Does a blue-raspberry flavor really need to be blue? For some products, food makers are betting maybe not.
Parker Alford was intrigued when she spotted a new version of freezer pops, so she immediately bought them for her three young boys. Peeling back the wrappers, the kids were more skeptical. The pops just looked like “ice.”
That’s by design. The Otter Pops the 30-year-old Crestview, Florida, resident purchased weren’t just free from artificial colors — they were free of any color at all. In the end, the boys didn’t care: A blue raspberry-flavored pop actually doesn’t have to be blue to taste good.
As food companies race to get rid of artificial dyes — a complex and costly transition — some are finding it’s easier to strip out colors entirely than swap in natural tints made from foods like black carrots and pumpkins.
Those ingredients are likely to get more expensive as more of the industry reaches for them. For example, carotenoids, derived from pumpkins, could soar as high as 600% or so in price as demand grows, according to a report commissioned by the National Confectioners Association. The price of curcumin, derived from turmeric, could skyrocket more than 3,000%.
But going without colors altogether is a gamble for an industry that has long relied on vibrant shades to entice consumers and boost their perceptions of flavor. Research has repeatedly shown that color cues influence what people say they taste, food industry experts say.
“When you give people things that aren’t colored and ask them to define the flavor, they have a hard time pinpointing what the flavor is,” said Amy Usiak, head of research and development at JPG Resources, which works with food makers to reformulate products.
Companies are under pressure both from consumers increasingly seeking so-called clean label foods and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has urged manufacturers to eliminate petroleum-based food dyes, citing potential health concerns. Although the federal government has not banned most of the additives, many large food companies have vowed to phase them out by the end of 2027. Some states, including West Virginia, have passed laws aimed at curbing the use of artificial dyes, though that ban is being challenged in court.
Early on, companies swapped out artificial colors for natural ones where they could — powdered beverage mix in opaque sticks, for example. Red, yellow and orange hues proved to be the easiest to substitute. What’s left are the more difficult products, like shelf-stable beverages served in clear bottles. About 7% of U.S. food and beverage products sold last year by dollars contained artificial dyes, according to the NCA report.
Natural dyes present unique hurdles because they’re often more expensive, have a shorter shelf life, can be sensitive to temperature changes and come from seasonal crops that aren’t always grown in the US, making companies reliant on imports.
Jel Sert, the maker of Otter Pops, Fla-Vor-Ice and Kool Pops, is aiming to remove all colors from its push-up treats by early 2028.
“It’s a challenge,” Jel Sert’s Chief Strategy Officer Matt Ingemi said of trying to use natural colors in freezer pops. “In a high-acid liquid environment in that packaging, natural colors tend to change very quickly — and not in a good way.”
Many natural tints will oxidize within a few days, sometimes browning in the process, the company said. All three of its brands of freezer pops are sold at room temperature, which poses a challenge.
Photo Illustration: Maria E Be for Bloomberg
Jel Sert decided to make Otter Pops colorless after discovering that natural dyes can oxidize within a few days, sometimes browning in the process.
So instead of using natural tints, the company will forgo dyes entirely and instead put colored images on the packaging to indicate flavor. “We’ll make it fun,” Ingemi said.
Jel Sert’s already selling a line of colorless freezer pops made from apple juice concentrate — the variety Alford’s kids tried — that are more expensive than the artificially colored ones. The price per pop on Amazon is roughly double that of the dyed version. The company is now working on a new formula that strips out the artificial colors without raising the price.
More brands are likely to go colorless for certain products because “financially it works, it’s easy and you can get it done by the deadlines,” said Jeff Grogg, founder of JPG Resources. But they may have to reconsider if a competitor figures out a way to use a natural color that makes a rival product more appealing, he said.
One product the industry is watching is PepsiCo Inc.’s dye-free NKD Doritos and Cheetos, which launched last year after testers who sampled them under red lights couldn’t distinguish between the colored and colorless chips.
“The launch signals that major brands are beginning to operationalize dye-free product pathways in response to regulatory pressure,” the NCA report said. Reformulating a product often costs between $50,000 to $500,000, the report noted.
In some cases, consumer testing has challenged the industry’s long-held ideas around the importance of color. They’re finding that people care more about taste than appearance — at least when the food itself isn’t fully visible.
"So far the response has been positive to neutral," especially for products where the color is hidden by packaging, said Kraft Heinz Co. Chief Executive Officer Steve Cahillane. "They're not missing something they don't see."
The company plans to remove color from Kool-Aid Jammers next year, a decision made easier because the nearly clear drinks will be sold in opaque pouches. It’s also planning to remove color from some Mio products, a line of liquid enhancers that add flavor or benefits such as electrolytes to water.
PepsiCo reached a similar conclusion with its single-serve electrolyte powders under the Gatorade Zero, Gatorlyte and Propel brands. Because many consumers mix the drinks in opaque water bottles, “we took that opportunity to really explore the importance of color in the portfolio,” said Marissa Pines, vice president of marketing for Gatorade powders. The dye-free powders are white and dissolve mostly clear.
Photo Illustration: Maria E Be for Bloomberg
Dannon took the green hue out of its Light & Fit Key Lime Nonfat Greek Yogurt after testing it with consumers and hearing they cared more about flavor instead of color.
Danone found shoppers accepted cream-colored Light + Fit Greek Key Lime yogurt, as long as the taste remained the same as the previously pale green version. A bright green lid signals the flavor. The company is still working on getting artificial dyes out of the last 2% of its portfolio.
The calculus changes, however, when the product’s appearance is one of its main selling points. These are often the foods where color and taste can seem inseparable.
Shoppers tend to have stronger color expectations for foods tied in some way to agricultural products, said Daniel Haley, a vice president at food and beverage ingredient company Ingredion Inc. They want ketchup to be red and peas to be green. But they have fewer color expectations for candy or beverages, Haley said.
PepsiCo’s ready-to-drink Gatorade is one of the exceptions. “Many people don’t even know the names of the flavors, but they know that they like a certain color of Gatorade,” Pines said.
Photograph: The Gatorade Company
Gatorade Zero’s fruit punch-flavored electrolyte powder is now white and dissolves mostly clear.
Starting this fall, the company said it will launch fruit punch, lemon lime and orange flavors of Gatorade Thirst Quencher and Gatorade Zero dyed with ingredients like purple potatoes and beta carotene, the result of a years-long process working with color manufacturers and supply chain experts.
Kraft Heinz is still debating whether to go color-free with its Kool-Aid Bursts in Berry Blue flavor, which is packaged in a clear container. Blue is among the hardest colors to reproduce naturally because it rarely occurs in nature and is hard to keep vibrant.
One option the company is considering is making the beverage an opaque white color and renaming the flavor Ice Berry, said Caroline Boulos, president of hydration, dessert and meals at Kraft Heinz.
Kyrissa Mattison is exactly the kind of consumer driving food makers away from artificial dyes. The 36-year-old, who lives in Queen Creek, Arizona, specifically avoids buying foods with additives for her family. But she’s not ready to ditch color.
“You want your kid to have the fun summer foods,” said Mattison, who buys her son naturally dyed popsicles.
Still, she concedes colorless freezer pops have one advantage: They won’t stain the couch.