Artificial dyes fading, but food still gets altered colours

NEW YORK — Many companies are purging artificial colours from their foods, but don’t expect your cheeseburgers or cereal to look much different. Colors send important signals about food, and companies aren’t going to stop playing into those perceptions.

McDonald’s recently announced it had removed artificial colours from many of its burgers and Kellogg is taking them out cereals.

But other foods get colour boosts in ways you may not realize.

Egg producers get darker yolks by adjusting chicken feed ingredients, and farmed salmon get their pink from feed additives. Most cheddar cheeses owe their orange colour to a plant extract.

And sometimes, consumers aren’t ready to part with colours they like. General Mills brought artificial colours back for a “classic” version of Trix cereal in response to customer demand.

The Associated Press