Alternatives to synthetic food colours

In most Indian recipes, people use artificial colours to make them attractive. Most of them are  petroleum-based synthetic food dyes (PBFDs).

PBFDs possess neurobehavioral, allergic, and carcinogenic effects.

No matter how much you tell them not to do that, they don't listen. They simply give excuses like: 

'Children  eat the food only if you use colours'. 

People  buy them more if they are made colourful.

But I use beetroot juice, pomegranate, turmeric powder, grated carrot, coriander, mint and curry  leaves to make food attractive.

To get

Red & Pink colours: You can use beetroot juice, pomegranate, crushed raspberries, tomatoes, or dried hibiscus and rose flowers.

Orange & Yellows: Ground turmeric, carrot juice, sweet paprika, or annatto.

Green: Blended spinach leaves, matcha powder, coriander, mint, curry leaf powders or chlorophyll drops.

Blue & Purples: Spirulina extract, butterfly pea flower tea, or red cabbage juice. 

However, now scientists are showing another alternative.

Pic source: Getty Images

Picture source: Pinterest

Purple corn offers a stable natural alternative to artificial food dyes!

Researchers are turning a unique variety of corn into an effective natural alternative to artificial food dyes.
Scientists are studying a variety of purple-coloured corn traditionally grown in South America. Its vibrant shades come from anthocyanins, natural pigments that give blueberries, red cabbage and grapes their colours.

Unlike artificial dyes, which are petroleum-based and added purely for appearance, anthocyanins are rich in antioxidants known for reducing inflammation and supporting heart health.

In corn, these colours are concentrated in the pericarp, the thin outer layer of the kernel.

Purple pericarp corn provides anthocyanin-based colorants that retain ~75% of key pigments after high-temperature exposure, rising to ~97% with protective food-grade coatings, yielding shelf-stable powders. These colorants show minimal degradation in acidic beverages over seven weeks refrigerated, supporting use as natural dye alternatives.
For food manufacturers, replacing synthetic dyes such as Red No. 40 and Red No. 3 has long been a challenge.

Most natural colours are fragile. For food manufacturers, replacing synthetic dyes such as Red No. 40 and Red No. 3 has long been a challenge.
They tend to break down when exposed to heat, light or oxygen.
That has become a major barrier in the food industry, where ingredients must withstand processing temperatures up to 250 degrees Fahrenheit and remain stable on store shelves for weeks or even months.
In testing, researchers exposed purple corn colorants to elevated temperatures often used in food processing. After one hour of exposure, about 75% of the key colour compounds remained intact.

If the colour looks good after heating, that's what matters to manufacturers.
When the team coated the pigments in protective, food-grade materials, retention increased to nearly 97% for some compounds. That process allows researchers to create shelf-stable powders, making purple corn-based colorants easier to store and transport.

Researchers also tested their purple colorants in a beverage system, one of the most demanding environments for natural dyes. Drinks are often acidic, exposed to light and stored for extended periods—all conditions that can quickly degrade plant-based ingredients.

Purple corn-based colorants held up well in acidic and basic environments.
This durability, combined with potential health benefits, makes purple corn colorants more than a niche ingredient. They offer food companies a viable path to cleaner labels without sacrificing performance. For consumers, that could mean replacing artificial dyes with natural ingredients.

Ahmad Ali et al, Thermal and storage degradation kinetics of corn anthocyanin-based natural red colorants in a model beverage system, and their gastrointestinal behaviour, npj Science of Food (2026). DOI: 10.1038/s41538-026-00881-w