For years, dairy formulators had few FDA-approved naturally derived color options in the green-blue-purple range. That has changed with the allowable use of spirulina extract.
The food and beverage industry whizzed past a major milestone in 2011, when for the first time ever the global value of the natural colorants market exceeded that of its synthetic counterparts. According to a 2013 report from Mintel and Leatherhead Food Research, natural colors raked in an estimated $600 million in 2011 — an increase of almost 29% from 2007. Compare that to a 4% increase for artificial colors (to about $570 million) over the same period.
The numbers add yet another brick to the mounting wall of evidence that natural colorants — or, more accurately, colorants exempt from Food and Drug Administration certification for use in foods, drugs and cosmetics — are, in fact, the industry’s “new normal.” Mintel and Leatherhead pegged the use of naturals versus synthetics in new food and beverage launches at 2 to 1 globally and foresee the natural tilt continuing, especially in premium products and those geared toward children.