Food Colorants Market

The global food colorants market is expected to register a notable growth rate during the forecast period. The rising demand for natural food colors and growth of application industries are the major factors driving market growth. Moreover, the focus on R&D with respect to product development and extraction technologies is creating profitable opportunities for the manufacturers. However, stringent regulations associated with food colors are restraining the growth of the market.

Consumer focus on health and wellness has seen a rise in recent years owing to increasing incidences of lifestyle disorders such as cardiovascular diseases, obesity, osteoporosis, and diabetes. This has changed consumer food choices and perception of natural ingredients. Thus, rising consumer preference for natural and clean-label products is driving the demand for natural ingredients in the food & beverage industry. This demand is especially high in North America and Europe owing to the high demand for healthy and natural food products. A survey conducted by International Food Information Council Foundation in the US in 2018 found that around 70% of consumers are willing to shift product choices to avoid artificial ingredients; these consumers are also willing to pay extra for products that do not use artificial ingredients. Considering this trend, several manufacturers of food products and beverages are shifting to natural nutrient-rich ingredients that offer several health benefits, thereby boosting the demand for natural food ingredients and natural food colors globally.

Organic and natural products are currently trending due to an inclination toward healthy food, leading to the growth of the organic and natural food products market. The manufacturers of food colors can avail of this opportunity by focusing on R&D to develop a wide range of natural food colors. Most manufacturers are emphasizing the search for alternatives to the synthetic food colors presently available in the market. The market players are deploying technologies such as Soxhlet, supercritical fluid extraction, subcritical water extraction, ultrasound assisted extraction, mechanism of microwave extraction, and pulsed electric field to extract food colors.

Manufacturers are also focusing on improving these technologies to optimize the production process. This has led to the creation of lucrative growth opportunities for market players to increase profit potential.

The use of artificial food colors has become controversial over the last few years and detailed research has been conducted showing the potential hazards of consuming synthetic colors. This has resulted in the introduction of stringent regulations on the use of these colors in the food processing industry. These regulations vary from country to country.

In the US, colors being used in the food industry need to be certified by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Certified color additives are synthetic colorings that are used widely for intense, uniform color; they blend easily to create a variety of hues. These additives need to be certified every time a new batch is manufactured and should be used in permissible quantities.

In July 2010, the European Parliament mandated that foods & beverages containing food dyes must be labeled. The UK’s Food Standards Agency has imposed a voluntary ban on several of these dyes due to potential harm. While the European Parliament turned down a more widespread ban, it agreed to place warning labels on all European-produced foods containing one of six artificial colorings

Similarly, the FDA tried to impose a ban on Erythrosine but failed. The bans imposed on various colors in the EU and the US vary. For example, Quinoline Yellow, Carmoisine, and Ponceau are food colorings allowed in the EU but banned in the US, whereas Green No. 3, also known as Fast Green, is approved by the FDA but banned in Europe.

Developing countries such as India, China, and Sri Lanka have also instituted regulations on the use of synthetic colors. In China, color regulations fall under the GB2760-2011-National Food Safety Standard for the use of food additives. Each color is petitioned for use and usage level on an individual basis.

The use of food colors in food processing in India is regulated under the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act (PFA). According to the PFA, only permitted food colors can be used in food items but their concentration is limited to 100 ppm and it has been made mandatory for manufacturers to specify the use of colors on the packaging.

The Ministry of Health, Sri Lanka, has stringent regulations to restrict adulteration of food with non-permitted synthetic colors under the Extraordinary Gazette 2011, Food Act No. 26 of 1980. It permits only nine synthetic food colors and color concentration cannot exceed 100 ppm as a single component or in combination.

Therefore, the presence of stringent government regulations on the use of food colors is expected to restrict the growth of the global food colorants market during the review period.

Food colors, especially artificial colors, are widely used in the food industry to increase the appeal of food products. However, various studies conducted in public interest have concluded that these artificial or synthetic colors pose a threat to consumer health. These have changed consumer perception significantly toward the use of synthetic food colors. According to The Center for Science in the Public Interest, food colorings can lead to hyperactivity, behavior problems, and allergies in children. Many of these synthetic food colors are also linked to tumors, chromosomal damage, asthma, and various other health hazards. This has resulted in the demand for a ban on artificial food colors by consumers. Although the FDA and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) have confirmed that there is no risk associated with the consumption of food dyes while imposing several regulations on their use, there is negative consumer perception about synthetic food colors. This poses a serious challenge to food color manufacturers who are shifting focus on natural products.

The consumption of food colorants is increasing across the globe owing to its pleasant flavor, mildly stimulating effects, and medicinal properties. The growth of the global food colorants market is driven by the high demand for functional beverages and availability of several flavor variants. The increasing demand for organic products in developed economies is expected to offer lucrative opportunities to market players in the coming years. However, the high costs of food colorants as compared to its regular counterpart and limited product awareness in underdeveloped nations are expected to hamper the growth of the food colorants market at the global level during the forecast period.