Why The U.S. Government Decides The Color Of Our Food - Cheddar Explains

when walking through a grocery store we expect food to be certain colors oranges are orange salmon is pink and pickles are yellowish green but what if i told you that this isn't necessarily true unlike candy or cereal we assume that the color of natural foods are a result of the environment but some aren't actually the color we assume that's because the government plays a key role in determining the colors of your food and for that we can thank the margarine wars of the late 19th century in the 1860s butter was expensive without refrigeration the product spoiled quickly in response the french invented a cheaper alternative called margarine it was made by churning beef tallow a form of animal fat with salt and milk margarine was a similar tasting spread but was less expensive and took longer to spoil but unlike butter margarine was white the color of lard so manufacturers added a yellow dye in order to appeal to consumers palettes conditioned by the color of butter by the 1870s margarine was flying off american shelves meanwhile butter sales were falling so the american dairy industry launched a propaganda campaign against margarine the campaign published articles citing the use of dangerous ingredients and used obscene cartoons depicting the wretched conditions of factories in 1886 the government passed the oleo margarine act to appease butter manufacturers it permitted the coloring of margarine but aimed to restrict sales by adding a 2 cent tax per pound whether it was colored or not the act marked one of the first instances in which an industry pursued government intervention in an effort to stop competition but this wasn't enough for dairy farmers and they continued to seek government legislation by the end of the century 26 states had enacted anti-color laws that completely prohibited the coloring of margarine some states went as far as making manufacturers dye margarine pink so that consumers could discern the difference in products in 1902 the federal government took it a step further and added a 10 cent tax on artificially dyed margarine while the tax on naturally colored was reduced to a quarter of a cent in order to avoid the tax margarine producers started using vegetable oil as a natural dye and even sold color capsules along with the white margarine so that consumers could color it at home the margarine wars were coming to a close but the war on food dye was just beginning in 1906 the food and drugs act banned the use of harmful coloring without labeling to conceal damage or inferiority the government certified seven colors for food use not only because they were considered harmless but because they were heavily used however the use of them was not required manufacturers could still use uncertified colors as long as they were labeled in the ingredients and american consumers still bought them if we didn't use coloring your our food products would look a lot different than they look it may affect people's decision whether to buy a food product or not but in addition to that colors can also be used as a way to enhance flavoring or or more importantly to enhance freshness what we see on our plate determines how we taste during one study by the british researcher jc wheatley in the 1970s participants ate steak and fries in a dark room subjects stated the food tasted normal but midway through the meal scientists turned on the lights to reveal that the steak was dyed blue and the fries green many participants became ill or lost their appetite merely at the site the experiment showed how our brains can alter the taste of food depending on our perception of color in the early 1900s the usda began setting grade standards for the external appearances of certain foods for example no more than four percent of peas in a can of canned peas could be discolored and in order for apples to be graded as us extra fancy they must be colored 50 striped or partially red these grading standards determine the quality of food based solely on appearance throughout this time journalists continued to uncover more harmful properties associated with dyes and ingredients using food drug and cosmetic products then in 1937 disaster struck a tennessee drug company began advertising the benefits of the new drug to treat infections but the product was untested and was found to have toxic ingredients after over 100 patients died the newly created fda quickly enacted the food drug and cosmetics act and unlike the 1906 law only the use of certified dyes would be permitted by law regulations continued to strengthen and the list of certified colors was frequently updated due to safety concerns there are nine certified colors that are approved for use in the united states and the fda has a chart with those nine colors and these colors are prominent across the food industry even in foods you may not expect when you think about the color of typical pickles in a jar you probably picture a bright yellow green color like these although pickles are naturally green this bright hue is the result of food dye yellow dye number five and six this dye keeps skin from fading while on shelves uncolored pickles on the other hand are much less vibrant and look like this now what color do you think of when it comes to oranges obviously the color orange right but that isn't always the case in warmer climates ripe oranges are actually green and many residents of equatorial communities have never even seen an orange orange in food stands only in cooler temperatures does this green pigment die off revealing an orange color however consumers in these areas associate green with an unripe fruit so in order to make oranges sellable in the u.s and european market farmers in warmer states like florida where 70 of the us citrus supply comes from and texas often artificially dye them orange however the dye is banned in california in arizona salmon is another unsuspecting food that relies on dyes to make sales unlike wild salmon that is naturally pink farm-raised salmon is naturally gray the meat from wild salmon is pink because their diet consists of naturally pigmenting compounds from krill and shrimp but farmed salmon are fed food pellets with astaxanthin an fda approved die in order to turn them pink this is because consumers have been shown to prefer darker shades of pink and will pay up to one dollar more per pound for a darker color compared to lighter hues fish is a huge problem when it comes to deception you've got fish that's caught in alaska for example sent to asia for manipulation sent back to alaska and then and then sent to the states for consumption in sushi bars some wheat breads cheeses and others contain dyes as well by regulating this kind of food coloring or the use of food diets government is trying to protect people's health by stopping the introduction of harmful substances but at the same time this kind of regulation was adjusted so that this regulation does not affect the food industry differs in the devastating way they don't want to ban or prohibit any all of the synthetic dyes or prohibit the entire food coloring process today some companies are experimenting by slowly removing synthetic dyes from foods instead they're moving towards the less vibrant natural dyes for example subway recently stated it would stop using artificial dye to color banana peppers and use turmeric to maintain the bright yellow appearance instead and panera bread removed the use of dye and its mozzarella cheese which turned it from having a bright white color to a yellowish hue the standard the government uses is a reasonable standard so they don't have to be foolproof 100 proven safe but they have to be shown to be reasonably safe so we allow these little exceptions to the 100 percent rule you know no risk rule in order to accommodate a modern food system of having foods that are manufactured in different colors and taste in a variety of foods but the problem with that is beyond just the questions of deception and safety is the question of is this the kind of food system we want [Music] you

Channel: Cheddar

Views: 942,200

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Keywords: Cheddar, cheddar explains, cheddar explores, explainer, food coloring, fda, usda, government, health, food, natural foods, food dye, margarine wars, margarine, butter, salmon color, nutrition, pickles, america, why the u.s., usa, food industry, farming, regulations, food production, extra fancy, fancy, yellow 5, red 40, yellow dye, artificial flavors, artificial colors, chemistry, synthetic flavors, colors, supermarket, grocery, business, politics, economics

Id: 6FPnag_rvU8

Length: 10min 50sec (650 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 18 2021