Journal of Cleaner Production 260 (2020) 120884

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Journal of Cleaner Production

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jclepro

Assessing the sustainability of natural and artificial food colorants

Beate Gebhardt b, Regina Sperl a, Reinhold Carle a, c, Judith Müller-Maatsch a, *
a
University of Hohenheim, Institute of Food Science and Biotechnology, Chair of Plant Foodstuff Technology and Analysis, Garbenstrasse 25, 70599,
Stuttgart, Germany
b
University of Hohenheim, Institute of Agricultural Policy and Markets, Chair of Agricultural Markets and Marketing, Schwerzstrasse 46, 70599, Stuttgart,
Germany
c
King Abdulaziz University, Faculty of Science, Biological Science Department, P. O. Box 80257, Jeddah, 21589, Saudi Arabia

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Food producers thrive towards the satisfaction of today’s consumer demands for natural, safe, and
Received 6 March 2019 sustainable food products. Thereby, the application of food colorants is a major issue. In this article, we
Received in revised form aimed at giving insights into the evaluation of natural and artificial food colorants and revealing
25 October 2019
weaknesses within the value chain by use of a hot spot analysis. Implying red hues, natural plant-based
Accepted 2 March 2020
Available online 4 March 2020
anthocyanins (E163) and lycopene (E160d), natural animal-derived carmine (E120), and chemically
synthesized Allura Red AC (E129) were chosen to cover a wide range of value chains. Three major metrics
^ as de
Handling Editor: Cecilia Maria Villas Bo were identified - environment, economics including legal aspects, and social responsibility. The first two
Almeida metrics considered topics related to food producers and food additive manufacturers. Animal husbandry
and crop cultivation, yield of the raw material, environmentally friendly production, exploitation of by-
Keywords: products, and naturalness were indicators for the environment metric. The economic metric consisted of
Sustainability hot spot analysis (SHSA) the additives’ convenience for application, price, sensory properties, shelf life, restriction as limited
Anthocyanins application and legal labeling, stability within the food matrix, and availability. In contrast, the metric
Carotenoids
social responsibility combined all topics important to consumers and workers such as health promoting
Carmine
or harming ingredients, consumers’ attitudes towards the additives, as well as working conditions during
Artificial and natural colorants
Indicator scheme production. Applying the indicators to four different food colorants all imparting the same color hue, the
natural, plant-derived colorant anthocyanins (E163) was found to be more sustainable than the natural,
animal-derived colorant carmine (E120), the natural, plant-derived colorant lycopene (E160d), and the
artificial colorant Allura Red AC (E129).
© 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Consumers’ interest in sustainable food value chains, including
the compliance with ethical and environmental standards, food
safety, product quality, or health effects are increasing. Due to the
emergence of this consciousness amongst consumers, companies are
urged to integrate sustainability aspects in their processes (Grunert,
2011; Wognum et al., 2011; Reisch et al., 2017). Besides producing
high quality food commodities, food businesses need to consider the
environmental and social impact of their activities along the entire
product life cycle and develop their strategy towards more
* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: beate.gebhardt@uni-hohenheim.de (B. Gebhardt), regina.
sperl@uni-hohenheim.de (R. Sperl), reinhold.carle@uni-hohenheim.de (R. Carle), j.
mueller-maatsch@uni-hohenheim.de, judith.mueller-maatsch@wur.nl (J. Müller-
Maatsch).
sustainability (Liedtke et al., 2010; Wognum et al., 2011; Chen et al.,
2019). Thereby, the life cycle of a final food product emphasizes the
production of bulk ingredients and minor ingredients such as food
colorants. Assessment tools need to fit a corporate environment with
clear time and resource restrictions. To meet these needs, recently
the methodology Sustainability Hot Spot Analysis (SHSA) has been
developed by the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and
Energy, Germany (Bienge et al., 2009; Liedtke et al., 2010). The SHSA
proved to be a suitable instrument for the exploration of critical is-
sues, the so called “hot spots” (Liedtke et al., 2010), along a product’s
life cycle. It focuses not only on the performance of one chosen
sustainability indicator or area of interest, but combines an envi-
ronmental, economic and a social analysis of the entire value chain
obtaining a holistic sustainability picture. In exchange, this approach
is less detailed, and based on general statements or on existing LCA
(Life-Cycle-Assessment) on the considered value chain (Singh et al.,
2012; Seuring and Müller, 2008). The result of the SHSA is a rough

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.120884
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2 B. Gebhardt et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 260 (2020) 120884
overview over most relevant aspects of the product chain and offers
direction and prioritization to the involved companies (Bienge et al.,
2009). The identified hot spots represent the starting point of an
improvement process in companies, followed by the elaboration and
implementation of activities to alleviate risks and current short-
comings. Therefore, it is recommended to first identify hot spots by
means of a SHSA and afterwards analyze critical issues in more detail
by a MIPS (Material-Input per Service unit) analysis or environ-
mental or social LCA (Liedtke et al., 2010; Singh et al., 2012). The
approach is also suitable for consumers’ information and sustainable
product labelling (Bienge et al., 2009), used in market communica-
tions by some manufacturers and retailers in Germany.
According to the FDA, a food colorant is “any dye, pigment or
substance which when added or applied to a food, drug or cos-
metics, or to the human body, is capable (alone or through reactions
with other substances) of imparting color” (CFR, 2016; Sigurdson
et al., 2017). Besides sweeteners and texturants, colorants are
food additives most used in private households (Kozelova et al.,
2012). Food colorants represent an important minor weight share
of the consumed product, as they have a large impact on con-
sumers’ perception of foods. Sensorial attractiveness of processed
food stuffs highlighted by colors positively influence preference,
purchase decision and eating desires of the consumers (Piqueras-
Fiszman and Spence, 2015; Martins et al., 2016), it even seems to
be the single most important sensory cue (Spence, 2015). In the
European Union (EU) and the United States of America (US), food
may be currently colored to make bland food and food without
color more attractive to consumers. This helps consumers to
recognize products and may compensates losses of the foods’
genuine color (Stich, 2016). However, food additives are the most
concerned food ingredients for consumers, regarding the field of
food safety, health, and toxicity (Gebhardt et al., 2019). Consumers
aspire more to natural nutrition, especially by clean-label foods that
is free of additives in particular artificial ones (Müller-Maatsch
et al., 2018; Miao et al., 2020). Based on sources natural colorants
classification differs plant origin, insect/animal origin, and mineral
origin (Carocho et al., 2015; Stich, 2016).
This article aims to develop a tool to evaluate the sustainability
of intermediate products such as food colorants, as a holistic sus-
tainability analysis of these products and in the food supply chain
are still lacking in literature (Seuring and Müller, 2008; Neves et al.,
2019). This tool should meet the following requirements, 1.) It
should provide a general overview on sustainability impacts of food
colorants. 2.) The created metrics, indicators, and the operational-
ization of indicators should easily be transferable to other food
additives and ingredients. Furthermore, 3.) The developed tool
should identify critical points in the production and application of
the intermediate product as well as at the retail of the final prod-
ucts. Additionally, 4.) It should be possible to easily compare
different products. SHSA as an innovative assessment approach is
chosen. By way of example, the indicators were applied on four
different food colorants that impart a red shade to food. Exemplary
food colorants were natural, plant-derived colorants, natural,
animal-derived colorants, and artificial colorants to cover all
possible origins of food additives legally allowed for the application
in the EU and the US.
2. Materials and methods
A SHSA includes five steps 1.) Definition of system boundaries
and indicators, 2.) Evaluation by extensive literature review and/or
company visits, 3.) Identification of sustainability hot spots, 4.)
Stakeholder evaluation and verification, 5.) Developing measures
and afterwards implementation (Rohn et al., 2014). In our study, the
analysis of sustainability of food colorants included an assessment
of raw material, the extraction or synthesis of pigments, and the
transformation to the respective colorant formulation. Further-
more, the colorants’ application in a final food product and the
perception of the dyed food by consumers during retail and con-
sumption was part of the analysis (Fig. 1). Measurable indicators
were developed being relevant and suitable for the assessment of
sustainability of food colorants and bundled in the three metrics
environment, economics including legal aspects, and social re-
sponsibility. The proposed metrics and indicators were developed
in a useful manner being relevant, easily understood, reliable,
quantifiable, and based on accessible data (Gebhardt and Kefer,
2019). The following assessments were based on literature
research, specifications of colorants, and personal communications
by food and food colorant producing manufacturers. Indicators
were ranked from 1 to 3, where 1 revealed a hot spot and 3 the
most sustainable way. Summarizing all indicator (I) ranks as Mx ¼
P
In , provided the possibility to rank and compare the three
metrics (M) for one food colorant amongst each other and between
P
the food colorants as well as the life cycles (S) Sx ¼ Mx of each
food colorant. Thereby, x described the different metrics and n in-
dicates the various indicators as described in detail below.
2.1. Indicator metrics
2.1.1. Environment
Indicators bundled in the metric environment focused on the
effect of the manufacturing of the food additives on the environ-
ment as well as on the consumers’ expectations towards the pro-
duction (Table 1).
The procurement of raw material was evaluated positively in
the case of biotic depletion of renewable resources (score 2 and 3).
Biotic depletion of renewable resources comprised the depletion of
a specific raw material compared to the worldwide use (Azapagic
and Perdan, 2000). In particular, animal welfare, species appro-
priate animal rearing, and the impact of the exploitation of raw
material in habitats of protected species were evaluated. The use of
food plants, non-food plants, or any by-products of food industry
for the production of food additives were assessed according to
their impact on the conservation of biodiversity. Score 3 was
assigned if animal welfare was properly implemented and non-
food plants or food industry by-products were exploited. In
contrast to the use of renewable resources, the procurement of
fossil fuels and petroleum was assessed according to its abiotic
depletion of non-renewable resources and assigned to score 1.
The indicator material exploitation was ranked according to
the yields obtained by means of extraction and synthesis processes.
It combined the indicators reaction mass efficiency and mass in-
tensity as previously described by Ruiz-Mercado et al. (2012). The
amount of active ingredients, being extractable from the natural
raw material, was rated in terms of mass of active ingredient per
mass of raw material. In the case of chemically synthesized addi-
tives, the yield was deduced from the relation of the product mass
to the total mass of reagents. Measuring material exploitation of
food colorants, a high yield was set at over 10% pigment per raw
material (3), whereas yields under 1% pigment per raw material
were rated as low (1).
To ensure an environmentally friendly production, the produc-
tion process of food additive formulations should allow a low water
and energy consumption as described by Ruiz-Mercado et al.
(2012). Hence, the consumption of energy was rated according
to the processing steps requiring machinery. Water consumption
necessary for the preparation of the raw material or extraction of
pigments, as well as for cooling and cleaning processes was
assessed accordingly. Low water and energy usage was ranked as
most sustainable, thus scoring 3. In comparison medium, and high
 B. Gebhardt et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 260 (2020) 120884 3

Fig. 1. System boundaries of the sustainability analysis.

Table 1
Indicators focusing on the effect of cultivation, exploitation of the raw material, and the production of the food additive itself on the environment.

Indicator Description Rank

Procurement of raw material Abiotic depletion 1

Biotic depletion, No implementation of animal welfare, Exploitation of food plants 2
Biotic depletion Implementation of animal welfare Exploitation of food industry by-products or non-food plants 3

Material exploitation Below 1% pigment yield per raw material 1

1e10% pigment yield per raw material 2
Over 10% pigment yield per raw material 3

Energy consumption High energy consumption 1

Appropriate energy consumption 2
Low energy consumption 3

Water consumption High water consumption 1

Appropriate water consumption 2
Low water consumption 3

Recovery of by-products No recovery of by-products 1

Recovery of by-products for feed and fertilizer 2
Recovery of by-products for the production of food products 3

Recirculation No recirculation of streams 1

Recirculation of some streams 2
Recirculation of all streams 3

Naturalness More than five processing steps 1

One to five processing step 2
No processing 3

consumption results in a scoring of 2 and 1, respectively.
In order to further detail the impact on the environment, the
treatment of waste produced during the extraction of the pigments
and the formulation of food colorants was assessed in the in-
dicators recovery of by-products and recirculation. Possible usage
of by-products such as animal feed, fertilizer, or food ingredients
was assessed positively (2 and 3, respectively) in comparison to no
recovery at all (1). Furthermore, the recycling of reagents, water,
and energy was ranked according to its limiting effect on the
amount of waste.
Naturalness was chosen as indicator as it reflects the current
trend of consumers’ preference of “natural” food and nutrition
(Gebhardt et al., 2019). The naturalness of food additives has pre-
viously been evaluated according to the contagion of the raw ma-
terial as it accounts for a reduction in naturalness (Rozin et al.,
2012). Furthermore, Evans et al. (2010) reported that physical
processes were rated significantly more natural than chemical
processes. Hence, naturalness was evaluated considering the
number of processing steps involved during food colorant pro-
duction that changed the chemical structure of the pigments. More
than five processing steps were ranked lowest (1), while no pro-
cessing at all ranked highest (3).
4 B. Gebhardt et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 260 (2020) 120884

2.1.2. Economics
Indicators summarized in the metric economics should evaluate
the product from the final food manufacturers’ view (Table 2). They
focused either on the properties of the food colorant itself or on its
properties within the final food product.
As food producers seek to minimize the costs of food additives
in food products, price was set as another indicator. Prices indi-
cated as low by the literature and with less fluctuation were ranked
best (3), whereas prices indicated as high and prices subject to high
fluctuations due to market pressure and natural influences were
ranked lowest (1).
The indicator availability comprised both inherent fluctuations
in quantities, i.e., seasonal harvests, and the location of production.
The latter impacts the transportation route and time needed to
arrive at the food production site. Therefore, a food colorant only
available in one region and dependent on seasonal harvests was
assessed as negative (1) compared to one being available
throughout the year and producible in every country or region (3).
Food colorant formulations may be exposed to oxygen, light,
and heat during transportation and storage before their final
application, leading to a loss in color over time (Stich, 2016). Thus,
their shelf life was considered as a further indicator. It was ranked
according to the average shelf life (1: less than six months; 3: over a
year) and challenging storage conditions such as freezing or cooling
(1: freezing; 2: cooling; 3: room temperature) as reported in the
respective specifications by the food additive manufacturers.
The last indicator solely focusing on food colorant formulations
pertained to sensory properties. Here, possible off-flavors or tastes
as well as the availability of different formulations were evaluated.
Food colorant formulations with limited application due to sensory
properties were assigned to score 1. In contrast, formulations
without any sensory limitations were set to score 3.
The convenience of food colorants was ranked according to the
ability to dye food products in the desired color hue (1e3). In
addition, the restriction level of food colorants’ applicability due to
physical reasons such as solubility was included (1: not ubiqui-
tously applicable; 3: ubiquitously applicable).
Some color shades that were induced by food colorants fade
over time. This leads to a limitation of shelf life of the final product
and restricts the applicability of the food colorant. Both the color
fading and possible migration of color within food products are
summarized by the indicator stability properties in the food
matrix ranking from 1: change in color to 3: no change in color.
2.1.3. Legal aspects
Due to legal restrictions in the EU and the US, the application of
some food additives is not allowed in certain food products or only
allowed in low quantities that do not always impart a sufficient
effect. In contrast, other food additives may be used quantum satis,
i.e., as much as needed (Stich, 2016). The indicator legal aspects
should consider these legal restrictions according to the possibility
to impart sufficient coloring to food products. Score 1 was assigned
to food colorants with limited application and further conditions to
their application such as warning labels in contrast to score 3
pertaining to food colorants allowing ubiquitous application.
2.1.4. Social responsibility
The indicator metric social responsibility focused on the con-
sumers’ and workers’ point of view on the production and con-
sumption of food colorants, respectively (Table 3).
The compliance of the work with human rights was measured
according to the human development index (HDI) of the countries
the products were manufactured in. A very high human develop-
ment index was rated positive (3), high and medium human
development indices neutral (2), and a low human development
index negative (1).
The indicator on safe working conditions comprised some of
the previously reported social sustainability indicators reported by
Kruse et al. (2009) and Popovic et al. (2018). Health and safety risks
of the employees were determined in accordance with the chem-
icals and processes used to obtain the raw materials as well as
during the production of the colorant formulations. In accordance
with the European Regulation No. 1271/2008, chemicals were
ranked from safe (3) to harmful (1).
Consumers have previously been reported to reject or prefer
certain additives according to ideational reasons. These reasons are
not related to any sensory properties (Rozin et al., 2004). In
accordance with literature, consumers’ expectance was ranged

Table 2
Indicators concerning economics and legal aspects.

Indicator Description Rank

Price High cost, high fluctuations 1

Average cost, average fluctuations 2
Low cost, low fluctuations 3

Availability Seasonal and regional 1

Seasonal or regional 2
all year around availability within a short range 3

Shelf life Under six months durable at freezing storage conditions 1

Durable between six and 12 months at cold storage conditions 2
Durable over a year at room temperature conditions 3

Sensory properties Strong off-flavor and taste, available in solely one texture 1
Low off-flavor and taste, available in some varieties 2
No off-flavor and taste, available in all varieties 3

Convenience Not applicable in most food matrices, visually observable color hue changes due to interaction with the food matrix 1
Applicable in most food matrices; no visually observable color hue changes due to interaction with the food matrix 2
Applicable in all food matrices; no visually observable color hue changes due to interaction with the food matrix 3

Stability properties in the food matrix Change in color strength and hue and color migration within two weeks of storage 1
Change in color strength 2
No change in color after two weeks of storage 3

Legal aspects Limited application and warning label necessary 1

Limited application 2
Ubiquitous application possible and no special labelling required 3
 B. Gebhardt et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 260 (2020) 120884 5

Table 3
Indicators on social responsibility towards employees and consumers.

Indicator Description Rank

Human rights No respect of human rights 1

Some respect of human rights 2
Respect of human rights 3

Safe working conditions No safe workplace 1

Rather safe workplace 2
Safe workplace 3

Consumers‘ expectance Broad consumers’ rejection 1

Some consumers’ rejection 2
Consumers’ acceptance 3

Health Harmful to human health 1

Neither harmful nor beneficial to human health 2
Beneficial to human health 3

Impurities and residues Contains residues that could harm human health 1
Contains residues 2
Free from residues 3

from broadly accepted (3) to rejected by some consumers (2) until
broadly rejected (1).
Gazan et al. (2018) and Gebhardt et al. (2019) reported that
consumers value the health impact of food products and their ad-
ditives. Therefore, the indicator health should rank food colorants
according to the main pigments’ impact on human health ranging
from harmful (1) to beneficial (3).
Food colorant formulations may contain residues from the
processing procedure or genuine impurities. The occurrence of
those impurities in food colorant formulations may have an impact
on human health. Consequently, they were evaluated within the
indicator impurities and residues ranking from free from residuals
(3) to harmful residuals (1).
methoxy-5-methyl-4-sulfonato-phenylazo) naphthalene-6-
sulfonate being produced by coupling diazotized 5-amino-4-
methoxy-2-toluenesulphonic acid with 6-hydroxy-2-naphthalene
sulphonic acid (European Regulation No. 231/2012). Both pre-
cursors may be synthesized from precursors deriving from petro-
leum (United States Tariff Commission, 1965).
3. Results
The sustainability of four food colorants was assessed using the
aforementioned indicators to identify hot spots (Table 4).
3.1. Environment

2.2. Sample selection 3.1.1. Procurement of raw material

Four red colorants were chosen for the sustainability assessment
covering a wide range of origins: plant-derived anthocyanins (E163,
grape skin extract/grape color extract CFR section 73.170/73.169) and
carotenoids (E160d (ii), lycopene from tomato CFR section 73.585),
animal-derived carmine (E120, cochineal extract, carmine CFR sec-
tion 73.100), and chemically synthesized azo dyes (E129, Allura red
AC, FD&C Red No. 40). Anthocyanins are water-soluble pigments that
impart red, violet, and blue hues to plants like grapes or black carrots.
To obtain the pure pigment, anthocyanin-rich edible fruits and
vegetables are pre-selected, washed, ground, and extracted using
sulphited or acidified water, ethanol, methanol, or carbon dioxide.
The resulting extract may be purified and transformed into powder
by drying (European Regulation No. 231/2012). In contrast to an-
thocyanins, the red carotenoid lycopene found in tomatoes or algae
is lipid-soluble and may be extracted with carbon dioxide, ethyl
acetate, acetone, propan-2-ol, methanol, ethanol, and hexane to
obtain the pigment (European Regulation No. 231/2012). Carmine is
derived from the female aphids Dactylopius coccus Costa that are
harvested and dried in the sun or by applying heat. Dried and ground
aphids, namely cochineal, are stripped of impurities such as waxes
and lipids using hexane and extracted by aqueous, aqueous alcoholic,
or alcoholic sodium or potassium solutions. The obtained cochineal
extract mainly contains carminic acid. Most commonly, carmine is
applied as food colorant being an aluminium lake of carminic acid
formed during heating cochineal at pH 5 in combination with citric
acid, aluminium, and calcium salts. E120 comprises all products
obtained from the aphid such as cochineal, cochineal extract, car-
minic acid, and carmine (European Regulation No. 231/2012). The
synthetic dye Allura red AC consists of disodium 2-hydroxy-1-(2-
When assessing the procurement of raw material, the abiotic
depletion of non-renewable resources during the production of the
artificial colorant impacted the lowest score for Allura Red AC
(Hunger et al., 2012). All other natural products derived from biotic
depletion. The insect harvest and farming of the insect Dactylopius
coccus Costa was evaluated as species-appropriate, as most of the
production is done in the rural areas by small-scale farms (Müller-
Maatsch and Gras, 2016). As anthocyanin pigments mostly derive
from grape pomace or grape skins, both being by-products of
winery industry, it was ranked higher than the production of
lycopene. The latter originates from industrial processing of a food
plant, i.e., conversion of tomatoes, that might also be used for fresh
fruit or tomato paste consumption (Bridle and Timberlake, 1997;
Hartal et al., 1999).
3.1.2. Material exploitation
According to Mazza (1995) and Bridle and Timberlake (1997),
the anthocyanin content in grapes ranges from 30 to 750 mg/100 g
resulting in an average exploitation of 0.4%. However, the yields
obtained by the extraction of grape pomace may differ because of
the loss of water and the degradation of anthocyanins during the
process of wine-making. Nevertheless, Mazza (1995) reported
79e460 mg anthocyanins per 100 g grape pomace being similar to
that in whole grapes. The amount of lycopene in fresh tomatoes
ranges from 1 to 20 mg/100 g (Shi and Le Maguer, 2000), thus,
yielding an average exploitation rate of 0.01%. The latter might be
increased by selecting fruits having a higher lycopene contents,
namely fully-ripe, deeply-red-colored tomatoes. In contrast to the
low exploitation rates of natural plant-derived pigments, those
from natural, animal-derived pigments are higher. Female
6 B. Gebhardt et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 260 (2020) 120884

Table 4
Assessment of exemplary food colorants ranking from lowest to highest score (3) for the identification of hot spots (score 1).

Anthocyanin (E163) Lycopene (E160d) Carmine (E120) Allura Red AC (E129)

Environment Procurement of raw material and ingredient production 3 2 3 1

Material exploitation 1 1 3 3
Energy consumption 1 1 3 2
Water consumption 1 1 3 2
Recovery of by-products 3 3 1 1
Recirculation 3 3 1 1
Naturalness 3 3 3 1

Total 15 14 17 11

Economics Price 2 2 2 3
Availability 2 2 1 3
Shelf life 1 1 2 3
Sensory properties 2 1 2 3
Convenience 1 2 2 3
Stability properties in the food matrix 3 3 3 3
Legal aspects 3 2 2 1

Total 14 13 14 19

Social Responsibility Human rights 3 3 2 3

Safe working conditions 3 2 3 1
Consumers’ expectance 3 3 2 1
Health 3 3 2 1
Impurities and residues 1 1 1 1

Total 13 12 10 7

Total 42 39 41 37

Dactylopius coccus Costa aphids may contain between 24 and 26%
carminic acid on dry weight, which is the coloring principle of E120
(Frick, 2003; Müller-Maatsch and Gras, 2016). However, the highest
exploitation rate from ingredients to the pure pigment is achieved
by chemical synthesis of artificial colorants. Depending on the
coupling reaction, the production yield of azo dyes may be
increased to 90% (Hunger et al., 2012).
3.1.3. Energy and water consumption during production
The production of pigments from plants after harvest is initiated
by the pretreatment of pigment-rich plants. Whereas grape seeds
are separated from grape pomace and the residues ground and
macerated (Mazza, 1995), tomatoes are selectively assorted,
washed, and ground (Zelkha et al., 1996). Further processes may
include homogenizing or stirring, separation of residues from the
supernatant, purification of the pigment, and drying. In contrast,
carminic acid is produced by cooking dried insects, removal of the
residues, and drying of the supernatant. After harvesting the
aphids, the insects are commonly sun-dried. A further step may
include the purification of the raw material from waxes and lipids
(Müller-Maatsch and Gras, 2016). The chemical synthesis of the
artificial colorant from its starting materials involves equipment for
the diazotization, coupling, and purification of the pigment. How-
ever, no previous pretreatment of the raw materials is necessary
(Hunger et al., 2012).
After the production of the purified pigments, industrial
equipment needs to be cleaned with either water or other solvents.
Due to the high energy and water consumption and necessary
additional steps, the production of natural, plant-derived pigments
was ranked at least sustainable, whereas the synthesis of the arti-
ficial colorant was ranked medium and carmine production most
sustainable.
(Kammerer et al., 2011; Geerkens et al., 2013; Müller-Maatsch et al.,
2016). Furthermore, several patents apply to possible recirculation
of reagents and solvents such as sodium dioxide and hexane used
for anthocyanin and lycopene extraction, respectively. In contrast
to the natural, plant-derived pigment production, literature data on
the reuse of aphid residues or the by-products of artificial dye
production was unavailable. The same applies to recirculation in
the production of E129 and E120. Therefore, these indicators were
ranked highest for anthocyanins and carotenoids and lowest for
carmine and Allura Red AC.
3.1.5. Naturalness
All natural pigments did not undergo any processes that
changed their molecular structure. Thus, their naturalness were
ranked highest (Kammerer, 2016; Müller-Maatsch and Gras, 2016;
Schieber and Weber, 2016). In contrast, the chemically synthe-
sized colorant was rated being not natural as several processes are
needed to build up the molecular structure of the pigment (Hunger
et al., 2012).
3.2. Economics and legal aspects
3.2.1. Price
Natural-derived pigments are reportedly more expensive than
artificial ones possibly due to their greater consumption of raw
materials. Artificial colorants also inherit greater tinctorial strength
than their natural counterparts. Therefore, less artificial colorants
are required compared to plant-derived colorants to achieve
satisfactory food coloration (Stich, 2016; Sigurdson et al., 2017;
Schweiggert, 2018). In conclusion, the indicator price was set
highest for the artificial colorant and medium for the natural-
derived colorants.

3.1.4. Recovery of by-products and recirculation 3.2.2. Availability

By-products of plant-derived pigment production have previ- Grapes and grape pomace that are used for pigment extraction
ously been reported to be valorized as animal feed or are extracted are grown in Europe, the US, and several other countries worldwide
further to gain colorless phenolics and pectic oligosaccharides (Mazza, 1995; FAO, 2014). However, the production is seasonal as
 B. Gebhardt et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 260 (2020) 120884
grapes are harvested usually once a year. In contrast to grapes, to-
matoes that are grown in the US and Israel may be harvested all-
year. Nevertheless, all-season production is only possible in
certain regions due to their beneficial climatic conditions (Zelkha
et al., 1996). The natural, animal-derived colorant carmine is
currently produced in South America, in particular Peru. As the
carminic acid content of aphids suffers from inherent fluctuations
(Müller-Maatsch and Gras, 2016), the production of carmine was
assessed as being both seasonal and regional. All natural-derived
pigments have limited availability due to their country of origin.
Artificial colorants may be produced all-year, without any re-
strictions to regions (Boyd, 2016). Therefore, the chemically syn-
thesized pigment was ranked highest in availability.
3.2.3. Shelf life
The shelf life of natural pigments was ranked lower than that of
artificial colorants due to their susceptibility towards the exposure
to oxygen, light, and heat during transportation and storage
(Schweiggert, 2018; Stich, 2016). However, the animal-derived
colorant carmine was observed to be more stable than all plant-
derived pigments (Fern pez et al., 2013) and ranked
andez-Lo
above natural, plant-derived pigments.
3.2.4. Sensory properties
Due to their origin, natural-derived pigments may contain non-
coloring and undesired compounds. The characteristic vegetable
flavor of tomatoes might still be perceived in lycopene formula-
tions, hence, score 1 was assigned (Schweiggert, 2018). Anthocya-
nins from sources such as grapes or red cabbage inherit a specific
fruit or vegetable flavor, respectively. However, the broad range of
raw material worth exploiting for anthocyanins enables the
genuine flavors to be matched to the final food product, thus, E163
was assigned score 2. Carmine might also contain a characteristic
flavor, however, it is hardly perceptible due to the efficient purifi-
cation of the pigment (Müller-Maatsch and Gras, 2016). Allura Red
AC is not burdened by the aforementioned off-flavors, thus ranking
highest. Since all pigments are available in different formulation
forms, no ranking was done.
3.2.5. Convenience
Artificial dyes may be easily applied to dye various foods at
different pH values and products based on either water or lipids.
Therefore, they were ranked highest. In contrast, carotenoids, in
particular lycopene, and carmine require special formulations to be
applicable to all kind of foods. For example, coloring of beverages is
often hampered (Schweiggert, 2018). Anthocyanins are further
limited within their application range. These pigments change their
color hue according to shifts in the pH from red/pink at low pH
values to purple/blue at high pH values (Hubbermann et al., 2006;
Crino et al., 2013). Furthermore, anthocyanins are prone to interact
with the food matrices and might change their color in the pres-
ence of metal ions (Markakis and Jurd, 1974; Kammerer, 2016).
3.2.6. Stability properties in the food matrix
Nowadays, food colorant formulations are designed to ensure a
sufficient coloration of foods for a storage period of two weeks
(Stich, 2016). In agreement, Calvo (2000) reported no difference in
stability among the pigments within the analyzed food matrices.
3.2.7. Legal aspects
In Europe, E163 are allowed to be applied quantum satis, i.e., as
much as needed, in all products allowed to be dyed. Thus, they were
ranked highest. In contrast, E120 and E160d may only be applied in
limited amounts to specified products, ranking second. E129 has
also limited application and further requires a warning label (Stich,
7
2016) which was reflected by score 1. In the US, all natural colorants
are exempt of certification and may be used according to good
manufacturing practice (Sigurdson et al., 2017). E129 or FD&C Red
No. 40 is subject to certification and may be used in all foods in
amounts consistent with good manufacturing practice (CFR
74.340).
3.3. Social responsibility
3.3.1. Human rights
Anthocyanins are mostly deriving from grape skin (Bridle and
Timberlake, 1997). As the production of the colorant is closely
related to the production of grape products such as wine, its pro-
duction is located nearby. In the EU, Italy, Spain, France, and Ger-
many rank highest in grape production whereas California is
known to produce the majority of grapes inside the US (FAO, 2014).
The carotenoid lycopene for E160d production is mostly extracted
from tomatoes in Israel. According to the HDI report of 2015, all
aforementioned producing countries ranked very high human
development indices. Therefore, the production of anthocyanins
and lycopene was evaluated as being in compliance with human
rights (UN, 2015). The main production of carmine is located in Peru
which has been ranked with a high human development index.
Therefore, the compliance of human rights for employees was
ranked lower. Artificial colorants’ production is predominantly
based in Russia and the US, which were both ranked with very high
human development indices. Thus, the human rights indicator was
assigned to score 3.
3.3.2. Safe working conditions
The process of extracting the pigment anthocyanin from its
plant source involves great amounts of solvents such as water that
has no GHS health hazard classification or ethanol, which is clas-
sified as harmful (Wallin, 1977; Bailey et al., 2001). As mostly
aqueous solvents are used the health and safety issues for workers
were considered to be very low for the production of E163. Ac-
cording to Zelkha et al. (1996) and Hartal et al. (1999), the process of
lycopene extraction involves hexane that has been classified haz-
ardous and harmful to human health. Hence, the work place was
ranked as unsafe. During the production of carmine, main solvents
used are aqueous or alcoholic solutions for extraction (Müller-
Maatsch and Gras, 2016). Thus, the working place was considered
as safe. The production of Allura Red AC was considered as being
potentially harmful to workers as concentrated sulfuric acid or
hydrochloric acid is needed for the diazotization reaction. More-
over, weakly alkaline conditions (pH 7e9) are needed for the
coupling reaction (Hunger et al., 2012). Furthermore, all starting
materials are classified as being hazardous to human health.
3.3.3. Consumers’ expectance
Consumers’ perception towards food ingredients and additives
is currently shifting to the preference of products of natural origin
(Shim et al., 2011; Martins et al., 2016; Gebhardt et al., 2019).
However, the widespread preference for natural origin does not
include animal-derived products as they do not meet the trend of
vegetarian lifestyle (Corrin and Papadopoulos, 2017; Müller-
Maatsch et al., 2018). Therefore, anthocyanins and lycopene were
ranked as most likable, carmine as rejected by some consumers,
and the artificial colorant as disliked by the general public.
3.3.4. Health
Both, anthocyanins and the carotenoid lycopene have been re-
ported to be beneficial to human health (Müller et al., 2016; Li et al.,
2017). The pigments are assumed to have antioxidative capacities
and may prevent cardio-vascular diseases and cancer. Carmine has
8 B. Gebhardt et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 260 (2020) 120884
frequently been reported to cause allergic reactions after con-
sumption in beverages or when applied to cosmetic products. No
further hazardous or beneficial impacts on human health have been
reported (Müller-Maatsch and Gras, 2016), hence, the food colorant
was ranked on second place. During the past years, several reports
had been published on the adverse effect of artificial colorants on
human health, especially on children health. Furthermore, Allura
Red AC has been assessed as being hazardous in high concentra-
tions towards human health (Amchova et al., 2015).
3.3.5. Impurities and residuals
Besides anthocyanins, E163 formulations may contain common
components of the source material such as organic acids or sugars.
Furthermore, pesticides and mycotoxins may be found due to their
presence in grape pomace. During the process of anthocyanin
extraction, sulphur dioxide is often added and later removed in the
process. Sulphur dioxide may still be found in formulations of E163,
thus, dyed products require an additional labeling. In the case of
anthocyanin lake formulations, aluminium is added which is dis-
cussed to be harmful to human health (EFSA ANS, 2013). E160d
from tomatoes may contain common components such as carot-
enoids, oils, fats, waxes, and flavor components that naturally occur
in tomatoes and do not harm human health. However, glyco-
alkaloids, namely tomatines, may be co-extracted and enriched
during the process. In high concentrations, these glycoalkaloids
have been found to be toxic to humans (Friedman, 2002; EFSA ANS,
2008). As carmine is derived from insects, the food color formula-
tions might contain the non-authorized 4-aminocarminic acid as
well as proteinaceous material that has been reported to cause
allergic reactions. Furthermore, lakes of carminic acid might still
contain unbound aluminium cations (EFSA ANS, 2015). Besides the
main pigment, Allura Red AC may contain sodium chloride as well
as the pigments’ precursors 5-amino-4-methoxy-2-
toluenesulphonic acid and 6-hydroxy-2-naphthalene sulphonic
acid. Moreover, 6,6-oxybis (2-naphthalene sulphonic acid) diso-
dium salt may be present originating from the manufacturing
process (EFSA ANS, 2009). The precursors and the side product of
Allura Red AC manufacturing might cause harm to human health. In
conclusion, all food colorant formulations may contain impurities
and residues that harm human health.
4. Discussion
4.1. Hot spots in the lifecycle of food colorants
As displayed in Table 4, hot spots (HS) (score 1) may be identified
in all three metrics for all four food colorants. A total of nineteen
indicators in the score card results in a maximum of 57 points for the
most sustainable products being analyzed (19 in minimum).
Although anthocyanins was ranked as most sustainable summarized
over all metrics (total score 42), differing food colorants scored more
sustainable when looking at single metrics. Furthermore, the dis-
tribution and amount of HS differed between the food colorants.
The highest number of critical issues overall points out Allura
Red AC (E129; 9 HS), followed by lycopene (E160d; 6 HS) and an-
thocyanins (E163; 5 HS). Carmine (E120; 4 HS) has the fewest hot
spots. The worst result in total scores was found also for Allura Red
AC (total score 37), followed by lycopene (39) and then in a different
order the other two additives E120 (41) and E163 (42).
Within the metric environment, Allura Red AC was ranked as
least sustainable with an environmental score of 11, in contrast the
production of lycopene, anthocyanins and carmine was evaluated
as more environmentally friendly, scoring 14, 15 and 17 points,
respectively. To overcome the HS identified for the Allura Red AC
production, the synthesis of the artificial colorant should be
improved. Additionally, new raw material, e.g., from renewable
resources, could be exploited. For the extraction of natural, plant-
derived pigments, the low exploitation yield and the high con-
sumption of water and energy was found worth to be improved.
Therefore, novel plant sources richer in pigments than the tradi-
tional ones should be made accessible. Alternatively, novel breeds
of the currently utilized plants should be developed (Baranski et al.,
2016; Brauch, 2016). The processes should be further improved to
save water and energy (Kammerer, 2016; Schieber and Weber,
2016). The extraction of carminic acid from aphids and produc-
tion of carmine may be further improved by valorization of by-
products or recirculation of extraction solvents (Dufosse , 2014).
According to the metric economics, the artificial colorant was
ranked most sustainable (economic score 19). Hot spots were
revealed for both natural, plant-derived food colorants concerning
shelf life, convenience, and sensory properties. Here, the addition of
stabilizers during the formulation of the final food colorant
formulation might enhance these properties of the additives
(Castan ~ eda-Ovando et al., 2009; Neves et al., 2019). Regarding the
sensory properties, novel sources being devoid of flavor traces and
novel purification procedures may improve their sensory appear-
ance (Brauch, 2016; Müller-Maatsch et al., 2019). Availability of
carmine is poor, thus, the production of carminic acid may be
transferred to other countries, for example the Caribbean Islands, to
create a broader availability (Müller-Maatsch and Gras, 2016). The
hot spot linked to legal aspects from the artificial colorant might
not be diminished. However, further research supporting an
innocuous use in food product might have an impact on the current
legislation within the EU.
Anthocyanins and lycopene are seen as most sustainable by
consumers as revealed by the metric social responsibility, scoring
13 and 11 points, respectively. In contrast carmine, the animal
derived colorant and the artificial one scored lowest. Most hot spots
identified in this indicator metric might be overcome by additional
information on these colorants to the consumers (Müller-Maatsch
et al., 2018). Miao et al. (2020) proposed that the risk perception
of consumers should be taken as a starting point and be mitigated.
Lee et al. (2014) and Müller-Maatsch et al. (2018) concluded that
success is mainly ensured by educational measures. When con-
sumers become more familiar with the topic of food additives in
general and their relevance to health a positive awareness might be
achieved. Furthermore, food colorant preparations should have less
impact on human health, thus, a higher degree of purification is
advisable to overcome this hot spot.
4.2. Limitations of SHSA and its transferability to other food
additives or ingredients
The presented analysis of sustainability by SHSA gives a holistic
and general overview on sustainability impacts of food colorants
where comparisons based on numbers are simple, but only to the
extent that basic studies are available. The developed tool identified
critical points in the production and application of the intermediate
product as well as at the retail of the final products, on the basis of
the given selection and number of 19 indicators. Depending on
available studies the created metrics, indicators, and the oper-
ationalization of indicators are easily transferable to other food
additives and ingredients (Carocho et al., 2015).
The conducted SHSA tool might be broadened including further
aspects of the products life cycle, as it is limited to the production
and application of food additives. Therefore, it solely represents a
partial sustainability analysis. Metrics and indicators should be
verified by stakeholder evaluation to clarify their reliability and
validity by several industrial producers, traders, and food
manufacturers.
 B. Gebhardt et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 260 (2020) 120884
5. Conclusion
Aiming at the development of a tool to analyze the sustainability
of food additives, three metrics were presented focusing on either
environment, economics, or social responsibility. After the appli-
cation of the indicators on four different food colorants considering
all metrics, anthocyanins, with a total score of 42, were considered
as more sustainable than carmine, lycopene, and the artificial
colorant Allura Red AC, scoring 41, 39 and 37 in total, respectively
(Table 4). The environmental metrics identified carmine as most
compatible with a sustainable production. In contrast, Allura Red
AC scored most sustainable in the economic metrics and anthocy-
anins in the social responsibility metrics. Overall, we identified
fewer hot spots for carmine compared to anthocyanins, lycopene,
and the artificial colorant. To overcome these hot spots, research for
more sustainable products should involve the exploitation of novel
natural sources, the development of environmentally friendly
processes including the recirculation of solvents and energy as well
as the valorization of by-products. Furthermore, additional
research should aim at the stabilization of pigments in food
colorant formulations as well as in the food matrix. Consumers
should also be informed or educated in adequate ways about topics
such as sustainability, naturalness, food ingredients and food ad-
ditives. In this manner, the acceptability of food additives should be
increased.
This research did not receive any specific grant from funding
agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing
financial interests or personal relationships that could have
appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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