Imagine you opened a can of tomato soup, and it was brown.
Consumers expect tomato soup to be, well, the color of tomatoes.
Tastes like these drive the market for food products and affect every stage in the production process.
Consumers' expectations help determine food's packaging, appearance, and even additives, including flavoring and coloring.
Food colors are used for a variety of reasons.
The ones that typically come to mind to the average consumer are to color colorless foods, make them a little bit more fun, make them a little bit more appealing to consumers, but also to identify flavors.
These kinds of associations explain why we insist that our iconic tomato soup be red.
There are nine certified food color additives that are approved for use in food, including the seven FD&C artificial colors approved under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.
These colors tend to be more vibrant, they're less expensive, and they blend easily in a variety of applications.
These colors are subjected to rigorous safety standards by the Food and Drug Administration in the U.S. But different regulations for food additives around the world can cause confusion.
