Weber Flavors Natural Colorants
Available Exempt Color Additives:
Turmeric: Rhizomatous Root Extract
Reasonably heat stable, fades under light
Uses: Baked goods, dairy products, ice cream, popcorn, candy, cereals, sauces, gelatins
Spirulina: Algae
Best used in Frozen Applications; fades to gray. Cost prohibitive.
Uses: Frozen desserts
Beet Juice Extract: Beet Roots
Requires preservatives and refrigeration. Fades to gray under light and ambient temperatures. Works best in low water activity environments. Imparts flavor.
Uses: ice cream, cake icings, yogurt, gelatins, fruit chews, frozen products, chewable tablets
Annatto: Achiote Seed Extract
Most stable of natural colorants. Withstands heat and acid. Cost effective.
Uses: Dairy products, butter substitutes, baked goods, snacks, ice cream
Caramel Color: Roasted Sugar
Preferred Type I requires much higher usage than Types II-IV. Stable
Uses: Dairy products, beverages, colas, cocoa, beer, coffee, icings, cereals, popcorn, sauces, candies
Butterfly Pea Flower: Petal Extract
Heat stable, but very pH sensitive. Color ranges from pinkish purple under acidic conditions to brilliant blue in neutral moving to greenish in basic conditions
Uses: Wide range of food and beverage products
“We taste with our eyes”
While Weber Flavors specializes in mouth-watering flavors, we recognize that eye-popping color is equally important when creating appetizing food. With pending legislation aimed at limiting or prohibiting FD&C colors, the demand for naturally-colored food products continues to grow. Weber Flavors offers a small selection of these colorants derived from natural ingredients (formally “Exempt Color Additives”) in liquid form.
However, there are some difficult technical hurdles to overcome when using many of the naturally-derived colorants currently available. Cost and stability are primary issues that must be addressed during the formulation stage. Weber does not recommend combining color and flavor systems when using these colorants due to mis-matches in solubility, stability, and usage levels.
Our experienced technical team can help you develop the best color and flavor system for your product, balancing cost, stability and labeling requirements. By blending these natural colorants, we can achieve a full rainbow of colors for use in some food products. Currently available blends contain:
Red
Beet; Beet/Annatto; and Beet/Annatto/Caramel blends
Pink
Beet
Orange
Annatto; Annatto/Turmeric; and Annatto/Beet blends
Yellow
Turmeric, and Turmeric/Annatto blends
Green
Spirulina and Turmeric blend
Blue
Spirulina, Butterfly Pea Flower
Brown
Caramel color, Burnt Sugar Syrup color