Caramel Color in Cooked Meat & Poultry

“We tend to perceive the attributes of a food item in the following order: 1) Appearance; 2) Odor / Aroma / Fragrance; 3) Consistency and Texture; 4) Flavor.”* *M. Meilgaard, G.V. Civille and B.T. Carr Sensory Evaluation Techniques, 3rd Edition CRC Press 1999

Since appearance is our top selection criteria, food coloring serves as a key ingredient category. For decades, product devlopers have formulated caramel color — the most widely used food color — in gravies, sauces, marinades, rubs, and seasoning blends to enrich the experience of eating meat and poultry:

Meat and Poultry Applications

Caramel color can improve the appearnace of roast beef. Slow cooking retains moisture but often lacks the roasted “look” of high-temperature cooking. Caramel color can brown or blacken the exterior surface of roast beef.

Meatloaf (e.g., beef loaf, ham loaf, etc.), cooked meatballs, and other restructured meats often contain caramel color to overcome grayness. Naturally-occurring nitrates in onions, celery and bell peppers cause meat, though sufficiently cooked (interiour 72+ degrees C.), to have a pink color. Consumers may mistake this appearance for under-cooking. Caramel color overcomes the pinkness effect. A safe internal temperature does not guarantee that the meat will have resulting visual appeal.

Consumers expect cooked sausage patties to have a dark, non-gray surface. Pork processors apply caramel color to sausage patties, for example, to improve “fried” appearance.

Labeling in the U.S.A

The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Department of Agriculture (USDA) mandate that food colors be labeled as an ingredient to protect consumers from any potential coloring of spoiled meat.

In general, meat and poultry processors can add caramel color either before or after cooking so long as the final product is cooked.

U.S. regulations require the name of the meat or poultry to indicate the presence of coloring (e.g. “Cooked Roast Beef — Caramel Color Added”) on the product label. This requirement does not apply to gravies, sauces, and similar products where the use of caramel is customary, though the ingredients statement must include “caramel color” or “caramel coloring”. For raw products, e.g., beef patties, caramel color may be used on the surface if the name is appropriately qualified on the label. However, caramel color may not be added directly to the formulation of a raw (final) product where it becomes an integral part of the product.

For more information, see Policy Memo 112, visit www.fsis.usda.gov or send an email to FSIS.Labeling@fsis.usda.gov.