The growing “Clean Label” movement means that consumers are demanding a better-for-you option when it comes to the foods they buy and consume. This shift has caused many food producers to rethink their recipes and formulations in order to provide consumers with natural or organic alternatives that don’t compromise on taste or performance. IFC Solutions is helping them achieve their goals by supplying them with high quality natural food colors that can be used as a substitute for synthetic dyes.
Colors that are taken directly from foods tend to be less vibrant than artificial dye additives and may introduce other flavors as well. For example, a green smoothie made with kale and strawberries will likely have an earthy, grassy flavor that some people don’t like. In addition, some foods that are naturally colored can stain the skin and utensils. To avoid this, a person can use raw vegetables such as carrots and cucumbers and fruit such as apples and bananas to color foods, but these options are not as flexible as using a powdered dye solution.
Natural food coloring is also often more expensive than synthetic dyes, and can be hard to find in the larger grocery stores. But that doesn’t mean it is impossible to find, and there are a number of online resources for finding these ingredients, including this article by Nourishing Joy that offers recipes and directions for making your own DIY natural food colorings from things like pomegranate juice, squid ink, red cabbage juice, turmeric juice, paprika and beets.