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In our health-conscious era, consumers might link bright colours with ultra-processed foods, and avoid them as a result, adds Ma. Colourless products could be considered “more natural” or “better for you.” Attitudes were different in 1992, when Crystal Pepsi hit store shelves. Ma discusses the clear cola in his marketing class as “a classic example of a new product failure.” It was gone by the end of 1994. “I feel like there is a much better chance for a product like Crystal Pepsi to succeed today than 30 years ago.”
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Many different factors influence how people perceive foods, from their appearance to how they feel in our hands. “I’m pretty sure when you have two products, even if they have the same formula — one with colour, one without — people are going to tell you they taste different. Sensory input comes from multi-dimensions,” says Ma.
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Consumers also have expectations of certain products based on colour, from children’s cereal to snacks. People might associate the bright yellow of nacho chips with intense flavour. Pale ones could be considered defective, unless brands make it clear it’s intended.
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Whether or not going colourless would help or hurt food brands also depends on the type of brand.
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“If it’s positioned toward health-conscious consumers, going colourless might actually signal it’s authentic. It has purity. It’s natural,” says Ma. “Maybe (consumers) are even willing to pay a higher price for that. But for something we consume just out of habit, for enjoyment, maybe for those products, I feel like people will resist the change.”
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The U.S. Food & Drug Administration is tracking the progress of the food companies that have pledged to remove synthetic food dyes by the end of 2027. Along with the commonly cited snack foods, there are also less expected items, such as the milk, cheese and yogurt provided to schools through national breakfast and lunch programs.
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Soberman views the move away from artificial dyes — and toward making processed foods more natural — as positive.
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“Up until now, the main things that people have looked at when they are assessing the nutritional value of food — they’ve looked at sugar content. They’ve looked at salt content. They’ve looked at fat content. They’ve looked at caloric content. But this is actually another dimension that we’re using to look at the nutritional value of foods, so I think it’s a step in the right direction.”
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Emma Allen-Vercoe, a professor in the University of Guelph’s Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, whose research has found that commonly used food dyes can harm the gut microbiome, is concerned about the types of foods that contain artificial food dyes — some of which are common lunchbox additions.
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If given the choice between going colourless and adding artificial dyes, dropping the tints altogether is “the right choice,” says Allen-Vercoe. Beyond candy, chips and cake, “I’m also noticing it in things like yogurts and cheese strings and things like that, which we tend to give our kids as a healthy snack.”
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Allen-Vercoe has been studying the human gut microbiome for nearly 20 years. Her research has shown that azo food dyes, a class of synthetic colourings commonly used in food, medicines and cosmetics, can break down in the gut, creating potentially toxic byproducts. She describes gut microbes as “an unseen force in your body,” and compares their metabolic power to that of the liver.
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“I like to think that we’re living in more enlightened times now, and I’m glad that the consumer power is translating into this kind of pressure. And while we’re at it, why stop with food dyes?” says Allen-Vercoe, highlighting other artificial substances that research has found damaging to the microbiome, such as sweeteners, emulsifiers and thickeners.
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