Why are color additives used in foods?

Color is an important property of foods that adds to our enjoyment of eating. Nature teaches is early to expect certain colors in certain foods, and our future acceptance of foods is highly dependent on meeting these expectations.

Color variation in foods throughout the seasons and the effects of food processing and storage often require that manufacturers add color to certain foods to meet consumer expectations. The primary reasons of adding colors to foods include:

• To offset color loss due to exposure to light, air, extremes of temperature, moisture and storage conditions.

• To correct natural variations in color. Off-colored foods are often incorrectly associated with inferior quality. 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 (Masking inferior quality, however, is an unacceptable use of colors.)

• To enhance colors that occur naturally but at levels weaker than those usually associated with a given food.

• To provide a colorful identity to foods that would otherwise be virtally colorless. Red colors provide a pleasant identity to strawberry ice while lime sherbet is known by its bright green color.

• To provide a colorful appearance to certain "fun foods." Many candies and holiday treats are colored to create a festive appearance.

• To protect flavors and vitamins that may be affected by sunlight during storage.

• To provide an appealing variety of wholesome and nutritious foods that meet consumers' demands.