(HealthDayNews) -- Color additives -- any dye, pigment or substance that can impart color when added or applied to a food, drug, or cosmetic -- either meet or set our expectations for foods and other products. Many add nothing but color; others dyes also affect a food's taste.
The Food & Drug Administration ensures the safety of all color additives used in the United States. The ones used in food all are classified as "certifiable" or "exempt from certification". The former are manmade, while the latter include pigments derived from natural sources such as vegetables, minerals or animals, and man-made counterparts of natural derivatives.
For example, caramel color is produced by heating sugar and other carbohydrates under strictly controlled conditions for use in sauces, gravies, soft drinks, baked goods and other foods.
Certifiable additives are used widely because their coloring ability is more intense than most colors derived from natural products. In addition, certifiable color additives are more stable, provide better color uniformity and blend together easily to provide a wide range of hues.
Certifiable color additives generally do not impart undesirable flavors to foods, while color derived from foods such as beets and cranberries can change another food's taste.
