Bugs, beets and Barbie Pink: How scientists mix natural solutions to fulfill the repression of RFK Jr.

St. Louis (AP): As the pressure grows to achieveArtificialOutside the US food supply, the change can start at the Abby Laboratory Board either.

In the afternoon of April, the scientist passed over the tiny red dye dishes, each one a slightly different Ruby pitch. Your task? To combine the synthetic shadow used for years in a commercial bottled raspberry vinaigrette, but only using natural ingredients.

“With this red, he needs a little more orange,” he said either, mixing a black carrot juice purina with a little beta-carotene, an orange red color made with algae.

It is also not part of the Sensing Technologies Corp., one of the largest Dyemakers in the world, who is hurrying to help the salad manufacturer, along with thousands of other North -American companies, meet the demands of reviewing the colors used to illuminate products from cereals to sports drinks.

“Most of our customers have decided that it is the time when they will make this change to a natural color,” said Dave Gebhardt, a principal technical director of sensitive. He joined a recent tour of the sensible Factory colors in a neighborhood in the north of Sant Lluís.

Last week, US health officialsPlans announcedTo persuade food companies to voluntarily eliminate oil -based artificial dyes by the end of 2026.

The Secretary of Health, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., called them “poisonous compounds” that jeopardize the health and development of children, citing limited evidence of possible health risks.

Federal push follows a large amount ofthe state lawsand oneJanuary decisionTo prohibit artificial dye known as red 3, which is found in pies, candies and some medicines, due to the risks of cancer in laboratory animals. Influencers on social media and ordinary consumers have increased the calls for artificial colors to be removed from food.

It may be that a change to natural colors is not fast

The FDA allows about three dozen colored additives, including eight remaining synthetic dyes. But making the coloring of oil based on colors derived from vegetables, fruits, flowers and even insects will not be easy, fast or cheap, said Monica Giusti, a food color expert at Ohio University.

“The study after the study has shown that if all companies had to eliminate the synthetic colors of their formulations, the supply of natural alternatives would not be enough,” said Giusti. “We are not really ready.”

It can take six months to a year to turn a single synthetic dye product to a natural. And it could require three to four years to accumulate the supply of botanical products needed for a change throughout the industry, they said sensitive officials.

“It’s not that there are 150 million pounds of beet juice sitting, waiting for the entire market to convert,” said Paul Manning, the CEO of the company. “Dozens of millions of kilos of these products, extracted from the ground, must be cultivated.”

To make natural dyes, sensitive works with farmers and producers from around the world to harvest raw materials, who usually reach the plant as concentrates in bulk. They are processed and mixed in liquids, granules or dust and then sent to the feeding companies to be added to the final products.

Natural dyes are harder to make and use than artificial colors. They are less consisting of color, less stable and are subject to changes related to acidity, heat and light, said Manning. Blue is especially difficult. There are not many natural sources of color and those that exist can be difficult to maintain during processing.

In addition, a natural color costs about 10 times more than the synthetic version, loved Manning.

“How do you get the same experience, the same performance, the same level of safety in this product you would do in a synthetic product?” he said. “There is a lot of complexity associated with this.”

Insects that could make “rose barbie” naturally

Companies have long used the Synthetic Red 3 dye to create what sensitive officials describe as “barbie pink”.

To create this color with a natural source, it may require the use of cochinel, an insect on the size of a large pepper.

Female insects release a vibrant red pigment, carminical acid, in their bodies and eggs. Insects only live in perina cactus by punching in Peru and elsewhere. About 70,000 cochineal insects are needed to produce 1 kilogram, about 2.2 pounds, dye.

“It’s interesting how the most exotic colors are found in the most exotic places,” said Norb Norbrega, who travels to the world seeking new shades for sensitivity.

Artificial dyesare widely used in US foods. About 1 in 5 food products in the United States contains added, natural or synthetic colors, dear. Many contain various colors.

The FDA requires a sample of each batch of synthetic colors for testing and certifications. The colored additives derived from plant, animals or mineral sources are exempt, but have been evaluated by the agency.

Proponents of healthIt has long been calling for the removal of artificial food coloring, citing mixed studies that indicate that they can cause neurobahavior problems, including hyperactivity and attention problems, in some children.

United States food and drug administration says that approved dyes are safe when used according to regulations and that “most children have no adverse effects when they consume foods that contain colored additives.”

But critics indicate that added colors are a key component ofultra -processed foods,representing more than 70% of the United States diet and have been associated with a series of chronic health problems, including heart disease, diabetes andobesity.

“I’m all to get up from artificial food from food supply,” Marion said Beastan expert in food policies. “They are strictly cosmetic, they have no safety or safety purpose, they are ultra -processed food markers and may be detrimental to some children.”

The Trix cereal caution tale

Color is a powerful engine of consumer behavior and changes can be fired, Giusti said. In 2016, general eating giants MillsThe eliminated artificial dyesFrom the trix cereal after consumer requests, to natural sources, including turmeric, strawberries and radishes.

But the cereal lost its neon colors, giving rise to more silenced shades and a consumer reaction. Trix fans said they lost the bright colors and the family taste of cereal. In 2017, the company changed again.

“When it is a product you like, you are used to consuming and it changes slightly, maybe it will not really be the same experience,” Giusti said. “Announceing a regulatory change is a step, but implementation is something else.”

Kennedy, the Secretary of Health, said that North -Americans have a “understanding” with food companies to eliminate artificial colors. Industry officials told Associated Press that there is no formal agreement.

However, several companies have said that they intend to accelerate a change towards natural colors in some of their products.

CEO of Pepsico, Ramon LaguardaHe said that most of his products are already free of artificial colors and that their marks of their position and tostitos will end at the end of this year. He said that the company plans to eliminate artificial colors, or at least offer consumers a natural alternative – over the coming years.

General Mills’s representatives said they are “committed to continuing the conversation” with the administration. WK Kellogg officials said that they reformulate the cereals used in the country’s school lunch programs to eliminate artificial dyes and to stop the new products that contain them from January.

Sensitive officials would not confirm which companies seek help to make the change, but they said they are ready for the rise.

“Now that there is an appointment, there is the timeline,” said Manning. “Without a doubt it requires actions.”

This story originally presented to Fortune.com

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