Wild develops 'natural' blue colour
ideal for confectionery applications.
The company claims that sugar coated chocolate confectionery with non-artificial colourings is available in all colours - from yellow to orange, pink and green, even brown and black. The only colour missing from this list, said the firm, has been blue. "Confectionery is all about colour," said the company. "Colourful sweets appeal to the predominantly young consumer, awaken the appetite and set the taste buds tingling." However, consumers are also attaching greater importance to natural colourings, even in confectionery. To meet this demand, Wild has developed a non-artificial blue colorant that it claims gives products a brilliant colour. Consumers associate appealing colours with freshness, quality, and great taste, and natural products are increasingly in demand from health-conscious consumers. "Natural products once lacked colour appeal," claimed Wild. "However, consumers are looking for lavish and stunning colours in natural confectionery products, too. Wild offers natural colours that fulfil manufacturer and consumer requirements." Indeed, sugar coated confectionery must meet stiff requirements on the colour used. The colour needs to be intense and provide a high level of coverage on a thin sugar layer of a mere 50 micrometers. Wild said that its non-artificial blue meets these tough requirements, thus filling the gap in the natural colour spectrum. In addition, tough legislation on additives is currently on the debating table. Europe's food safety authority recently issued information on current food additive laws ahead of the upcoming Codex meeting in China, which will discuss proposed amendments. CCFA was established to set or endorse maximum levels for individual food additives, prepare priority lists of food additives for risk assessment and assign functional classes to individual food additives. According to EFSA, food additives are substances added intentionally to foodstuffs to perform certain technological functions, for example to colour, to sweeten or to preserve. In Europe food additives are labelled on food packaging by an E number (such as E415) or by their chemical name. Under European legislation, additives must be explicitly authorised at European level before they can be used in foods. Before authorisation they must undergo a safety evaluation for using the additive as intended.
