After a petition by Sensient Technologies Corporation, butterfly pea flower extract has been added to the list of approved color additives by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It's apparently the first plant-derived natural blue source approved by the federal agency.

Some food dyes like Blue #1 and #2 and Yellow #5 and #6 have been linked to developmental disorders in children and cancers in animals. These ingredients can be mass-produced with chemicals in a lab.

Related: 9 Healthy Eating Habits to Live Over A Century, Say Dietitians

In contrast, butterfly pea flower is native to Asia, where it has been used for centuries to make tea. It naturally colors foods and beverages with a pH above 3.8 a bright denim blue and those with a pH below 3.8 a deep purple.

If butterfly pea flower exists in nature, why did it take the ingredients industry so long to develop a blue food color? According to Food Dive's Samantha Oller, "the quest has been stymied by ensuring the stability and vibrancy in products that may be exposed to a range of conditions and shelf-life requirements."

Sensient Technologies Corporation said in a press release that its work on butterfly pea flower extract began more than 10 years ago. Its natural blue color is "exceptionally heat stable."

"While butterfly pea flower is relatively ubiquitous in parts of Southeast Asia, we discovered that the petals commonly grown for other uses were not ideally suited for the manufacture of standardized natural colors . . . We invested to develop higher pigment petals in order to produce a highly stable, safe, and clean blue for modern food and beverage manufacturers," Mike Geraghty, president of Sensient Colors LLC, said.

Items that can now include butterfly pea flower as an additive include alcoholic beverages, candy, carbonated coated nuts, chewing gum, soft drinks, dairy drinks, fruit drinks, fruit and vegetable juices, ice creams, sports drinks, teas, and yogurts.

Want to shop smarter at the grocery store? Check out:

• 20 Ways Your Grocery Store Makes You Sick
• The Best & Worst Grocery Brands of 2021—Ranked!
• This Grocery Chain's Produce Is Falling Out of Favor With Customers
• The Best & Worst New Grocery Store Items on the Shelves—Ranked!

And to get all of the latest grocery store news delivered right to your email inbox every day, sign up for our newsletter!

The post After Petition, the FDA Just Approved This New Food Additive appeared first on Eat This Not That.

----------------

By: Amanda McDonald
Title: After Petition, the FDA Just Approved This New Food Additive
Sourced From: www.eatthis.com/news-butterfly-pea-flower-approved-by-fda/
Published Date: Mon, 13 Sep 2021 19:48:35 +0000

Read More