the word artificial at all in this talk, and yet I am obviously speaking of both synthetic food colorants and naturally derived food colorants. This is because, in food regulations, and for very good reasons, there is no actual legal difference between artificial colors and non-artificial colors. All food color additives, whether they are a synthetic dye, or an extracted pigment, or anything else, are all considered artificial. If a food company tells you they are not using artificial colors, they are, in actuality, making it easy to confuse you, or misinform you, because it has no official or even precise semantic meaning. They could be saying they are using NO colors at all, or they could be saying they are using only non-synthetic colors, which would usually mean no FD&C colors. Food labeling regulations do not allow the use of the term "natural colors." A label can say artificial colors, or "color added" or "colored with" when the color is identified by the specific common name and by function. But that is it. You cannot say, for instance, food color added. And you cannot say 'natural color.' Why? Because there is no way to tell how each individual will interpret such a word. You see, if a label says, natural coloring, you might think it means that ONLY the natural colors already in the food are present and nothing extra was added. Saying that a food contains no artificial colors and only natural colors, could lead you to believe that no coloring were used when, in fact, color was added. Also, such vague language as natural could confuse food and beverage companies. It is easy to imagine a small food or beverage firm thinking that since they used only caramel coloring, which is often seen as natural, they can state that the product contains no artificial colors.