Latest news with #Fermentalg
BBC News
24-07-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Food dyes: Tech firms look for natural food colours
French firm Fermentalg has been all over the planet in its search for useful microalgae."One of our lucky scientists got to go and climb the volcanoes in the Caribbean for example, and I have to restrain myself from collecting more every time I go home to New Zealand," says Hywel Griffiths, chief scientific officer at are hundreds of thousands of species of microalgae - microscopic organisms, which mostly live in water. They are essential to the aquatic food chain and also produce half the oxygen we are already used commercially, to make food, animal feed and fertiliser. But for Fermantalg one particular type, Galdieria sulphuraria, has a very useful trait. It can be used to produce a pigment, suitable for use in food, called Galdieria blue."We grow the algae and make a lot of it under conditions which make a lot of this particular molecule - the blue," says Mr pigment can be used for any food and drinks and Mr Griffiths expects the first products using Galdieiria blue will be on shop shelves early next blue was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in May, along with Butterfly pea flower extract (also a blue colour) and calcium phosphate (white).The FDA also approved Gardenia blue earlier this month. New sources of colour for food are needed as artificial food dyes are on their way January, the FDA announced the banning of Red Dye No. 3 in food addition, the FDA is looking to phase out petroleum-based synthetic dyes such as Yellow Dye 5 and 6 by the end of next year as part of the government's mission to "Make America Healthy Again"."For the last 50 years, American children have increasingly been living in a toxic soup of synthetic chemicals," FDA commissioner Marty Makary said at a press conference in food colouring bad for you?Though not an outright ban, the FDA is hoping the food industry voluntarily complies to eliminate artificial food dyes by comes after years of pressure from parents and campaigners for the FDA to revoke approval for dyes or educate consumers more about the recent times, many US states have made their own moves to pass laws to remove artificial food colouring differ on the restrictions they have in place. Historically, the UK and the European Union have been stricter than the EU has been phasing out artificial colourings over the last 20 years and also introducing warnings on foods with other colours. So, these are good times for firms developing natural alternatives. US-based Sensient creates natural colours by sourcing raw materials that are grown specifically for their colour content. For example, some red and purple colours are derived from carrots and potatoes."These crops are harvested, washed, processed into a juice, and the colour is extracted with water or other solvents," says Paul Manning, chief executive officer at Sensient."The resulting colour is further processed to stabilise the concentrate and refine it to the specific shade desired by the customer."But the hard work will be trying to match the synthetic colour. "It must be equally vivid," says Mr Manning."There are plenty of examples of brands converting to natural colours with less vivid and vibrant shades where the product does poorly in the market and customers complain about both the colour and the flavour."Getting a stable, bright colour also involved much work for Fermantalg."To our surprise we found that the process of growing the algae and the process of extracting the colour can actually have a fairly significant impact on the stability of the product at the end, even though it's fairly heavily purified," says Griffiths."But something that we've done upstream is having an impact on how stable it is at the end."Will these new colours cost more?"They are more expensive, but in actual contribution to the end product, they're not actually that big an impact because these things are used at a fraction of a percentage in the final product," says Mr Griffiths."If you had a nosebleed and stood over the sink… you know that a little bit of colour goes a long way." For the brands that have long relied on artificial colourings, it's an upheaval."We are reformulating our cereals served in schools to not include FD&C colours by the 2026-27 school year," says a spokesperson for WK Kellogg, the company behind Kellogg' refers to certain certified synthetic colour additives regulated by the FDA, and approved by the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic year protesters gathered outside the company headquarters in Michigan, calling on it to remove artificial dyes from cereals such as Froot Loops."We will not be launching any new products with FD&C colours, beginning in January 2026," the spokesperson year food giants including Nestle, Kraft Heinz, General Mills and Conagra have all pledged to phase out artificial food of the challenges for food brands reliant on artificial colouring is that many natural food dyes don't necessarily have a long shelf life, says Institute of Food Technologists food scientist Renee Leber. "Whereas synthetic dyes will outlive the shelf life of pretty much any product."She also says that as many brands rush to make the switch it's going to lead to a "bottleneck" in production."We don't necessarily have all these colours available. But we have 10 months to get that right."Given this isn't an outright ban, is it still expected to lead to sweeping change in the US food industry?"If you are a cereal company and you have a brightly coloured cereal and all of your competitors switch from synthetics to natural colours, then you don't necessarily want to be the last one," says Ms Leber."It's a tight timeframe but companies are doing their best to comply."
The Sun
10-05-2025
- Health
- The Sun
US FDA permits use of three natural-source colors in food items
THE US Food and Drug Administration said on Friday that it had granted permissions to three new color additives, marking them as safe to use in food products and expanding the range of natural-source colors available to manufacturers. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and FDA Commissioner Marty Makary said last month that the agency plans to remove synthetic food dyes from the US food supply by revoking the authorizations of some and working with the industry to voluntarily remove others. 'For too long, our food system has relied on synthetic, petroleum-based dyes that offer no nutritional value and pose unnecessary health risks,' Kennedy had said in a statement. The health regulator approved Galdieria extract blue - a blue color derived from the unicellular red algae Galdieria sulphuraria - for use in non-alcoholic beverages, fruit juices, candy, breakfast cereal coatings, ice cream and frozen dairy desserts, among others. The petition was submitted by the French company Fermentalg. It also approved butterfly pea flower extract, a blue color that is produced through the water extraction of the plant's dried flower petals. This helps achieve a range of shades that include bright blues, intense purple and natural greens and is already approved for use in fruit and vegetable juices, alcoholic beverages and ready-to-drink tea. Friday's approval expands its use for coloring ready-to-eat cereal, crackers, snack mixes and some chips. The FDA also approved calcium phosphate, which imparts a white color, for use in ready-to-eat chicken products, white candy melts, doughnut sugar and sugar for coated candy.
The Sun
10-05-2025
- Health
- The Sun
FDA approves three new natural food color additives
THE US Food and Drug Administration said on Friday that it had granted permissions to three new color additives, marking them as safe to use in food products and expanding the range of natural-source colors available to manufacturers. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and FDA Commissioner Marty Makary said last month that the agency plans to remove synthetic food dyes from the US food supply by revoking the authorizations of some and working with the industry to voluntarily remove others. 'For too long, our food system has relied on synthetic, petroleum-based dyes that offer no nutritional value and pose unnecessary health risks,' Kennedy had said in a statement. The health regulator approved Galdieria extract blue - a blue color derived from the unicellular red algae Galdieria sulphuraria - for use in non-alcoholic beverages, fruit juices, candy, breakfast cereal coatings, ice cream and frozen dairy desserts, among others. The petition was submitted by the French company Fermentalg. It also approved butterfly pea flower extract, a blue color that is produced through the water extraction of the plant's dried flower petals. This helps achieve a range of shades that include bright blues, intense purple and natural greens and is already approved for use in fruit and vegetable juices, alcoholic beverages and ready-to-drink tea. Friday's approval expands its use for coloring ready-to-eat cereal, crackers, snack mixes and some chips. The FDA also approved calcium phosphate, which imparts a white color, for use in ready-to-eat chicken products, white candy melts, doughnut sugar and sugar for coated candy.
NBC News
09-05-2025
- Health
- NBC News
FDA will allow new color additives made from minerals, algae and flower petals
U.S. regulators said Friday that they would allow three new color additives made from natural sources to be used in the nation's food supply. It comes after health officials pledged a sweeping phase-out of petroleum-based dyes widely used in foods from cereals to sports drinks to boost health — though action is still pending. The Food and Drug Administration said it is granting petitions to allow galdieria extract blue, a blue color derived from algae; calcium phosphate, a white color derived from a naturally occurring mineral; and butterfly pea flower extract, a blue color made from dried flower petals. The colors will be approved for use in a range of foods from fruit drinks and yogurt to pretzels, ready-to-eat chicken and candies. The move 'will expand the palette of available colors from natural sources for manufacturers to safely use in food,' FDA officials said in a statement. Health advocates have long called for the removal of artificial dyes from foods, citing mixed studies indicating the dyes can cause neurobehavioral problems for some children, including hyperactivity and attention issues. The FDA has maintained for decades that the approved dyes are safe and that 'the totality of scientific evidence shows that most children have no adverse effects when consuming foods containing color additives.' The new color approvals include a 2021 petition from the French company Fermentalg to allow galdieria extract blue; a 2023 petition from Innophos Inc. of Cranbury, New Jersey, to allow calcium phosphate; and a 2024 petition from Sensient Colors LLC of St. Louis, Missouri, to allow butterfly pea flower extract. The approvals are set to be published in the federal register on May 12 and would take effect in June. In April, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and FDA Commissioner Marty Makary announced that they would take steps to eliminate synthetic food dyes in the U.S. food supply by the end of 2026, largely through voluntary efforts from the food industry. The officials also said they would revoke authorization for two little-used artificial dyes, Citrus Red No. 2 and Orange B, and accelerate the timeline to remove Red 3, a food color banned in January because of a link to cancer in laboratory rats. The FDA plans to initiate the process to revoke those colors 'within the coming months,' a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services said.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
After push to remove artificial coloring, FDA approves 3 natural food dyes
Sign up for CNN's Eat, But Better: Mediterranean Style. Our eight-part guide shows you a delicious expert-backed eating lifestyle that will boost your health for life. The US Food and Drug Administration has approved three new color additives from natural sources 'that will expand the palette of available colors from natural sources for manufacturers to safely use in food,' the agency said in a news release. The three dyes are Galdieria extract blue, butterfly pea flower extract and calcium phosphate. US Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has made phasing out petroleum-based dyes in the nation's food supply one of the priorities in his broader initiative to 'Make America Healthy Again.' Artificial food dyes are facing new restrictions or bans at both the federal level and in more than half the states. In April, FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary announced the agency would work with the industry to remove and replace the dyes, though the FDA largely hasn't yet made this a requirement for industry. 'For too long, our food system has relied on synthetic, petroleum-based dyes that offer no nutritional value and pose unnecessary health risks,' Kennedy said in a news release. 'We're removing these dyes and approving safe, natural alternatives — to protect families and support healthier choices.' Galdieria extract blue derives from Galdieria sulphuraria, a type of red algae that carries a water-soluble blue pigment known as C-Phycocyanin and is found in acidic volcanic hot springs and calderas, according to the FDA and Fermentalg, a French chemical company using micro-algae for colorants, foods and supplements. Fermentalg sought approval for the additive for foods and beverages via a petition it submitted to the FDA in 2021 and has patented a Galdieria sulphuraria extract under the name Everzure. Galdieria sulphuraria's natural ability to reside in acidic environments lends to its stability in food and beverages, which is something food and beverage manufacturers have been concerned about in the shift to natural alternatives to highly stable artificial dyes. Butterfly pea extract is a blue color from which manufacturers can create a range of shades including bright blues, intense purples and natural greens, according to the FDA. It's produced from the water extraction of the dried flower petals of the butterfly pea plant, and is already approved for some uses, including sports drinks, fruit drinks, fruit and vegetable juices, alcoholic beverages, candy and ice creams. Its use is now expanded to also include ready-to-eat cereals, crackers, snack mixes, hard pretzels, plain potato chips, plain corn chips, tortilla chips and multigrain chips, the FDA said. The petition that raised this extract for consideration was submitted in February 2024 by the St. Louis-based Sensient Colors, one of the largest global dye-makers. Calcium phosphate, a mineral compound containing both calcium and phosphorus, provides a white color newly approved for use in ready-to-eat chicken products, white candy melts, doughnut sugar and sugar for coated candies, according to the FDA, whose decision approves a 2023 petition filed by New Jersey-based Innophos Inc., a mineral solutions company. 'The FDA determines whether an additive is safe to use by considering the projected human dietary exposure to the color additive, the additive's toxicological data, and other relevant information, such as published literature,' the agency stated in a news release. The embrace of natural dyes is due to health concerns around artificial colorants, such as increased risk of cancer and neurobehavioral issues. While some manufacturers acknowledge these concerns, they have also highlighted the challenges involved in an industrywide shift to alternative dyes, which is likely due to both state-level bans and the FDA's requirement that food companies remove red dye No. 3 — banned in January — from foods by January 15, 2027. 'Natural colors can be more expensive from a cost-in-use perspective depending on the raw ingredient being used,' Amy Agallar, vice president of investor relations and treasurer at Sensient, said via email May 2. 'The raw ingredients can vary due to many factors such as availability, time to harvest and color availability from the raw material. The natural color needed to replace a synthetic color can be ten times that of a synthetic product.' That discrepancy is partly due to some food and beverage products requiring heat processing or acids that affect the stability of natural colors, Agallar added. 'Some natural colors are also not very light stable and this may be needed in the end application.' Additionally, 'studies show that customers prefer products with color and are more likely to purchase food and beverages with a color that matches the expected flavor,' Agallar said. 'Consumers use the color to identify how a product will taste. Food manufacturers currently use natural color products in about 80% of new colored food and beverages released in the US each year.' There's little funding for research on artificial food dyes, and even less for the study of emerging alternatives — so it's not yet known whether these new natural dyes could have any effect on human health. But with most natural dyes coming from plants and being used in small quantities, 'it's hard to believe they'd have any effect' on the general population, Dr. Marion Nestle, Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health, Emerita, at New York University, told CNN in a previous story. Sensient has developed its own safety program, Certasure, Agallar said. 'This program ensures that our natural colors are free of pesticides, heavy metals, microbiological contamination, adulteration, and unauthorized solvents.'
