Red Natural Colors for High pH Applications

Abstract

It is said that we taste with our eyes. Colors have a tremendous influence on choice of foods. Natural colors are seeing a huge demand because of consumer trends shifting to-wards natural ingredients. Common natural colorants in the red category- anthocyanins and carmine - despite being stable and offering a host of advantages, have their limitations. Beet and lycopene colors were evaluated as colors of choice for coloring high pH food applications. Kalsec®Vegetone® Vivid Red beet color was successfully tried in hard candy and flour salt ap-plications. The applications extend to confectionary and dry beverage mix applications respec-tively. Kalsec®Vegetone® Vivid Red beet color imparted a red color to candy whereas control beet product imparted a bluer appearance. Kalsec®Vegetone® Vivid Red beet color was darker in color than control when added to flour salt at the same concentration. Kalsec®Vegetone®Vivid Red beet color when added to a model beverage solution, showed more color retention compared to control beet when incubated under heat-also pointing towards a more stable prod-uct. Kalsec®Vegetone® Vivid Red beet color was also used in a cupcake indicating its potential as a stable colorant for baked applications. Kalsec®Vegetone® Rich Red lycopene color was tried in flour salt, beverages and retort applications demonstrating its versatility. Regulations of USA allow beet and lycopene to be used in food products however EU regulations have some limitations which should be followed before deciding on their use.