Reimagining the Natural in the American Food Industry

• In Event: Science, Technology, and the Regulation of Food and Agriculture #1

Abstract

Food coloring has been a common practice across cultures for millennia, at least since ancient Egyptians used saffron to color various foods. Beginning in the late nineteenth century, with the extensive industrialization of food processing and agriculture, the coloring of foods became a crucial part of manufacturing and marketing strategies for food businesses. While the manipulation of color is still a significant practice in the food industry today, however, the management of color has become more challenging for food businesses.

This paper explores how food processors sought to manage the color of foods from the 1980s to today when public concerns over the use of food dyes and health risks increased rapidly. By analyzing the expansion of the food coloring business and the establishment of government policies on food safety, the paper shows the political and social consequences of food coloring practices and regulation. As the use of food dyes increased, consumer activists and government officials began questioning the safety of coloring foods and revisited the issue of the naturalness of foods. While advocating the use of "natural dyes" derived from plant-based substances instead of chemically synthesized dyes, consumer activists continued to accept the coloring of foods. The upshot was that food manufacturers, consumers, and legislatures reinvented the concept of naturalness. This did not mean a reversion to the past, but rather a re-imagination of the natural in the context of highly mechanized manufacturing processes and advances in modern science.

Author

• Ai Hisano, Kyoto University