Blue raspberry flavor

Blue raspberry is a manufactured flavoring and food coloring for candy, snack foods, syrups, and soft drinks.^[1][2][3] The flavor does not derive from any species of raspberry, but rather was developed using esters that are part of the flavor profile of pineapple, banana and cherry.^[2] Sugar is commonly added to create taste appeal for the blue raspberry flavor.^[2]

A cup of blue raspberry Italian ice at the Taste of Chicago festival

Food products labeled as blue raspberry flavor are commonly dyed with a bright blue synthetic food coloring, such as brilliant blue FCF (also called FD&C Blue No. 1) or European food coloring number E133.^[4]

The blue color was used to differentiate raspberry-flavored foods from cherry-, watermelon-, and strawberry-flavored foods, each of which is typically red.^[1][2] The use of blue dye also partially is due to the FDA's 1976 banning of amaranth-based Red Dye No. 2, which had previously been heavily used in raspberry-flavored products.^[2][3]

Composition

"Blue raspberry" flavors used in confectionery and frozen beverages are typically formulated from aroma chemicals blended to suggest fresh raspberry, and then colored with FD&C Blue No. 1.^[1][3]

History

Blue raspberry flavoring debuted commercially in the United States in 1958 with Gold Medal's snow cone syrup.^[3] Its wider adoption followed the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) 1969 approval of FD&C Blue No. 1. This regulatory change encouraged other companies, including The Icee Company and Otter Pops, to introduce blue raspberry products in the early 1970s.^[2][3]

See also

• Rubus leucodermis - a fruit-bearing plant that is sometimes called the "blue raspberry"