NEW SHADE OF COCOA

Cargill Cocoa & Chocolate introduced organic red into its organic cocoa line. This USDA organic-certified cocoa powder has a red-brown color with a pH range between 7.5 and 7.9. It’s suitable for a variety of applications, including protein beverages, chocolate milk and ice cream. For chocolate-flavored products, having an intense and appetizing color is key to success, the company said. Cargill’s cocoa powders have a spectrum of colors available, ranging from non-alkalized light brown cocoa powder to the new highly alkalized red-brown cocoa powder. These powders are also available to meet third-party sustainable certification specifications.

800-227-4455; www.cargill.com

READY-TO-USE COLORS

D.D. Williamson & Co. Inc.’s EmulsiTech products are ready-to-use water-dispersible colors that guarantee even coloration in formulated dairy foods and beverages. The color solutions take care of heating, dilution and solubility — dairy processers just need to measure, add and mix. EmulsiTech products achieve a color range to complement flavors ranging from French vanilla and banana to creamsicle orange in a wide variety of dairy applications.Typical products that get their signature appearance with EmulsiTech include beverages, yogurts, ice cream, dips and spreads. The company said its products provide instant functionality, ease of use and a consumer-friendly label. 

502-895-2438; info@ddwcolor.com

NATURAL BRIGHT RED

Chr. Hansen said it developed its new FruitMax Red minimally processed products to address the challenge of finding a stable bright red using colors from natural sources. Based on an optimal blend of sweet potato and black carrot, the colors are suitable for fermented milk products, confectionery, water ice, bakery and bakery decorations, and fruit preparations.  They have no off flavor, are resistant to oxidation, have good heat and light stability and are an excellent alternative to synthetic red colors, carmine, red radish and red beet.

414-607-5700; www.chr-hansen.com

FROM FARM TO COLOR

Diana Food said it is now offering a line of USDA organic-certified colors. From the lemon shade of turmeric to the blueberry/raspberry shade of purple carrot, its portfolio of organic colors and customized organic blends brings vibrant, stable color to a wide variety of dairy applications. Like all Diana Foods’ other color products, the organic color solutions feature full traceability from farm to finished product. This is made possible by its team of agronomists, who work closely with seed developers and farmers to select only the best nature has to offer.

845-268-5200; www.diana-food.com/organic_colors

ADAPTABLE COLOR OPTIONS

IFC Solutions has been providing the dairy industry with eye-catching natural, organic and FD&C food colors for over 50 years. With one of the largest color palettes on the market, IFC Solutions said it can deliver custom shades designed to work with processors’ unique processes in a variety of formats (powders, liquids or pastes). It works with products that are pasteurized, cultured, aged or frozen to achieve dairy processors’ desired color needs. 

908-862-8810; www.ifc-solutions.com

BROWN FROM BOTANICALS

Flavorchem’s natural brown color helps dairy processors eliminate traditional caramel color from their ingredient statements, removing the need for a California Prop 65 label and complying with clean-label requirements. The company’s natural brown color is made from a blend of proprietary botanical extracts and delivers a comparable hue to traditional caramel color. It is bake-stable and can be used for a variety of applications ranging from dairy to bakery and beverage.

630-932-8100; www.flavorchem.com

BRILLIANT ORANGE HUES

To achieve bright shades of orange, tangerine or apricot in dairy and frozen dairy products, GNT offers Exberry shade Brilliant Orange. The color can be easily be incorporated into milk, ice cream and sherbet bases. Exberry products come from fruits, vegetables and plants, and are made using an entirely mechanical process absent of organic solvents. The Brilliant Orange shade is an excellent clean-label color solution with instant ingredient recognition, as it is typically labeled “vegetable juice (for color).” 

914-524-0600; www.EXBERRY.com

PINK TO RED HUES

Food Ingredient Solutions LLC introduced a heat-stable kosher vegetable juice color for neutral-pH applications. Vegetable juice color 4520 provides a pink to strawberry-red color and is suitable for use in ultra-high-temperature or hot-fill dairy applications.

201-440-4377; www.foodcolor.com

PLANT-BASED COLOR SOLUTIONS

Kalsec provides naturally sourced colors for dairy applications. Generally, dairy applications require water-soluble colors, and the company has a range of yellow, orange and pink to red hues derived from turmeric, annatto, paprika, beet, anthocyanins and blends of these colors. Kalsec offers beet extract for achieving the ideal pink shade in strawberry-flavored milk or berry-flavored ice cream. For yogurt manufacturers, Kalsec can provide shades ranging from yellow to peach to pink. For yellow hues, Kalsec offers Oleoresin Carrot. Annatto can be used for peach colors. For pink shades, Kalsec produces anthocyanin colors from black carrot, yam, radish and beet.

800-323-9320; www.kalsec.com

VERSATILE BLUEBERRIES

U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council said blueberries can be the answer for color, rich taste and consumer interest in natural, clean-label ingredients. In ice creams, yogurts, beverages and desserts, they offer appealing color, fruit identity, lush flavor and texture, as well as effects such as blue swirls and patterns, and are “essential” in anything red, white and blue. The range of versatile and year-round available formats offers many production-friendly options, including fresh, frozen, individually quick frozen, juice concentrates and purees.

650-340-8311, www.blueberrytech.org

NATURAL, SUPER-STABLE COLORS

Lycored offers a portfolio of colors sourced naturally from lycopene and beta carotene. Recent tests have found them to be super-stable in dairy products, Lycored said. For example, the performance of the company’s reds, yellows, pinks and oranges was tested in fruit preparations in yogurts. The colors were found to be true to fruit and colorfast without migration to white mass in retail lighting conditions and through industrial scaleup. Similarly, the company’s natural reds performed exceptionally in colored, flavored milk drinks subjected to the rigors of ultra-high-temperature processing. Last year, Lycored renamed its colors to communicate their stability benefits to customers. They include ResoluteRuby, ResilientRed and OrangeOvation.

877-592-6733; www.lycored.com/Colorants/

CLEAN-LABEL CARAMEL COLOR

Sethness Products Co. introduced SBL4, a new Non-GMO Project Verified and low-4-methylimidazole liquid caramel color. The Class IV double-strength SBL4 liquid caramel color is manufactured from non-GMO cane sucrose, is GRAS and meets the revised Dec. 1 Food Chemicals Codex monograph requirements. With a tinctorial power of 0.360, the SBL4 is a clean-label option for a wide spectrum of dairy applications and a variety of other uses, including beverage, baked goods, sauces, syrups, and soups.

847-329-2080, www.sethness.com