Food colours

The story

Sweet colours come from two families. Natural ones, from fruit, vegetables and plants, including anthocyanins from berries, curcumin from turmeric, paprika extract, spirulina and beetroot red. And synthetic ones, including brilliant blue, allura red and tartrazine. Natural colours are harder to work with because many fade in light or change with acidity. Six of the synthetic colours carry a warning in Britain that they may affect activity and attention in children, which is why so many labels mention it.