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Additives And Colors Colors are very important to the food manufactures. Consumers have come to expect a standard of quality from the products they buy every day. They expect a consistent taste and image as well. Color is the most immediately noticeable element of overall appearance. Color is the image they are looking for and it must be consistent. Many food products do not always have the same identical color depending on season, origin, process etc. Food colors of both natural and synthetic origin are therefore extensively used in processed foods and play a major role in increasing the acceptability and attractiveness of these products. Among the natural colors used in foods is annatto, carotene, chlorophyll, cochineal, saffron, turmeric and grape derived coloring. Of course the cochineal also known as carmine is derived from an insect which would render it non-kosher. The grape-derived colors are also not kosher unless produced from a kosher production, which is generally not the case. Foods that are frequently colored include candies, baked goods, soft drinks, butter, cheeses, salmon, lox, oranges and many other foods items in order to improve their appearance. The use of coloring can conceal damage or inferiority, or make the product appear better than it actually is. The FDA does control the use of colors in food products, but only for safety purposes. The World Health Organization found many to be unsafe. Many colors that were approved by the FDA as GRAS (generally regarded as safe) were challenged by consumers and others & were ultimately removed from GRAS classification. Fresh ground flour is pale yellow. Upon storage, it slowly becomes white and undergoes an aging process that improves its baking qualities. For many years processors have added an oxidizing agent to the flour to accelerate this process, thereby reducing storage costs, spoilage, and insect infestation. The processors do not store the wheat for the extended periods that was common a few years back. Those that do not use spring wheat from the current year's harvest till after Passover are finding it harder to find wheat based products from last year's harvest. Compounds such as benzoyl peroxide bleach the flour without affecting baking qualities. Other compounds, such as oxides of nitrogen, chlorine dioxide among others have both a bleaching and maturing ability. There are also added dough conditioners, such as ammonium or calcium sulfate, inorganic salts etc. The quantities that are used are relatively small (ppm=parts per million) since too much can easily result in an inferior product. |