A lot of the foods we know and love are about to get an all-natural makeover, as chains like Subway, Panera and food giant General Mills ditch artificial colors.
While government pressure is a key factor contributing to the switch, consumer preference has been the lynchpin behind major changes by many large food manufacturers, including Kraft and Papa John’s.
“The FDA in the US has banned the use of many synthetic colors, but it is still significantly more liberal than the EU, and allows vendors to use synthetic dyes that have been banned elsewhere if the evidence against them proves inconclusive,” says Faisal Ghaus, Vice President of Technavio Research.
But despite the FDA being slow to ban food dyes that are already ousted in Europe, many consumers are taking it upon themselves to make the move away from synthetic colors due to concerns over side effects ranging from hyperactivity in children, to potentially carcinogenic effects.
It’s not just a matter of swapping out synthetic colors for natural alternatives
However, replacing Red #40 and Orange B with paprika extract comes with its own set of issues.
The Associated Press (via the NY Post) reported that some companies are finding it difficult to replicate the vivid colors of some foods with more natural alternatives.
“In fact, General Mills couldn’t find good alternatives for the blue and green pieces in Trix, so the company is getting rid of those colors when the cereal is reformulated later this year.”
“We haven’t been able to get that same vibrant color,” Kate Gallager, a General Mills cereal developer, told AP.
High cost and limitations of natural colors will be big challenges
On top of natural colors being less vibrant, they’re also more expensive. Extracting them from their source requires a lot of time and money, which means significant investment for companies looking to make the switch.
On top of that, natural ingredients have limitations that aren’t a concern for synthetic products. Shelf life and instability are two big challenges for companies that need to ensure their products will last on grocery store shelves.
“Most natural food colors have a shelf life of no more than six months, and some of them fade in the presence of light, while others are not heat stable and change color when baked or heated,” says Ghaus.
“The food industry depends on colors to make products look more appetizing and if synthetic dyes perform this function more effectively than their natural counterparts while being less capital intensive, it’s easy to see why a company would opt for synthetic products.”
Food colors: Market size and forecast
All that being said, the global natural food colors market looks like it’s winning the alimentary arms race. The market was valued at $1.13 billion in 2014 and is likely to reach $1.57 billion by 2019, growing at a CAGR of 6.8%.
The synthetic food colors market, on the other hand, was valued at $0.95 billion in 2014 and will reach $1.12 billion by 2019, growing at a CAGR of 3.35%.
At this point in time, Europe is the main region driving growth in natural food dyes. While the US is making strides in this area, the country is still the main consumer of artificial food color, and continued demand for processed food in the country will only boost the market for synthetic dyes over the projected period.
