Flavours & Colours


and heat-stable reds is anything but plug-and-play.


“Natural colourants can


rarely match the vibrancy of synthetics and they fade more quickly,” Bryan cautions, noting that pH, light, heat, oxygen and moisture all exact a heavier toll on botanically sourced pigments. Beet-juice reds,


for instance, cannot survive in


high-moisture beverages; anthocyanin-rich blues drift toward purple as acidity changes. “The more vibrant the shade, the tougher it  Limited data on how multiple natural dyes interact further complicates formulations, often shortening shelf life. “There’s still a big research gap,” Bryan adds, pointing to ongoing studies in IFT’s Journal of Food


22 Kennedy’s Confection June 2025


Science and previews of novel pigments slated for July’s IFT FIRST Expo. With the FDA’s 2026 deadline looming, manufacturers have gone into rapid-reformulation mode.


“Companies


       natural colours and to close the cost gap with synthetics,” Bryan observes. Securing stable, traceable supply chains—already stressed by pandemic-era logistics—has become a board-level priority, especially for smaller brands with thin margins. “Expect higher        pricing, and brace for consumers to recalibrate expectations on brightness and shelf life.” Could QB/T 6500-2024 become a template elsewhere? “Hard to say,” Bryan hedges,


“because every country’s regulatory DNA and supply landscape is different.” That said,  suppliers that do—must now weigh three options: reformulate, produce dual recipes, or exit the market. And the standard’s strict reference list leaves open questions about colours not traditionally consumed as food (think insect-derived carmine).


“How China


     innovation pipelines worldwide,” he notes. While multinationals can spread reformulation costs across vast portfolios, Bryan warns that “smaller producers will        of higher input prices and more complex


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