Baking & Snack - March 2005 - 86

March 2005

Colors Count
BY DONNA BERRY
he desire to improve one's physical
appearance, or simply maintain an
already buff one, drives consumers to
make better-for-you food choices. However,
regardless of how nutritionally improved
products taste, the driving force behind
most food purchases is appearance.
Interestingly, colors - natural and artificial - are usually the last items on the
ingredient panel of a baked food or snack
but perhaps are the most important for
first-time purchasers. "Color is usually one
of the last considerations in many formulations," said Owen Parker, vice-president of
R&D, D.D. Williamson, Louisville, KY.
With many better-for-you foods
such as low-fat cookies, baked
chips and high-fiber breads,
adding color is especially
important, because the
omission and/or addition of certain less
healthful (fat) or more
healthful (fiber) ingredients can have a deleterious effect on the finished
product's appearance.
"Unlike the role of texture
or taste on food palatability,
little research has been conducted
on the influence of a food's
color," said John Young, a
professor at Howard University, College of Medicine, Washington, DC.
Most consumers will
agree that a food's appearance not only drives
purchase decision but is capable of influencing flavor
perception. It can even
affect satiety and overall

T

satisfaction. "Color plays a vitally important role in the world in which we live,"
noted Jill Morton, director and primary
consultant at Colorcom, Honolulu, HI.
"Color can sway thinking, change actions
and cause reactions. It can irritate or soothe
your eyes, raise your blood pressure or
suppress your appetite."
Gary Blumenthal, president and c.e.o.,
World Perspectives, Inc., Washington,
DC, said, "Color and the appeal of various
foods are closely related. Just the sight of
food fires neurons in the hypothalamus.
Subjects presented food to eat in the dark
reported a critically missing
element for enjoying any
cuisine - the appearance of food.
"For the sighted,
the eyes must first
be
convinced
before a food
is even tried,"
continued Mr.
Blumenthal.

If sales are not
adding up, remember
a food's appearance
influences consumer
choice and can even
affect taste.

"This means that some food products fail
in the marketplace not because of bad
taste, texture or smell but because the consumer never got that far."
Indeed, color may influence the taste
of food. "Colors can be used to enhance
foods, making them look like what one expects them to taste like," said Patrick Tygh,
director of R&D, Chefmaster, Garden
Grove, CA. "Basically, colors make foods
more appetizing."
Looks certainly help sales. "If changing the color of a food or drink can sell
more product, you can be sure that the
company will make the change," added
Ms. Morton.

CERTIFIED COLORS
The Food and Drug Administration is
responsible for regulating all color additives used in the United States. Colors are
classified as either "certified" or "exempt
from certification."
Certified colors are manmade and often
called artificial. Food manufacturers can
work with a limited number of food,
drug and cosmetic (FD&C)
certified colors. In fact, only
seven FD&C colors
- Blue 1, Blue 2,
Green 3, Red 3,

ᮣ Caramel color gives
breads a good brown
color, especially in lowcarb breads, where developing a desirable crust color
can be a challenge.
D.D. Williamson

March 2005 / BAKING & SNACK / 89
Baking & Snack - March 2005

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