June 19, 2025 – Based on FDA’s new rules banning petroleum-based food dyes (or food color additives), Blue No. 1 (brilliant blue FCF) currently in your favorite blue raspberry drink could be replaced with either algae or pea plant extracts in the near future. While major food and beverage manufacturers are on the fast-track in reinventing their ingredient recipes, the FDA also in tandem with its artificial dyes announcement this week, has recently approved three new natural or organic food additives to expand the food color palette : butterfly pea flower extract, galdieria extract, and calcium phosphate.
In our own kitchen, I have experimented with using butterfly pea flower (Clitoria ternatea) powder in making both brilliantly blue colored tea and ice cubes. Interestingly, its x-rated scientific name comes from the shape of its blooms that resemble female genitalia (I digress). Butterfly pea flower extract also can be used to make intense purple and green colors. The FDA previously approved the extract for use in beverages such as sports drinks, teas and alcoholic cocktails. The recent FDA approval expanded the extract’s usage in snacks and cereals. Not sure if bright blue hard pretzels will look appealing to the customers?
We may be seeing on the grocery shelves even more blue-colored fruit drinks, smoothies, breakfast cereals, yogurt, ice cream, hard candy and flavored frostings with another blue extract recently approved by the FDA; specifically, a blue color extract derived from the unicellular red algae Galdieria sulphuraria.
The third recently FDA approved organic substance is calcium phosphate that can be used to whiten hard candy. Maybe beet dye can be used to make the red stripes in peppermint candy.
As the synthetic dyes are phased out in the United States, beverage industry leaders, food manufacturers and professional food organizations warn the transition may lead to higher prices and limited product availability due to the complexity and cost of reformulating with natural colors. According to this article, the cost for raw ingredients could vary due to availability and harvest times such that the cost may climb up to ten times more than that of synthetic dyes currently used in beverages and foods. In our opinion, for the sake of our children and ourselves, higher grocery costs resulting from healthier ingredients may reduce in the long run the even higher costs of medical care caused by synthetic chemicals in our food and beverages.