If you're reformulating food products with natural dyes, you already know this isn't just a color conversation. It's also about clarity.
Today’s consumers want clean labels, but they also expect the vibrant, crystal-clear appearance they’ve always trusted. That’s why measuring both color and haze has become essential in food quality control, especially for transparent products like gelatin desserts and sports drinks.
At HunterLab, we understand that true visual quality isn't just about hue. It's about how that hue is seen. That’s why our Vista® spectrophotometer captures both color and haze in a single measurement, helping manufacturers navigate reformulation with confidence. Showing that we recognize replacing synthetic colors with natural colors is just not about finding a replacement color; it is about finding a natural color that will work in your product.
The Shift: From Synthetic Dyes to Natural Alternatives
Across the Food and Beverage industries, major food brands are stepping up to remove synthetic dyes, driven by federal initiatives and evolving consumer expectations. One iconic brand has already begun a multi-year journey to remove artificial colorants from its gelatin and powdered drink lines. The move reflects a broader industry trend: reduce, replace, and reinvent color systems using natural ingredients.
Sounds simple. But it's not.
Unlike synthetic dyes, natural pigments often don’t dissolve cleanly in water-based systems. They bring microscopic particles, create protein-polyphenol interactions, and can become unstable in acidic conditions. The result? A haze that dulls the product’s clarity—even when the color is technically “correct.”
