I was putting on my makeup one day when my daughter Olivia, who’s nine, was snacking on slices of Red Leicester. She turned to me and said, “Mummy, you gave me cheese with colour.”
I confidently replied, “No, I didn’t.” Olivia knows how careful I am with food. I never let her have sugary snacks or vegetable oils, among other things. Additives are a firm no in our house. She’s not thrilled about it, so I thought maybe she was winding me up a bit.
But then I looked more closely at the packaging and couldn’t believe my eyes. Red Leicester is, well, red. And the colour doesn’t come from the cheese itself. It’s added using something called Annatto Norbixin, which is a pigment, and yes, it has an E number.
Of course, it made sense. What kind of natural cheese is bright orange-red? Still, do we really need colouring agents in our cheese? If you eat too much of it, you could end up with digestive issues. Not because of the cheese itself, but because of the additives.
We’re aiming for minimally processed food. This colour is added purely for aesthetic reasons, not nutritional ones. It’s unnecessary, and we can do without it.
Please read your labels carefully.
-- Written by Hala, founder of Dietapplements
