[themafia]

> It makes sense to evaluate the health effects of individual dyes

I wonder if changing the color of food is actually that important.

[jabroni_salad]

I was looking at this paper which seems to have a bunch of citations. Different colors are associated with different flavors in certain countries.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13411-015-0031-3#...

But yes I think the food color is ultimately important to succeeding in the marketplace and we aren't going to be getting rid of food dyes in manufactured food anytime soon.

[hollerith]

>the food color is ultimately important to succeeding in the marketplace

The decision-makers at Walmart seem to believe artificial colors are no longer important to succeeding with Walmart's customers and prospective customers.

And clearly they're not important to succeeding at Whole Foods, where all artificial colors have been disallowed for many years.

[ImHereToVote]

Wait? If artificial dyes become forbidden. Won't it make competiton easier since your competitors can't use dyes either.

[jabroni_salad]

There are natural dyes that can be used too.

[bagful]

Artificial colorants make it easier to design visually hyperstimulating foods without having to compromise on flavor. What could the upside for the consumer be, to disrupt our evolved associations between appearance and flavor?

[euroderf]

Inquiring minds want to know: have experiments been done on the perception of (say) totally monochromatic Froot Loops, or monochromatic Lucky Charms ?

At one point NASA tried out things like blue ham.

[psunavy03]

Ah, yes. The "I don't think anyone needs to do this, therefore no one needs to do this" argument.

[themafia]

Hardly. I'm openly wondering. If you _need_ to do this, then please, by all means, share that with us here now.

[youainti]

It is if you're trying to sell it. Not dyes, but beer bottle color affects purchasing decisions [0-1].

[0]: https://www.mdpi.com/2306-5710/6/4/64 [1]: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S266615432...