FDBusiness.com

A major advancement in natural colour performance has been revealed by the company, Sensient Colors. Food manufacturers have been discouraged by the absence of a truly vibrant stable natural red colour for neutral pH baking and dry grocery goods. Sensient claims that its new SupraRed, using a innovative natural colour technology, will facilitate brands to distribute increasing customer demand for natural colours from botanical resources that do not abandon the colour’s brightness.

“Closing the gap between synthetic FD&C colours and those from natural sources is a key strategic priority at Sensient. We are committed to providing food and beverage manufacturers with solutions that allow them to complete their conversions to natural colours without having to compromise,” said Michael Geraghty, President of Sensient Colours LLC.

Baked goods and many dry grocery food products are typically in the 5-7 pH range while the heat step in the production process can further raise this level, the company notes. The increase causes red anthocyanin colour source to shift to a purple shade. Beet would be ideal, but is prone to browning during heat processing. According to Sensient, SupraRed vegetable juice provides previously unachievable heat stability.

“This technical breakthrough in natural colour technology means food manufacturers can provide consumers with the bold red velvet baked goods and bright red cereals that they have come to expect. Additionally, because SupraRed typically requires a lower usage rate, it can reduce cost-in-use and provides other unique advantages,” said David Gebhardt, Technical Director of Sensient Food Colours.

The novel technology SupraRed employs is said to be free from any chemical solvents and uses only vegetable juice for simple ingredient labelling. Ideal applications, according to Sensient, include baked goods such as cookies, crackers, and cakes, as well as ready-to-eat cereals, tortilla chips and other dry grocery products. Additionally, SupraRed is claimed to offer significant advantages for dairy applications such as UHT packaged beverages and confections like licorice.

Sensient Colors is a leading global manufacturer of colours, flavours and fragrances. The company has been in production for more than 60 years. Sensient manufactures natural colour goods for the food and beverage industry.