It was a significant technical breakthrough that solved stability issues for many of our customers in baking, frying, plant-based meat, extrusion, and dairy applications. Today many customers continue to issue us a new challenge: develop a pH- and heat-stable natural blue that is also cost effective. In other words, the market is asking for a truly heat-stable blue and a broadly pH-stable blue sourced naturally.
According to food lore, the invention of the “blue raspberry” flavor by Gold Medal in the late 1950’s marks the introduction of blue food color into the mainstream. However, when the FDA removed Red 2 (Amaranth) from the list of permitted color additives for food, it led to many in the frozen beverage and frozen novelty markets struggling to differentiate strawberry from raspberry and cherry. A bright blue flavor stands out from the other reds and pinks already on shelf, and blue raspberry is a whimsical addition to beverages and confections.
However, establishing a consistent natural blue food colorant that behaves like certified lakes and dyes remains complex. While natural blue will likely never be a large part of the food color landscape, it nonetheless plays a critical role in select categories like performance beverage and confections. Solving one of the obvious gaps in natural color performance is a high priority at Sensient, especially for a heat-stable blue and a pH-stable blue that can function as a reliable natural blue food coloring.
Our R&D team is making significant and exciting progress on truly pH- and heat-stable natural blues. While we aren’t quite ready to announce anything just yet, I am confident Sensient will be doing so in the near future. If you want to learn more about our latest innovations in natural blue food color, please reach out to us. We love to share our color knowledge!
