Purple sweet potatoes among 'new naturals' for food and beverage colors

(American Chemical Society) Mention purple sweet potatoes, black carrots or purple carrots, and people think of dining on exotic veggies. But those plants and others have quietly become sources of a new generation of natural food colorings that are replacing traditional synthetic colors and colors derrived from beetles. That back-to-the-future trend is on the agenda today at the 246th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society.