Beetroot Red (Betanin)
What it does
Red-purple colour.
How it's made
Extracted from beetroot.
Beetroot red (betanin) is the natural purple-red pigment that gives beetroot its colour. As a food colour it provides pink to red shades and is popular in products such as ice cream, yoghurts, sweets and desserts where a natural red is wanted.
It is obtained simply by pressing or extracting red beetroot with water. The deeply coloured juice is drawn off, filtered, and then concentrated — often gently, because the pigment is sensitive to heat — to make either a liquid concentrate or a spray-dried powder. Little chemical processing is involved; it is essentially concentrated beetroot juice.
Because betanin fades with heat, light and prolonged storage, it is best suited to foods that are not heated for long, such as chilled and frozen products. The concentrate is standardised for colour strength, and as a straightforward vegetable extract it is widely accepted as a natural colouring.
Possible reactions
Generally safe; may colour urine/stool red.