Cold & Colorful! Brighten up your plant-based dairy with natural colors
15 Nov 2022 | DDW, The Color House
As the plant-based market grows, so do the offerings! Traditional dairy products are being reimagined with plant-based ingredients, and new innovations are always hitting the shelves. Natural colors are a great match for plant-based dairy applications, however, there are still important things to consider when choosing a natural color. This webinar will give you an in-depth look at how to choose the right natural color for your next plant-based dairy project.
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Hello and welcome to today's Food ingredients first hosted webinar.
I'm Elizabeth Green, a senior journalist for CNS Media, and the moderator for today's webinar sponsored by DDW The Colour House.
Before we get started, I'd like to let our listeners know that you can submit any questions you wish to be answered through the Q&A engagement tool.
Any questions we don't have time to respond to during today's session can be answered via email following the presentation.
The webinar will also be available on demand on food ingredientsfirst.com.
A link to view the on-demand webinar will be emailed to you after the presentation.
Today's webinar is presented by DDW, part of Giridan, and a key player in the natural colors arena.
The webinar is entitled Cold and Colourful, Brighten Up Your Plant Based Dairy with Natural colors.
As the plant-based market grows, so do the offerings.
Traditional dairy products are being reimagined with plant-based ingredients and new products continue to hit shelves.
Natural colors are a great match for plant-based dairy applications, however, there are still important things to consider when choosing a natural color.
This webinar will give you an in-depth look at how to choose the right natural color for your next plant based dairy project.
With that, let me introduce our speakers today.
Our first speaker is Fran Gibson, an applications scientist at DDW.
Fran started her career as a sample technician, but enjoyed the challenge of finding solutions for customer application queries.
She has a background in microbiology and a BSC Honours degree in Food Science and Technology.
Our next speaker is Logan McConkie, an application support technician at DDW.
He has been combining natural colors with creativity for almost 4 years.
He also has a BA in chemistry from the University of Louisville.
With that, let's begin today's webinar.
I'll now hand it over to Fran.
Fran, the floor is yours.
Hello everyone.
My name is Fran Gibson.
And I'm Logan McConkie.
Thank you for joining us today.
Before we get started, let's take a quick poll to see how we can get a feel for where you are in your natural colors journey.
Which of these answers best describes your current situation?
A.
You are currently using natural colors.
B.
You are currently using synthetic colors but are looking to switch to natural colors.
C, you are currently using synthetics and prefer them, or D, other.
Whether you're currently using natural colors.
I would like to make the switch or you just want to learn more about them in general, we hope this webinar will provide you some helpful information about how to use them in your plant-based dairy applications.
We'll give everyone another moment to submit their answers.
OK, here is a quick look at how everyone voted.
Thanks everyone.
After the webinar.
We look forward to answering some questions that you might have for us.
To begin, let's take a look at the market data around plant-based dairy and frozen desserts and highlight the trends.
When we started planning this webinar, we knew for sure that we wanted to talk about frozen chilled and dairy desserts because they pose an excellent opportunity to display the challenges and advantages of designing a delightful sensory experience with natural colors in dairy.
When we looked at the main trends within the category, we found that although the bulk of new product launches during the last 5 years is represented by regular dairy ice cream and frozen yogurt, the compound annual growth rate for plant-based versions of these frozen desserts is astonishing, with 32.1% growth for the global market and 15.3% in Europe, which is, as you can imagine, not a trifling sum.
Since this particular subcategory is of interest to food developers, we decided to use it as a canvas, if we may use that metaphor, to show how all the potential of visual design with natural colors highlighting the parallels and differences with the use of dairy and non-dairy ingredients.
Let's explore the driver's.
That product designers have recently chosen.
As claims for the launch of new non-dairy ice creams and frozen yogurts all over the world.
In general terms, we can divide the claims into 4 groups.
Firstly, those related to convenience, focusing on packaging formats that allow for easy on the go consumption with resonances of the ice cream parlor experience at home.
As concerns for inflation and rising costs limit the opportunities to dine out.
A second claim is related to the origin of the product, with vegan and plant-based as the major drivers over the previous -regarded vegetarian claim.
Health claims are still of interest to consumers of the free from category, with gluten-free, lactose-free, and no additives or preservatives as are commonest statements.
Nevertheless, some sources state that for the omnivorous or flexitarian consumer, especially the Gen Z consumer, frozen treats are more about indulgence than about health.
That being said, they are more, they are still motivated by concepts like -being, mental health, and mindful consumption.
The fourth category is related to ethical claims with the use of environmentally friendly packaging materials, human ethical claims like fair trade and environmental certifications related to the sustainability of the ingredients and manufacturing and distribution methods.
A special claim that creeps in all over the world, but especially in Europe is the concept of nostalgia, where traditional ingredients and familiar flavors are highlighted to respond for the yearning of hassle-free world of their youth.
Non-dairy ice creams and frozen yogurts follow the same general trend in flavors as the traditional dairy-based versions, with chocolate and caramel in all its varieties, as as vanilla at the top of the charts, taking us back to the motivation for nostalgia and comfort.
But if you recall, all the main driver for frozen treat consumption is mental health and -being.
So we see the explanation of other flavors like berries and red summer tropical fruits, exotic fruits, citrus, acidic, and tart flavors, or fresh, spicy, and herbal notes.
The mishmash of categories in frozen novelties like blackberry plus ice cream, spirits plus ice cream is still a territory for growth with exemplary flavors like red velvet cake, cookie dough, or brownie in the first category, and Manhattan cocktail, Irish cream, or whiskey in the second.
So what colors are being used to match these flavors?
Plant-based frozen desserts make use of, of course, of a lot of caramel color for chocolate and other brown flavors, as as yellow colors like beta-carotene, lutein, or blends of an artine curcumin for vanilla or other yellow and orange shades for citrus flavors.
Other popular colors are the vegetable sources of red, among which we count red beet and anthocyanins depending on the pH of the application and chlorophyll derivatives and spirulina as a source of green and blue respectively.
This final note on market data will help us to introduce the next section.
Which ingredients are being used for the formulation of plant-based frozen desserts?
As milk and cream act as multifunctional ingredients, their substitution often requires the addition of several plant-based ingredients.
The main milk-like ingredient used globally is coconut milk, followed by oat milk, which is the favorite dairy substitute in Europe and has a great reputation for being sustainable, nutritious, and having a mild taste profile.
The most used fat source is again coconut, followed by cocoa fat, which is used mainly in chocolate flavored recipes.
The addition of isolated proteins is not uncommon, is not uncommon with pea and soybean as the most popular, which adds some texture and things to the products.
Other solids are used according to the recipe and flavor, with cocoa mass being used frequently again in chocolate flavors, followed by starches from cereals like wheat, corn, or rice, which is the main filler used in European recipes.
In this next section, we'll talk about some factors that affect color selection and dairy alternatives.
There are, there are several factors that can influence your natural color choice, like the color of your base, its physiochemical composition, the temperature and duration of the thermal processing, the use of clear packaging, or any sort of light exposure, the color dosage rate, flavor expectations, and how it pairs with the selected color, as as regulatory considerations.
When alternative milks and proteins are part of the base formulation, they can impact the overall color of the finished product.
They can contribute a range of shades shown here from ice white like the rice milk to warm caramel in the cashew milk.
Then there is the effect of any heat processing that is required for manufacturing your product, which may introduce some browning as part of the Maillard reaction, which is a caramelization of the sugars in the base producing stronger caramel colors.
This could influence your final color choice as you may want to mask or complement the starting color of your base selected to achieve the required shade of your finished product, as we will see in the next slide.
Here we see the same selection of base milks with the addition of color pigments to show how the base color impacts the final color of the product.
The scarlet red in particular shows the most varied shades at the same dose level.
With the rice milk, the full color impact of the scarlet red is seen, and a good strong pink is achieved, which we would consider as the true color of this pigment.
But then with the oat milk, which has a warmer, more yellow starting shade, the scarlet red becomes more subdued, and a much warmer, yellower pink shade is achieved.
Aside from base color, the pH of dairy alternatives also impacts the color, especially when trying to use anthocyanins.
In this picture, you can see that in coconut milk yogurt on the left, which is a lower pH, the black carrot is more red.
The coconut milk in the middle is at a neutral pH where the black carrot appears purple, and at a higher pH of a frozen dessert base on the right, it appears almost gray.
If you are looking to use anthocyanins, the most stable use will be at a lower pH of a plant-based yogurt and frozen yogurt.
In this example, you can see our amaze red performing with a red hue.
In an application with a pH higher than this, a maze will appear purple and fade quickly.
Aside from base color and pH, heat processing also impacts color choice.
Most natural colors will withstand pasteurization.
Examples of colors that won't fade include caramel, beta-carotene, or paprika mulsions, annatto, and turmeric.
Red beet is an example of a color that is sensitive to heat.
For example, the photo on the top right shows yogurt colored with red beet fruit prep that was exposed to prolonged heat.
As you can see, it has faded.
The yogurt on the left was heated and then cooled quickly, minimizing color loss.
If you're unable to cool it quickly, then overdosing or adding more red beet is another option.
You, you could also add the color after heating to avoid fading.
UHT shelf stable dairy requires special attention.
Examples of colors that could withstand the high heat process and long-term storage at ambient temperatures include caramel color and turmeric.
The packaging used for your product could also impact the color's appearance and stability.
Some pigments such as curcumin will lose intensity when exposed to light, as you can see in this picture, with the one on the left being kept in the dark, maintaining more color compared to the one on the right which has been exposed to light.
Even so, curcumin is still is still suitable for products that will be kept in opaque packaging or kept in the dark.
Alternatively, if you want your product to be seen through the packaging, consider using other pigments such as safflower and keratenes which have much more light.
Stability The fat content of your product is another consideration for the base formulation, as this fat can also affect how the overall color is expressed.
In this case, we have put standard red beet at the same dose level into milks with varying fat levels.
The higher the fat content, the less color expression is achieved.
This is due to the higher number of fat globules, which reduces the light refraction and reflection of the color, making it appear weaker in shade.
Similar to fat content, the amount of aeration in your product also plays a role in your color choice.
The more air added into the frozen dessert, the more color is needed to prevent your product from appearing lighter.
For example, if you are creating a frozen dessert similar to soft serve, then you will have to overdose the color to overcome the lighter appearance that is added by the air.
Premium frozen desserts will have less air incorporated, and the color without overdosing should not appear lighter after processing.
In the photos you can see the effect of whipping air into your dessert.
Once you have chosen a natural color, it is also important to think about how much of that color you want to add.
In this example, you see the differences in carbon black from a low to a high use rate.
To achieve a light gray color, you only need 0.2%, but to really get a black color, it will take a 2% dose.
The dosage rate can be important for flavor perception as.
Using colors at different dose levels can influence the flavor you would expect to taste.
Here we have a selection of pigments in a plant-based.
Yogurt base with each one giving a different flavor expectation.
Which flavors would you expect these to give raspberry for the reds, mint for the green, or lemon for the yellows?
This is how we perceive this selection of colors, but everyone will have their own interpretation.
For the top red, we see this as a strong blackberry color and have achieved this by using an anthocyanin such as a maize red or black carrot, but this does depend on the pH of your system.
For the second one, we like this as a strawberry or cotton candy flavor, and I've used a red beet for this one.
For the top bright green, we like this as a lime flavor and have combined copper chlorophyllin with curcumin to add some bright notes to it.
For the lower green, we see this as a mint flavor and have and have used copper chlorophyll on its own.
With the yellows we have the top one as lemon and have used curcumin with its strong bright yellow shade that has a hint of green indicating a zesty flavor.
But the warmer notes of the carrotine used in the second one can be perceived as a sweeter banana flavor.
With flavor expectations, there are also regulatory considerations for choosing the right color.
Where do you think you could use copper chlorophyllin for your mint chip frozen dessert?
Can you use this color in Europe?
Yes, you can use copper chlorophyll in Europe.
What about the United States?
You cannot use copper chlorophyllin in the United States.
You'll have to use a spirulina and curcumin blend instead.
There are always changes to chlorophyll and regulations, so be sure to consult with the regulatory experts to know where and when chlorophylls can be used.
Where do you think you can use carmine color to make the perfect vegan strawberry frozen dessert?
Can you use Carmen in Europe?
No, unfortunately not in Europe.
What about the United States?
No, you can't use it in the US either.
So what's the deal?
That was a trick question and the answer is nowhere.
Since Carmi doesn't qualify as vegan or vegetarian, you could use red beet to get that lovely pink strawberry color you're looking for.
Before we move into our next section of the presentation, let's take a quick break with another fun poll question.
Do you think ice cream should be eaten in a cone, cup, cake, or does it matter if you'd eat ice cream in any way?
There's no wrong answer here.
We asked some of our colleagues around the office the same question, and we were surprised by some of their answers.
We're interested to see what other people have to say.
We'll give everyone another moment to finish selecting their answers.
OK, it's time to reveal the votes.
Thanks for your input on this very important question.
Is anyone surprised by the results, or were they what you expected?
By the way, in case you were wondering, my go to is the waffle cone, but I'll never complain about eating ice cream.
Now let's get into some creative ways to add color and personality to your plant-based dairy alternatives.
There are several creative and fun ways to add color to plant-based dairy.
The simplest way to add color is directly to the base.
For more creative ways, you can add color to inclusions, coatings, and toppings.
Adding color directly to the base is the simplest and easiest way to add bright colors to your frozen desserts.
On the left you can see the neon color in a simple dairy-free popsicle.
On the right, adding color to the alternative dairy base can give you bright colors as.
Make sure to add color to the liquid base and make sure your frozen color is what you want, as it may appear different after freezing.
Once you are happy with your base color, you may want to add a little something extra to help your product stand out.
This can be achieved by using inclusions such as these, but don't forget that these inclusions themselves need to be dairy-free.
With chocolate and caramel being some of the top flavors, non-dairy chocolate pieces are a popular inclusion, as you can see in the photo on the left.
They are often used with biscuit pieces which again must be dairy-free.
These dairy chocolate-free pieces can also be turned into non-dairy chocolate chips and coated with natural pigments such as curcumin, red beet, copper chlorophyllin, and anthocyanins.
Adding a wax or gum coating will seal them so they don't leach color into your final product unless that is the effect you want to achieve.
Here we have some fruit pieces that have been infused with natural pigments of annatto, paprika, curcumin, and purple sweet potato to achieve a range of shades from strong yellow to orange and red shades.
These can help enhance the fruity flavors of your product.
Just be sure you.
Just be sure to consider local regulations for use of color infused fruit pieces.
This is just an example of how the fruit pieces can be used as a topping and also mixed into dairy-free ice cream, showing how to add extra wow fat to your product if permitted in your region.
Like non-dairy chips in pieces, fruit preps are another great way to add color to your dairy alternative.
Here you see the different variations of color you can use depending on your intended flavor.
For berry flavors, you'll want to use anthocyanins or blends to get the perfect color for your fruit prep.
Paprika can achieve an orange flavor, while curcumin helps enhance pineapple flavor.
Fruit preps will undergo heat processing, so it's important to avoid red beet in this application.
Once you know what color you want your fruit prep to be, you have options on how to add it to your dairy alternative.
You can use it as a topping, or you can mix it into your frozen dessert to get a swirled effect.
In the example, you can see we've made a fruit prep with our purple sweet potato color and use it as a topping, which shows up more red.
When it's swirled into the product, you get a light pink color.
Like fruit preps, fruit and caramel syrups are a great way to add color.
Swirl the syrup through the frozen dessert to get color throughout.
Anthocyanins are useful in this application to get a berry swirl.
Use caramel colors or nature brown ingredients to get the perfect caramel syrup.
One thing to look out for is color leaching or bleeding from the syrup and impacting your color negatively.
Leaching can depend on the syrup and the color, so reach out to DDW's application team, and we can help find the right color for you.
Coatings are another creative way to add color to your frozen dessert.
The important part to remember is oil-soluble colors should be used to color the coatings.
Use oil-soluble beet, spirulina, turmeric, or annao for solid or marbled coatings.
Many of the items we have listed as inclusions also make great toppings for dairy-free ice creams, and often the more colorful the better.
But there are also many more options available as you sit on top of the product.
There is a minimal contact and less chance of the colors leaching into your, into your, into your product.
Here we have a selection of toppings that have been colored with natural pigments such as red beet, curcumin, kerotene, anthocyanins such as black carrot and copper chlorophyllin, all of which will help your products stand out.
So to wrap it all up, let's see some medium term predictions for the future of plant-based desserts.
As we mentioned earlier, this particular category is about mindful indulgence, and in an economy restricted scenario, consumers will take decisions based on the greatest value added.
In that sense, they'd expect an increase of complexity represented by the design of intense sensory experiences involving texture, flavor, and definitely colors.
That poses a great opportunity for frozen novelties that can incorporate interesting structures like layers, fillings, or inclusions, and which also have a snacking format that fits very with the desire to indulge.
Health and wellness claims will move from a restrictions-based mentality towards more positive attributes, meaning people won't choose plant-based desserts because they're less harmful than the dairy versions, but because they are delicious, fun, and awake feel-good emotions on their own.
Plant-based ingredients will have to be presented not as the mere wannabe functional substitutes of dairy, but as sensory boosters because they are per se, great sources of flavors like almonds or peanuts, or because they provide unbeatable creaminess like the case of coconut butter.
On a final note, and before we get into the question and answer portion, we'd like to get in one last poll question.
Did this webinar help you better understand how to apply natural colors to your application?
A Yes, it was helpful.
B no, not really.
Or C, not quite sure yet.
Take just another moment to submit your answer.
Thank you so much for your input, and now we can move into the Q&A portion of the webinar.
Thank you to both Fran and Logan for this fantastic presentation.
This is Elizabeth Green once again from Food Ingredients First, and I'll now host a Q&A session with our listeners and DDW.
Now some great questions have already been sent in, so thank you in advance.
Our first question today is for Logan, and the question is, what are the sources of all of this data?
Logan, over to you.
Yes, thank you.
All of the charts are from Enova, and the trends and other research came from both Enova and Mintel.
Thank you, Logan, that's great.
So another question which is probably best suited to you actually, Logan, as , is, are there any other natural colors affected by pH like anthocyanins?
Yeah, for this pH range of dairy alternatives, which is mostly neutral to slightly acidic, most of the other natural colors will work, perfectly in your dessert.
OK, that's fantastic, thank you very much.
So our next question now is for Fran.
And Fran, that question is, if I want to replace a synthetic color in my application, how easily can I do that with a natural color?
Yeah, hi, thanks for that one.
Most synthetics colors, colors can be matched quite easily with the natural colors.
You may need to, slightly increase your dose level of the natural colors a little bit more and just take into consideration the pH of your system, which, like, like with the cyanins may affect the shade appearance a little bit, and, any heat processes may just degrade them a little bit, so you may need to overdose.
But in general, you should be able to get a very close match to your synthetics using natural colors.
Perfect, thank you, Fran.
OK, our next question now from a listener is, can I only use darker natural colors if I'm starting with a darker base color?
Now, this question's not for anybody in particular, but maybe Logan, you, you'd be able to answer that one.
Yes, you can use lighter colors for your dark base.
You will just have to overdose or use more color, to overcome that dark base color.
OK, that's perfect, thank you very much.
Our next question now is do really cold temperatures affect natural colors the same way that heat does?
So for example, in a frozen dessert.
No.
Once the color is in the frozen dessert, those low temperatures should not affect it like, the heat process does.
Fantastic, Logan, thank you very much.
So I have another question now from a listener, and the question is, how can I reduce the migration of the color when there are, when, when using them as a topping?
Maybe Fran, you have some insights to share with us on that.
Yeah, depending on the topping that you use, if you're using something like a, a chocolate bean that you've put a coating on, put a color on, shall we say, if you then put a, a, a wax or a starch coating over the top of that to finish it, that should stop your migration into your ice cream, or, or your yogurt as the case may be.
So essentially it's putting a protective coating over the top of your, over your topping if it's a solid coat, if it's a, A solid topping, shall we say, like the fruit pieces or the chocolate beans.
Sure.
Fantastic, thank you.
I have another question for Fran now, and this is, are there any other natural colors with strict regulatory requirements like chlorophyll?
Fran, over to you.
Yeah, this is, pretty much a regulatory question really.
Most of the colors we can use quantum status, so we can use as much as we like, but some of the groups, three, colors such as your, your curcumins and your, carmines, which unfortunately is not, not for this one, do have a maximum.
Dose levels that are permitted in use.
So it's it's just a case of paying attention to your local legislation on those.
Yeah, definitely.
Thank you.
That's really interesting.
OK, I think I have a bit more time now for a couple more questions.
So I have another question here.
For, it's not for anybody in particular, and the question is, are the regulations for the use of natural colors more or less strict than for synthetic colors?
Maybe Fran, that sort of expands on your answer, your previous answer.
But , it does, I think it's probably, less strict with the natural colors of the sourcing, the source material is a a natural product, so you wouldn't normally consume those, consume the colors as, as a.
A vegetable or a fruit most of the time, so most, most of the colors are, all natural, so you can consume them quite safely.
We've just got the, like I say, the limits on legislation on the group 3 colors which are mainly the synthetic colors.
And the Kirkins and cars, really.
Perfect, thank you very much.
So I have another question now, and it's from a listener, which is, is emulsitec beta-carotene heat stable?
Logan, maybe you can answer this question for us.
Yeah, the emulsiteec beta-carotene will be heat stable through, pasteurization or any other heat process.
Mhm.
Perfect, thank you very much.
So I think that might be all we have time for today.
But thank you.
I would like to extend my er thanks to both our speakers and our listeners and everybody involved in the presentation from DDW The Colour House.
Before we sign off, I'd also like to like to let you know that all the questions that we didn't have time to respond to will be answered via email.
You can also check your inbox for an on-demand version which will be sent out to you shortly.
Finally, you can keep up with the latest developments and industry news at food ingredientsfirst.com, where you can also sign up to our newsletters.
Thanks and goodbye.
