How to Engineer Natural Color Solutions in Food & Beverage Manufacturing

With the FDA's approval of three colors for use in foods and beverages, what will that mean for food & beverage processors?

June 10, 2025

The US Food and Drug Administration’s May 9 approval of three colors for use in foods and beverages adds emphasis to the movement to formulate with consumer-friendly colors. Galdieria is the newest additive to enter the marketplace, but the others have been around for a while. Sensient Food Colors obtained FDA approval for butterfly pea flower in 2021. Tricalcium phosphate has long been used as an anti-caking and coloring agent in food.

Creating new products with colors that are accepted as natural by consumers is far easier than trying to replace a synthetic dye. Jeff Grogg, managing director at JPG Resources, pointed out that the task requires more sophisticated formulation than a one-to-one replacement. Manufacturing steps may need to be adjusted. “The process is going to have to change to try and reduce heat or try and make other changes to allow the natural colors to perform better.”

Winston A. Boyd, Ph.D., owner and principal consultant at Earthwise Technology said that one of the challenges is that most developers consider color last. “They work mainly on things like flavor, texture, any nutritional requirements, any labeling requirements; and then almost as an afterthought, they tend to look at color,” he said. “And some of that undoubtedly is rooted in the fact that for years, synthetic colors were commonly used, and they're very well-behaved.”

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Because synthetic colors are tested for purity, they are reliable. “You can’t always make a 90% pure natural color,” Boyd said. “Even if you have a concentrated version of a natural color, say it's 20%, you've got at least a four-and-a-half-fold factor of additional dose that you have to add of the natural color to replace the synthetic color.”

It gets more technical when considering the chemistry of the color. Chromophores are responsible for color. Merriam-Webster describes these as a chemical group that absorbs light at a specific frequency to impart color to a molecule. “Not all chromophores are as effective in delivering color. So, for instance, if you're using yellow dye #5 and it's 90% pure, and you're trying to replace it with turmeric, and the turmeric preparation you're working with is only 10% pure turmeric, that's a nine-fold concentration difference, but the turmeric chromophore may be more efficient. If the turmeric chromophore is more efficient than the yellow dye #5 chromophore, then you get a better replacement rate than you would if it were just one for one.”

Tricalcium phosphate is used to replace titanium dioxide. Its effect is not nearly as bright or white as titanium dioxide. Boyd explained, “A photon of light is absorbed and re-emitted as light. In the titanium dioxide particle, the photon is reflected from the surface of the particle of titanium dioxide. The more you can cause a particle of tricalcium phosphate to mimic the surface behavior of the titanium dioxide, the closer you get to the coloring effect. And how do you do that? That's a million-dollar question. Tricalcium phosphate is a pretty pale imitation of titanium dioxide. But there are companies that are so committed to getting titanium dioxide off their label.”

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Lake colors are produced by precipitating dye with an inert binder. Boyd said that lake colors use the same mechanism as titanium dioxide. If a lake color, such as carmine, is suspended in a fat system, it will deliver a nice red color. If carmine isn’t an option, such as in a kosher or vegan product, then the options are limited. “That becomes quite challenging,” he continued, because the only way to incorporate a red radish, black carrot, grape or any of the other anthocyanins is to emulsify them into the system.

Butterfly Pea Flower with different color variants. Image: Colin Kurtis

Butterfly pea flower is an anthocyanin. “As you raise the pH, the color shifts toward violet and blue. But it also diminishes in intensity per concentration. So, in order to get the same actual intensity of an anthocyanin color at pH 1 versus pH 3, you have to have more of the anthocyanin present to get the same intensity of color at 3 than you would at 1. And that's because of the peculiarity of the anthocyanin, which is what's responsible for that color shift.”

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Formulating and processing can be predicted in generalities, but an application has to be tried to ensure the desired performance. While pH is an issue with anthocyanins, Boyd said they can be counted on to withstand heat fairly well. He noted that high temperature, short time heating arrangements do not pose much of a threat to color, but he cautioned they may begin to run into trouble in retort processing. “You don't want the heat of your product to stay above, to stay at high temperature for long periods of time.”

Jay Howard, color technology manager at California Natural Colors, echoed the need to minimize the colorant exposure to stressful processes such as extrusion, baking, or frying. “To maintain color stability, manufacturers often need to adjust production methods — such as reducing processing temperatures or adding colorants later in the process. For example, if I wanted to utilize butterfly pea for a vivid purple hue in a hard candy, it would be beneficial to add the color at the end of heating process to minimize color loss. Minimizing processing stress not only enhances color stability but may also reduce the amount of colorant needed to achieve the desired appearance. For extreme processing conditions such as extrusion, higher doses may be necessary.”

California Natural Colors sells butterfly pea flower in a crystal format. “It provides a high color concentration – about 5-10X more than a liquid form — along with other supply chain advantages,” said Howard. “Our proprietary crystal technology allows us to achieve low use rates, typically less than 0.05% in the finished product. It does not impart any flavor to a finished product. Butterfly pea can be an excellent alternative to Blue 1 when blended with a red component if looking to achieve a purple shade in low pH applications.”

Choosing the format of a color is an important decision. Zach Henderson, manager of technical service and applications, Sensient Food Colors said their butterfly pea flower is available in water soluble and powder forms. “The liquid needs to be refrigerated but the powder is ambient. Sensient’s Natural Blue Butterfly Pea Flower is a great FD&C Blue 2 replacer in pH systems between 3.8-7. It also offers a unique purple actually unobtainable via synthetic FD&C colors within lower pH systems.” He finds butterfly pea flower is stable in most processing conditions.

Nathalie Pauleau, head of product management and marketing for Givaudan Sense Colour said that while Galdieria was added to the federal registry for natural colors on May 9, “We expect full approval in June. After that it will be available for sampling. Givaudan Sense Colour will be the contact for food and beverage manufacturers interested in using galdieria.”

The company’s Everzure Galdieria was developed in collaboration with French biotech company Fermentlg. The color is fermented and extracted from microalgae. Pauleau calls the color “a great color match to FD&C Blue 1 in acidic applications like beverages and acidic confections. It can also be blended with other natural yellows and pinks/reds, like beta-carotene or purple sweet potato to replace FD&C blends for green and purple shades.”

Usage rates will vary greatly depending on the application, the formulation, the processing method and the original shade a manufacturer is trying to match. She recommended starting usage rates between 0.02-0.05%. Like butterfly pea powder, the liquid color should be refrigerated, while the powder can be stored ambient. “Galdieria is a phycocyanin color, similar to spirulina, so care should be taken with heat processing,” she said. “Like all natural colors, galdieria should be tested in formulations for stability and ingredient interactions to ensure best results. Our team of experts have completed stability tests in a wide variety of applications and can make recommendations to food developers for best results.”

Howard echoed the need to work with suppliers. “Collaborative communication with the color supplier is essential when replacing synthetic colors with natural alternatives, especially to ensure that other critical ingredients remain unaffected.”

Example of a rich, natural color for food. Image: California Natural Colors

Because of the potential number of ingredients in a formula, Grogg suggested that substitutions may be more difficult than companies expect. “I think a lot of brands are going to assume that they can call up a color supplier and say, ‘tell me the answer.’ It's not going to work that way. Even if the color supplier gives them a good answer. You just need to use 2% instead of 1%. Okay, and then what? They're not going to reformulate the product to figure out where that other 1% comes from.” While he thinks the color supplier can provide insight, it doesn't provide a complete solution because of potential other changes in the formula and process changes to reduce heat or make other changes to improve the color’s performance. “I feel like the companies, especially small and mid-sized companies, are maybe not really getting their heads around yet how much this is going to impact them.”

Numerous factors affect the stability of natural colors including heat, light, and exposure to oxygen. “Exposure to di- and trivalent metals can be a problem because they're pro-oxidative,” Boyd said. “All those things need to be looked at in the context of the engineering, the processing and the formulation to make sure you optimize the outcome you get. Or to make sure you pick the right color to start with so you don't wind up with a problem halfway through and have to start over again.”

Nutritionally fortified products, depending on what they're fortified with, can be highly problematic. For instance, Boyd said that pretty much all colors are sensitive to iron. He suggested developing a stick pack or dry mix for nutritionally fortified drinks with minerals and vitamins added. Color degradation begins when the product is hydrated. “If you're drinking it right after you hydrate it, then you don't have a problem. I've seen natural color solutions decolorize within a few hours in a drink formulation if there are dye and trivalent metals around. And interestingly enough, the color that you select can determine which metals it's sensitive towards.”

While there are challenges to working with natural colors, social media and consumer perceptions are driving food politics. Industry may not have an option but to start working with ingredients that consumers find acceptable. Thankfully, technology is making inroads in providing a broader palate and greater stability.

Cindy Hazen

Contributing Writer

Cindy Hazen has decades of experience in the food industry in R&D and quality control. She is a food safety officer for a Memphis, TN-based distributor, as well as a food safety auditor. Cindy is PCQI, HACCP, and ISO 22000 trained.