Understanding Food Labels

Without food coloring, how would we know our favorite flavors of candy? Our candy could not be bright blue without a little help. Here’s how food coloring may appear on your label.

Often, we see “FD&C” followed by a color and a number. FD&C stands for the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, which passed in 1938 and covers rules regarding food, cosmetics, drugs and pesticides, among others. For foods, it establishes standards for quality, quantity and labels. Food dyes can be classified as just the color, or as “lakes” or “mixtures,” which indicates certain mixtures of colors or chemicals. Food dyes became regulated more strictly in the 1960s after children became sick from eating an orange dye used in candy.

Other food dye or color you may see includes beta-carotene, which is what makes plants like carrots or squash naturally orange, but it can also be man-made to put in processed foods. Another added dye is carmine or cochineal extract, which is red food coloring made from crushed beetles.