San-Ei Gen F.F.I., Inc. has launched Gardenia blue color, which the FDA has approved as a food colorant in the U.S. Synthetic Blue, Green, and Purple can now be replaced with natural origin colors.
*Gardenia blue can now be used in sport drinks, flavored or enhanced noncarbonated water, fruit drinks, ready-to-drink teas, and hard & soft candies.
Spirulina blue, the available natural blue colorant previously approved in the US, is restricted in its applicability to food products due to poor stability to heat and acid. Gardenia blue, though, has excellent heat and acid stability, offering a blue colorant alternative for a wider range of foods.
Gardenia blue can be used in combination with a natural origin red color such as purple sweet potato color to make a purple color tone, or with a natural origin yellow such as turmeric to make a green color tone.