colouring

Food additive used to alter or improve the colour of processed foods. Colourings include artificial colours, such as tartrazine and amaranth, which are made from petrochemicals, and the ‘natural’ colours such as chlorophyll, caramel, and carotene. Some of the natural colours are actually synthetic copies of the naturally occurring substances, and some of these, notably the synthetically produced caramels, may be injurious to health.