Appearance of food is as important as its taste and therefore
modern food manufacturers have been increasingly interested in
conserving this aspect of foods, which may have lost their natural
colours during processing. The addition of colourants preserves aspects
of food and also reduces colour variations and enhances its
acceptance by the consumer (Cabrera, 2005). Natural colours have
some disadvantages compared with synthetics as they are more
expensive and less stable, but consumers are increasingly choosing
to avoid synthetic colours, preferring natural pigments that are
considered harmless or even healthy (Azeredo, 2008). Moreover,
the European Union and the United States have restricted the use
of synthetic colourants as food additives. These restrictions have
increased the use of natural colourants in the food industry; consumers
require foods to be as natural as possible