Behind the red color of the dye with E-number 120 hides crushed carapaces from South American lice.Different foods can be colored red, brown and green, but what are the dyes that give foods these colors?Food colors are produced either synthetically or from plants and animals.Both artificial and natural colors have an E number between 100 and 199 in the EU.For example, plants provide the red, almost tasteless E-162, which is used in sauces and sweets.It consists of the pigment betanin, which is found in high concentration in beetroot and is extracted by pressing beetroot and filtering and pasteurizing the liquidBehind the red dye E-120 hides a scale bug that lives on cactus plants in Central and South America.The color is also called carmine and is produced by drying, degreasing and pulverizing the carapace of louse females.Sausages, Campari, lipstick and rouge are colored with this natural dye.Almost all colors can be produced naturally, but not all can be used in food.Manufacturing the colors synthetically lowers the price and increases durability.The synthetic dyes include E-131 or patent blue, which was originally based on tar.Today, it is often made on crude oil.It turns caramels and soft drinks blue, for example.In some countries, E-131 is added to feta cheese, for example, because the blue color absorbs the orange-yellow colors of light and makes the cheese appear optically white instead of yellowishDrinks such as Coca-Cola and some whiskey get their characteristic brown color from brown sugar, with the addition of, for example, ammonia and sulphur.The substance is also used in soy sauce and changes from light brown to black.The green dye chlorophyll is extracted from an extract of green leaves such as spinach, but can also be produced from, for example, the algae spirulina.In the leaves, chlorophyll is responsible for photosynthesis, while in foods it colors, for example, pasta and absinthe.Yes, thank you, I would like to receive Illustrated Science's newsletter with inspiring articles and marketing about Illustrated Science via email.You can unsubscribe again at any time.Read more