Why Blue Foods Are Perceived Less Natural
Blue foods sometimes seem unnatural because they raise suspicions of artificial, synthetic coloring, but there may be another reason as well.
The color blue is rare in nature. Yes, Earth has its vast blue sky (and the vast oceans that reflect it), but only because of the way we perceive space through the Earth’s atmosphere, lit by the sun. A few animals — a brilliant blue starfish, for one — do have blue pigmentation. Blue eyes aren’t even blue. They just lack enough pigment to make them brown. Blue color in plants is commonly caused by the antioxidant pigment anthocyanin, which is normally red or purple but can be modified — often by pH — to produce a truer blue.
Some people might mistrust blue food because it’s the color of mold. Were the blue tortillas in the back of the fridge made with blue corn, or are they well on their way to becoming blue garbage?