The carmine dilemma: does the natural colourant preference outweigh nausea?

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide insight into the consumers’ perception of natural and artificial food colourants. Furthermore, attitudes towards the application of carmine, being technically important and ubiquitously used to impart red shades, are assessed and analysed. Originating from insects, carmine is considered as natural but may arouse disgust. Design/methodology/approach In total, 625 individuals were surveyed using an online, self-administered questionnaire to represent a broad cross-section of the German population. Findings Independent of their origin, the application of colourants was rejected by 57.0 per cent of the interviewees. In total, 31.8 per cent of the participants stated a neutral attitude, while only 11.2 per cent expressed a positive notion. Most respondents preferred colourants from natural sources to artificial ones. While consumers perceive natural food colourants composed of genuine plant pigments positively, 61.6 per cent of respondents disliked the application of animal-derived colourants, 24.8 per cent of them did neither reject nor like it, and only 13.6 per cent of the interviewees stated a positive attitude towards them. The findings of this paper further indicate consumers’ preference for colourants to be either artificial or plant-derived rather than carmine. Food colourants are being rejected, possibly due to misleading information and confusing labelling. Consequently, information about carmine, including its origin and production, did not increase the aversion to products that are dyed with it, but increased their acceptance. Originality/value This study outlines consumer perception and attitudes towards food colourants. For the first time, the findings of this paper report the effect of revealing information about an additive, which initially aroused disgust, and its influence on consumer perception.

The impact of digital image-based features on users' emotions and online behaviours in the food industry

“…The four images and the company were anonymized to avoid possible confusing effects due to pre-existing knowledge or perceptions towards the organization (Müller-Maatsch et al , 2018; Resciniti et al , 2019).…”

PRODUCTIVE BEHAVIOR OF Dactylopius coccus Costa ON TWO CONFINED Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Mill CULTIVARS

“…One of the trends of consumers worldwide is the demand for natural, safe, and sustainable products, which has shown a greater preference towards natural colorants (Müller-Maatsch et al, 2018), among which those obtained from the carmine cochineal Dactylopius coccus stand out. The females of the 11 species of Dactylopius, so far recognized, are characterized by containing a hydroxyanthraquinone linked to a glucose unit, called carminic acid (CA), mainly used in food, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and textiles (Cooksey, 2018), as an alternative to some synthetic dyes (González et al, 2010).…”