CHICAGO – It should be no surprise red dye No. 3, also known as erythrosine, is in pink Peeps marshmallow chicks; it’s in the lavender colored ones, too, in a blend with blue dye No. 1 and yellow dye No. 6. It may surprise you, however, that it is in Vigo saffron yellow rice mix, along with yellow dye No. 5. Together the two colors give the product a vibrant orange hue, which is likely not possible with the less than 2% of saffron in the mix.
“Red dye No. 3 provides shades that can range from hot ‘Barbie’ pink and cherry-red to very neon oranges and violets in a wide range of packaged goods,” said Alice Lee, technical marketing manager, GNT USA LLC, Dallas, NC.
Red dye No. 3 is a synthetic color made from petroleum. It had been used in cosmetics and some topical drugs until 1990, when the US Food and Drug Administration banned it after studies showed it caused cancer in laboratory animals. Since, it has been linked to other health problems, like child behavioral issues and reproductive health decline.
It is still used in foods and beverages, but it will not be allowed in California after Jan. 1, 2027, as a bill banning it was signed into law in October 2023. Illinois is proposing to do the same and other states may follow.
The challenge for product developers is red dye No. 3 does its job of coloring food and beverages very well.
Caroline Schroeder, senior marketing communications manager, Lycored, Branchburg, NJ, said red dye No. 3 also is used in plant-based meats and ready-to-drink strawberry protein drinks. The heat employed in the production of the products makes it very challenging to switch to a color perceived as natural.
Lycored’s offerings are all about red, as the company’s name suggests. The company offers naturally derived colors extracted from its breed of red tomatoes.
“These have been tested directly in comparison to red dye No. 3 in ultra-high temperature pasteurized dairy, one of the more challenging of food and beverage applications,” Schroeder said. “Stability and accelerated shelf-life tests found that these lycopene-based colors outperformed red dye No. 3 across all areas.”
GNT’s colors also are made from plants. The company creates blends of the colors to provide a similar range of hues available from red dye No. 3.
“We offer concentrates made from well-known raw materials, such as red and purple sweet potatoes and black carrots, using simple, physical processing methods, such as chopping and boiling,” Lee said. “We offer reds that come under the ‘fruit and vegetable juice for color’ regulations, which are exempt from certification.”
Skidmore said one of the most stable replacements to red dye No. 3 is carmine, an ingredient produced from cochineal insects. Several food and beverage manufacturers already have made the switch.
Del Monte Foods, Walnut Creek, Calif., for example, now uses carmine color in its Bubble Fruit cups. It’s also used to color shelf-stable fruit gel cups from Dole Packaged Foods LLC, Westlake Village, Calif.
Sensient offers several plant-based red options, too, with radishes and beets as the starting materials.
“Microfine technology enables shade matching with several different color sources in dry powder applications, like drink mixes or boxed baking mixes, to color both the powder and the hydrated end product,” Skidmore said.
Lee explained there may be a difference in color hue in a side-by-side comparison when replacing red dye No. 3. She suggests turning this into a positive talking point.
“Consumers are more discerning than ever about ingredients that are clean and natural,” Lee said. “Sharing a positive story about colors helps build consumer loyalty and enhance a brand’s reputation.”
The main challenge with plant-based colors tends to be pH. Anthocyanin-based colors have very good heat tolerance, but they are pH-sensitive, which means the colors shift to a more bluish hue at higher pH levels. They will deliver the brightest reds in acidic applications, like fruity-flavored hard candies and gummies.
“Beetroot concentrates, on the other hand, are not pH-sensitive and maintain a really nice pink-purple hue at even high pH levels, but they are more heat-sensitive,” Lee said. “With plant-based colors, it’s not necessarily the case that you will use a one-color solution that meets all replacement requirements. It tends to be about selecting the right combination of raw materials and utilizing the best approach to formulation to ensure effective results. If you’re working with something like a non-acidified, starch-set gummy with a pH level of around 5, you might use a combination of anthocyanin-based colors along with a yellow turmeric concentrate to achieve a vibrant red shade.”
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Replacing red dye No. 3 – Food Business News
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