ResoluteRuby A is just one of our cast of superstable colors for plant based delicatessen ham, frankfurters, hamburgers and other plant protein meat alternatives. All of our colors are from natural source, Non-GMO, vegan, Kosher, Halal, pH independent, taste neutral and robust enough to withstand the rigors of typical food processes, temperature and light storage conditions.

Putting our natural colors to the test in plant-based delicatessen ham.

We compared our family of lycopene based colors to two typical alternatives (beet and iron oxide) used in plant based meat alternatives versus no color. We evaluated their performance throughout, including a long cooking process at 85°C for 60-70 minutes, and subjected to typical, light, temperature and storage conditions, in both accelerated and in real time. Deli ham slices were chosen as the focus because the ham’s color is its top selling feature and it is subject to the effects of UV light due to its transparent packaging and prominent display in retail environments.

Both realtime and accelerated stability tests revealed that lycopene-based colors outperformed all competitors relative to stability and perceived hue. Lycored offers a number of shade variations all of which perform with a delta E (level of change) of below 4 after 2 months, which means only slightly visible to the naked eye.

There are many reasons to work with our lycopene based superstable colors, here’s just a few: 

Authentic shades
A broad range of available shades to simulate meat based products (cold cuts such as delicatessen ham, turkey, chicken or frankfurter)

Longer lasting color 
Proven to withstand even the most demanding processing, storage, lighting, packaging and cooking conditions

Clean labeling
Natural, Vegan, Kosher, Halal, Allergen-free, Non-GMO (Non-GMO Project verified), declared as ‘lycopene’ or ‘lycopene from red tomatoes’

Industry bugged by limited color ingredient choices

Lycored compared its family of lycopene based colors to four natural type alternatives, evaluating each source across nine performance and specifying criteria relative to red shade alternatives. The diagram reveals that Lycored’s lycopene based colors offer the broadest utility and value from a food manufacturing and marketing standpoint. Carmine is limited by lack of vegan status, iron oxide by regulatory restrictions in the US, beet & black carrot types by stability & functionality in application.

Next in the spotlight? Meat free sausages that sizzle!

We’re counting down the days until the full real time results of our stability study into plant based frankfurter sausages. Our accelerated study results reveal that ResoluteRuby A is:

• Stable before and after a typical consumer heating process.

• The color shade is a very authentic representation of a meat based frankfurter, and the versatile shade can also mask color change on the base over time.

• ResoluteRuby A outperformed typical alternatives such as iron oxide for stability over time in the same application base. 

The results and report will be available soon. If you’d like to hear the results while they’re still piping hot - let us know.

Discover your perfect color match for a number of plant based meat and fish categories with Lycored’s HueFinder.

HueFinder is a unique online color-matching tool which allows manufacturers to find the perfect shade for food and beverage products, access valuable application specific insights and accelerate new product development or natural reformulation projects.