The Vice President of Research and Development says that “we eat with our eyes”: Pepsi plays with sweet purple potatoes and different carrot colors during the race to remove the dyes.

PepsicoWhich makes Doritos, Cap’n Crunch Cereal, Fununs and Mountain Dew, announced in April that it will work Uplogging a scheme’s transformation To use Natural colors In foods and drinks. About 40 % of its American products now contain artificial dyes, according to the company.

But as it took decades until the artificial colors leak into Pepsico products, it is possible that its removal is a multi -year process. The company said it still finds new ingredients, test consumer responses and the US Food and Drug Administration to agree to natural alternatives. Pepsico She did not commit to meeting the Trump administration’s goal Graduate elimination of petroleum -based artificial dyes By the end of 2026.

“We will not launch a product that the consumer will not enjoy,” said Chris Coleman, senior manager of Pepsico Research and Development Company in North America. “We need to make sure that the product is correct.”

Coleman said that it may take two or three years The product turns From artificial color to natural color. Pepsico has for Determine a natural component It will have a stable period of validity and do not change the flavor of the product. Then it should ensure the availability of safe and sufficient supply. Company Initial models tests with trained experts and panels from consumers, then make sure that the new formula will not disrupt its manufacturing process. It should also design new packages.

Experience of spices to Color Cheetos

Tostitos and Lay’s will be the first Pepsico brand that turns into this transformation, with a naturally dyed tortilla and folds expected On the shelves of stores Later this year and a naturally dyed decline is scheduled to be sold early next year. Most of the chips, declines, and Salsa in the two lines are already colored naturally, but there were some exceptions.

For example, the brown red dye of Tostitos Salsa Verde came from four artificial colors: yellow 5, yellow 6, red 40 and blue 1. Coelman said that the company turns into carbure powder, giving chips a similar color, but he needed to adjust the recipe to ensure the addition of cocoa alternative.

There Freito Lay Food laboratories and test kitchens in Plano, Texas, Pepsico try ingredients such as sweet pepper and turmeric to imitate red and bright oranges in products like Flamin ‘Hot CheetosColeman said.

The company is looking for a purple sweet potato and different types of carrots for colorful drinks such as Mountain Dew and Cherry 7UP, according to Dameyan Brown, Vice President of Research and Development Department in the Pepsico Drinks Department and based in Vallala, New York.

Brown said that getting right is very important, because many consumers know that products like Gatorade through their color and not necessarily their name.

He said: “We eat with our own eyes.” “If you look at a plate of food, it is generally the different types of colors that will tell you what you want or not.”

The consumer request requires from whisper to roar

When Pepsi-Cola was founded in 1902, the absence of artificial dyes was a point of pride. The company markets Pepsi as “original food drink” to distinguish Cola is a competitor That used bullets, arsenic and other toxins such as diet before the United States banned in 1906.

But artificial dyes eventually beat food companies. She was vibrant, consistent and cheaper than natural colors. It is also tested carefully by the Food and Drug Administration.

However, Pepsico said she has begun to see a small segment of shoppers who have been seeking products without colors or artificial flavors for more than two decades. In 2002, she simply launched her line of chips, which offers natural versions of products such as Doritos. GATOREAE, the Gatrade -free gym appeared in 2016.

“We are looking for these small signals that will become thorny in the future,” said Amanda Gerzaida, director of Pepsico, Pepsico director, director of global sensory experience and consumers in Pepsico.

Gerzaida said that Pepsico whispered discovered in the early first decade of the twentieth century became a roar, fed by social media and Consumer’s interest increased In ingredients. Gerzaida said that more than half of consumers spoke with them in a recent internal study that they are trying to reduce their consumption of artificial dyes.

Artificial and natural colors in the hands of FDA

Some states, including Western Virginia and Arizona, have The prohibited artificial dyes in school lunch meals. But Brown said he was thinking Consumers lead Pay to repair processed foods.

He said: “It is certain that consumers are leading, and I think what we have to do is to make the organizers pursue, which allows us to agree to new natural ingredients to be able to meet their request.”

The US Food and Drug Administration said it is to agree to agree on natural additions after companies invited to stop their use of artificial dyes. In May, FDA Three new natural additions were approvedIncluding the blue color derived from algae. In July, the agency agreed to the blue Gardenia, derived from the ever -flowering green.

The Food and Drug Administration has banned the petroleum dye, Red 3In January because it turned out that it caused cancer in the laboratory mice. In September, the agency I suggest a ban on orange bArtificial color has not been used for decades.

Six artificial dyes accredited by the FDA (FDA) remains widely accredited, despite mixed studies that show that they may cause problems in nervous behavior in some children. Red 40, for example, in 25,965 food and beverage elements are used on American store shelves, according to NIQ Market Research.

But even if contracts of research showed that artificial colors are safe, Pepsico should weigh public perceptions, said Grzeda.

She said: “We can blindly follow the flag, but it is likely that it will show us a dispute with what our consumers believe and imagine in the world.”

Pass the taste and texture tests

Pepsico also has to balance the needs of consumers who do not want their snacks and their favorite drinks or become more expensive due to the costs of natural dyes. NIQ data shows that unit sales of the advertised products as artificial colors decreased sharply in 2023 with high prices.

Susan Mazur, the owner of the small business in Hinton, West Virginia, has taken some simple brand at the Cheetos store recently in a store because it was the only available group. She found that the texture is very different from the regular Cheetos puff, and made it its comprehensive color less delicious.

Mazur Stomin said she agreed while moving away from oil -based dyes, but she is not an important problem for her.

“What I am looking for is the original formula,” she said.

In the end, Pepsico does not want customers to choose between natural colors and Fadd flavors And the texture, Gerza said.

“This is the place where science, components and deep magic requires, she said.

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Durbin mentioned from Detroit.