The clock is ticking for petroleum-derived dyes. With eight synthetic colorants slated for removal from the US food supply and several global brands already reformulating, the search for stable, consumer-friendly alternatives is no longer optional—it’s urgent.
With new regulations on artificial food colorants in process, it’s time for food and beverage makers to navigate a shifting toolbox. Switching to natural food colors means more than merely swapping out Xg of Red Dye 40 for Xg of beet juice. The process involves the artful balancing of functional performance, consumer trust and conflicts, and differing supply chains within the evolving regulatory landscape.
Fortunately, developers now have more options than ever. The FDA recently fast-tracked approvals for natural pigments such as butterfly pea flower, Galdieria spp. extract (a stable, microalgal blue), calcium phosphate white, and gardenia blue—expanding options for shades that were once difficult to achieve with plant-based sources.
At the same time, consumer demand for clean labels continues to rise, with “no artificial colors” among the most sought-after claims in packaged foods. The challenge ahead is not just identifying replacements but understanding how natural and organic pigments perform in real-world formulations and how they can be leveraged for both function and marketing value.
Shifting colorant landscape
From a regulatory standpoint, food color additives fall into two categories, certified and exempt. (There is no legal or official definition of a natural food colorant. See “Making It Official,” below.) Certified colors, better known as FD&C colors, are petroleum-derived, chemically synthesized, and rigorously batch-tested by the FDA. These highly stable pigments have long dominated the food industry.
The second category is colors exempt from certification, a group that encompasses natural and organic pigments drawn from plant and mineral sources such as annatto, beet, turmeric, and calcium phosphate. For developers, the challenge isn’t just knowing which colors are exempt—it’s understanding how terms like “natural” and “organic” are applied, and what they mean in practice.
While the term “organic” is tightly regulated under the USDA National Organic Program, “natural” has no formal definition under the FDA or USDA. As a result, what qualifies as natural can vary widely across companies and in the minds of consumers.
Packing and Shipping Blues
Packaging becomes part of the natural colorant strategy as well. Unlike synthetic dyes, which resist degradation, natural pigments are vulnerable to light, oxygen, and moisture. As a result, product reformulation often goes hand in hand with packaging redesign, such as the use of UV-barrier bottles or moisture-resistant films to slow degradation and extend shelf life. Even with these protections, color fading over time can still occur, reducing consumer appeal. Consumers often equate brighter hues with stronger flavor, sweetness, and freshness. Storage practices also need to be reconsidered. Many natural extracts require refrigerated storage, potentially putting a strain on cold-chain infrastructure. Also, during product development they must be tested earlier in the formulation process, since their interactions with fat, moisture, and processing conditions can alter not only product appearance but also flavor and texture.
What Makes a Colorant Organic
While “natural” is often used broadly and, as indicated above, has no legal definition, “organic” carries specific regulatory weight. In the US, the USDA National Organic Program oversees organic certification. Any pigment marketed as organic must originate from agricultural sources, such as plants, algae, or microbial cultures. To qualify, these sources must be grown without synthetic pesticides, GMOs, or irradiation, and the extraction or processing methods must follow NOP handling standards.
This distinction matters: While consumers may use “natural” and “organic” interchangeably, the regulatory and labeling outcomes are very different. A spirulina extract grown with synthetic nutrients, for example, could qualify as a natural colorant but would not meet organic standards.
For developers, the difference shows up most clearly on the package. Certified-organic pigments can contribute to the USDA Organic seal if a product meets the 95% threshold of organic content, while pigments that are only “natural” cannot. Products that fall between 70% and 95% organic content can use the phrase “made with organic ingredients,” but not the full seal. These labeling nuances might seem technical, but they carry true weight with consumers who actively seek organic claims.
Organic Color Challenges
Working with natural and organic colorants introduces a host of formulation complexities that developers don’t encounter with synthetic dyes. Stability is one immediate concern. Anthocyanins from beets, cabbage, or purple carrots are highly pH-sensitive, shifting from bright reds in acidic systems to duller blues or grays in higher pH formulations. Turmeric can fade under light, and spirulina can degrade under heat or shear. Exposure to oxidizing or reducing agents—or even the presence of metal ions such as iron, copper, or magnesium—can accelerate fading. Sports drinks, for example, are especially prone to instability because of their ionic content, and fermented products such as yogurt or kefir can present another problem: the live bacteria cultures can metabolize and break down certain pigments.
Sources & Applications
Developers now have a growing palette of natural and organic colorants, although availability and performance vary across the spectrum. The most recent innovations have been in blues and greens—long the hardest shades to achieve naturally. Spirulina is well established, but organic supply is limited.
Butterfly pea flower recently hit the market as a pH-sensitive source of hues that shift from blue to purple. FDA’s 2025 approvals of gardenia blue and Galdieria extract add new options, although neither is yet widely available in organic form. Chlorophyll and chlorophyllin remain as tools for green shades, but depending on how they are derived, labeling rules can complicate their use.
By contrast, the red and purple colors are more established, with multiple organic options already on the market. Beets, red cabbage, purple and black carrots, and berry concentrates all provide anthocyanins that create vivid tones that perform well in acidic systems, such as fruit beverages, or in various confectionery and baking applications.
Oranges and yellows also have a broad base of source support. Turmeric, paprika, annatto, and beta-carotene are widely used, and organic-certified versions are readily available. These pigments are generally more stable under heat than anthocyanins, but some can also bring flavor or aroma carryover, limiting their use in certain applications.
Finally, developers seeking a natural alternative to titanium dioxide—a petroleum-based white color that has been phased out in the EU and is targeted for the same in the US—can now use calcium phosphate, a mineral-based opacifier (imparting a white color) recently approved by the FDA. It delivers opacity and brightness in applications like coatings and baked goods. However, its organic status will depend on how it is derived.
Making It Official: Two Statements by FDA
from www.fda.gov
Although the FDA has not engaged in rulemaking to establish a formal definition for the term “natural,” we do have a longstanding policy concerning the use of “natural” in human food labeling. The FDA has considered the term “natural” to mean that nothing artificial or synthetic (including all color additives regardless of source) has been included in, or has been added to, a food that would not normally be expected to be in that food. However, this policy was not intended to address food production methods, such as the use of pesticides, nor did it explicitly address food processing or manufacturing methods, such as thermal technologies, pasteurization, or irradiation. The FDA also did not consider whether the term “natural” should describe any nutritional or other health benefit.
The FDA defines a natural color in food as a color additive that is derived from natural sources such as plants, minerals, or animals. These colors are not subject to batch certification but must meet stringent safety standards set by the FDA. Examples of natural color additives include annatto extract, dehydrated beets, and caramel. The FDA regulates these color additives to ensure they are safe for use in food products.
Product Challenges
Artificial colors could often be added late in development with little concern, but natural pigments demand more trial and error. And because natural colorants are less concentrated than synthetics, they typically must be added at higher dosages, which increases the risk of off flavors from ingredients such as turmeric, paprika, or beet. Developers might need to incorporate flavor maskers or adjust formulations to mitigate these negative impacts.
Texture is another less apparent factor. High inclusion levels of colorants can subtly alter viscosity, mouthfeel, or water activity. Water-soluble pigments also tend to migrate in high-moisture systems, leading to bleeding between phases. This has been an especially difficult challenge in dairy and bakery formulations. And in some cases, adding more pigment does not improve vibrancy but instead produces a muddy or dull appearance, requiring precise balancing and iterative testing.
Is It Safe?
from www.fda.gov
The FDA’s regulations require evidence that a color additive is safe at its intended level of use before it may be added to foods. When the FDA approves the use of a color additive in foods, our regulations specify: the types of foods in which it can be used, any maximum amounts allowed to be used, and how the color additive is to be declared on the food label. The FDA’s permitted food colors are classified as subject to certification or exempt from certification, both of which must meet the same safety standard prior to their approval for use in foods.
Certified color additives are synthetically produced (or human made) and used widely because they impart an intense, uniform color, are less expensive, and blend more easily to create a variety of hues. There are seven certified color additives approved for use in foods called “FD&C” color additives because they also may be used in drugs and cosmetics. For example, FD&C Yellow No. 6. See chart for complete list.
Color additives that are exempt from certification generally include dyes and pigments derived from natural sources such as vegetables, minerals, or animals. Examples of certification exempt color additives include annatto extract (yellow), dehydrated beets (bluish-red to brown), caramel (yellow to tan), beta-carotene (yellow to orange), and grape skin extract (red or purple).
The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) provides that a substance that is capable of imparting color is a color additive and is subject to premarket approval requirements unless the substance is used in a product solely for a purpose other than coloring and is clearly unimportant to the marketability of the product.
Cost and availability remain overarching difficulties. Natural and especially organic pigments are often several times more expensive than synthetic dyes, and in some cases, they can account for half of a product’s formulation cost. Limited availability and reliance on seasonal crops add volatility to supply chains, leading to potential disruptions or inconsistent performance.
Taken together, these issues make it clear that working with natural and organic colorants is not simply about replacing synthetics. It is a systems-level challenge that touches formulation, processing, packaging, storage, supply chains, and the conflict between consumer demands and perception and acceptance.
Looking Ahead
The transition away from synthetics is spurring rapid innovation in the development of not only the colorants themselves but also the applications they are changing. Fermentation-derived pigments are emerging to create bio-identical, natural-source colors with greater consistency and scalability.
At the same time, organic supply chains for staples such as beet, turmeric, paprika, and other plant sources are expanding, giving brands more flexibility to align with clean-label claims. Technical advances in blending and encapsulation are improving stability and shelf life, making it easier to manage issues caused by pH, light, and heat.
Together, all these developments suggest that natural and organic pigments are no longer niche—they are becoming the new standard. Developers can expect to have a broader, more stable natural and organic color toolbox in the years ahead.
