New cyan blue could be an alternative to synthetic blue food colorings
Blue ice cream made with the new pigment.
April 15, 2021
A natural brilliant blue food coloring has been discovered by an international team of researchers including chemists at the University of California, Davis. Natural food colorings are in demand, and the new cyan blue, obtained from red cabbage, could be an alternative to synthetic blue food colorings such as the widely used FD&C Blue No. 1. The U.S. National Science Foundation-funded work is published in
The researchers have developed an enzyme to make the blue color in usable quantities. "Blue colors are really quite rare in nature -- a lot of them are really reds and purples," said researcher Pamela Denish.