The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently approved Tarrytown, N.Y.-based GNT USA, Inc.’s Color Additive Petition, expanding the use of spirulina extract as a natural blue coloring ingredient in food and beverage applications. While the original regulation limited the use to candy and chewing gum, the amended regulation allows for the use of the extract in:  “frostings, ice cream and frozen desserts, dessert coatings and toppings, beverage mixes and powders, yogurts, custards, puddings, cottage cheese, gelatin, breadcrumbs and ready-to-eat cereals (excluding extruded cereals).”

“Many perceive spirulina as a new coloring product,” said Stefan Hake, chief executive officer of GNT USA. “However, because GNT was early to develop this product over 20 years ago, we not only have the required processing technology and production capacity to deliver our high-quality products across the globe, we also have vast technical expertise to make spirulina work in a great number of applications.”

The spirulina-based color solutions long have been used in European food and beverage products. All of the company’s products are simple concentrates of colorful fruits, vegetables and plants — going through physical processing with water and avoiding the use of chemical solvents or other additives.