Natural red colourants
LycoRed Ltd has developed new formulations of vegetarian red colourants as part of its Tomat-O-Red line of tomato lycopene colour to be used in various food and beverage applications. The new formulations provide deeper red lycopene colour with blue backgrounds, similar to the shades from carmine. This makes them a natural solution for food manufacturers who want to replace the insect-derived cochineal extract in their formulations.
“The increased demand from customers seeking to replace carmine encouraged us to extend our natural red colourants line and develop new formulations suitable for additional food applications, such as confectionery, dairy and beverages,” says Roee Nir, global commercial manager of Colour for LycoRed. “By adding more formulations, we can provide food and beverage developers with a variety of options, so they can, in turn, expand product offerings to their customers. Moreover, all of our natural food colourants are sustainable and produced in an ecofriendly process, ensuring our customers always receive the highest quality in the marketplace.”
The new Tomat-O-Red lycopene colourant formulations are available in liquid forms, are vegetarian and free from any allergenic components, as listed in the EU’s Directive 2007/68/EC and those identified in the US Food Allergen Labelling and Consumer Protection Act of August 2, 2004.
“The advantage of these new formulations is their high stability across a wide range of pH levels, light conditions, high temperatures and also in the presence of vitamin C,” adds Nir. “The drive to replace carmine is so intense, we had to develop natural color solutions for a wide range of applications in a short period. Our researchers developed colour solutions that effectively match carmine shades and characteristics, while demonstrating the high stability parameters formulators seek.”
A recently published Leatherhead – Mintel report showed that, in 2011, for the first time sales of natural colors overtook the sales of the synthetic/artificial colours. And, according to latest report from Innova Market Insights on natural colors, the strong growth from 2008 to 2012 of global product launches utilising natural colours demonstrates the influence of various trends, such as natural and clean label. These factors, along with consumer demand, have fuelled the natural colourant trend.
