Annatto (/əˈnætoʊ/ or/əˈnɑːtoʊ/) is an orange-redcondiment andfood coloring derived from the seeds of the achiote tree (Bixa orellana), native totropical parts of the Americas.[1] It is often used to impart a yellow to red-orange color to foods, but sometimes also for its flavor and aroma. Its scent is described as "slightly peppery with a hint ofnutmeg" and its flavor as "slightly nutty, sweet, and peppery".[2]
The color of annatto comes from variouscarotenoidpigments, mainlybixin and norbixin, found in the reddish waxy coating of the seeds. The condiment is typically prepared by grinding the seeds to a powder or paste. Similar effects can be obtained by extracting some of the color and flavor principles from the seeds with hot water,oil, orlard, which are then added to the food.[3]
Annatto and its extracts are now widely used in an artisanal or industrial scale as a coloring agent in manyprocessed food products, such as cheeses,dairy spreads,butter andmargarine,custards,cakes and other baked goods,potatoes,snack foods,breakfast cereals,smoked fish,sausages, and more. In these uses, annatto is a natural alternative to syntheticfood coloring compounds, but it has been linked to rare cases of food-relatedallergies.[4] Annatto is of particular commercial value in the United States because theFood and Drug Administration considers colorants derived from it to be "exempt of certification".
The annatto treeB. orellana is believed to originate in tropical regions from Mexico to Brazil.[1][5] It was probably not initially used as a food additive, but for other purposes, such as ritual and decorative body painting (still an important tradition in many Brazilian native tribes, such as theWari'); sunscreen; insect repellent; and for medical purposes.[6][7][8] It was used for Mexican manuscript painting in the 16th century.[9] Men of theTsàchila tribe inEcuador are highly recognizable thanks to their traditional bright orange hair, which is achieved by using crushed seeds of annatto. It is believed they have been doing so for centuries.
Annatto has been traditionally used as both a coloring and flavoring agent in various cuisines fromLatin America, theCaribbean, thePhilippines, and other countries where it was taken home bySpanish andPortuguese colonizers in the 16th century.[1] It has various local names according to region.[1] Its use has spread in historic times to other parts of the world, and it was incorporated in local culinary traditions of many countries outside the Americas.[10]
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Ground annatto seeds, often mixed with other seeds or spices, are used in the form of paste or powder for culinary use, especially inLatin American,Jamaican,Belizean,Chamorro,Vietnamese, andFilipino cuisines. InMexican andBelizean cuisines, it is used to make the spicerecado rojo. InVenezuela, annatto is used in the preparation ofhallacas,huevos pericos, and other traditional dishes. InPuerto Rico, it is often simmered in oil or ground with seasonings and herbs to makesazón or used to makepasteles,arroz con gandules, and several other dishes, where it is one of the main ingredients. Annatto paste is an important ingredient ofcochinita pibil, the slow-roasted pork dish popular in Mexico. It is also a key ingredient in the drinktascalate fromChiapas, Mexico. In thePhilippines, it is used for the sauce ofpancit palabok. In Guam, it is used to make a staple rice dish flavored with annatto, onion, garlic, butter, and other spices.
Annatto is commonly used to impart a yellow or orange color to many industrialized and semi-industrialized foods, including cheese, ice cream, bakery products, desserts, fruit fillings, yogurt, butter, oils, margarines, processed cheese, and fat-based products.[11] In the United States, annatto extract is listed as a color additive "exempt from certification"[12] and is informally considered to be a natural coloring. Foods colored with annatto may declare the coloring in the statement of ingredients as "colored with annatto" or "annatto color".[13] In the European Union, it is identified by theE number E160b.
In cheese, the yellow and orange hues naturally vary throughout the year as the cow's feed changes: in the summer, with fresh grass and its naturalcarotene content, the milk produced would have a natural orange tint, as would the cheese made from it, while at other times of the year, the tint would be greatly reduced. As the pigment is carried in the cream, skimming the milk, which some farmers did to make butter or to sell it separately, the lesser-quality cheese from such milk would be white.[14][15]
To fool the consumer, the cheesemakers introduced colorants to imitate the more intense colors of the finer summer cheese. Initially these colors came from saffron, marigold, and carrot juice, but later annatto came into use.[14]
In the 17th century, the Dutch, who had established colonies in Guyana, traded in food, particularly an orange-red natural colorant, annatto, with the indigenous communities. Zeeland traders under the authority of the West India Company bought annatto from the inhabitants of the coastal regions of Guyana and Suriname and sold it in the Netherlands asverw ('paint'). One contemporaneous description comes from Adriaen van Berkel, in a book published in 1695, though he does not mention whether it was used in cheese.[15]
The earliest known documentation of annatto's use in cheese is in a 1743 Dutch volumeHuishoudelyk Woordboek (Household Dictionary), according to American scientist Paul Kindstedt of the University of Vermont. Other historical documents from the period confirm that annatto (then called "orleaan" or "orleans") was being used to color cheese by the mid-18th century.[15]
England is another country that has used annatto to color its cheeses; colorants have been added toGloucester cheese as early as the 16th century to allow inferior cheese to masquerade as the best Double Gloucester, with annatto later being used for that purpose. This usage was subsequently adopted in other parts of the UK, for cheeses such asCheshire andRed Leicester, as well as coloredCheddar made inScotland.[16][14] Many cheddars are produced in both white and red (orange) varieties, the only difference between the two being the presence of annatto as a coloring.[17] That practice has extended to many modernprocessed cheese products, such asAmerican cheese andVelveeta. Cheeses from other countries also use annatto, includingMimolette from France andLeyden from the Netherlands.
Cheeses that use annatto in at least some preparations include:
The yellow to orange color is produced by the chemical compounds bixin and norbixin, which are classified ascarotenoids. The fat-soluble color in the crude extract is calledbixin, which can then besaponified into water-solublenorbixin. This dual solubility property of annatto is rare for carotenoids.[31] The seeds contain 4.5–5.5% pigment, which consists of 70–80% bixin.[30] Unlikebeta-carotene, another well-known carotenoid, annatto-based pigments are notvitamin A precursors.[32] The more norbixin in an annatto preparation, the more yellow it is; a higher level of bixin gives it a more orange hue.
Annatto condiments and colorants are safe for most people when used in food amounts, but they may cause allergic reactions in those who are sensitive.[33][34] In one 1978 study of 61 patients with chronichives orangioedema, 56 patients were orally provoked by annatto extract during an elimination diet. A challenge was performed with a dose equivalent to the amount used in 25 grams (7⁄8 ounce) of butter. Twenty-six percent of the patients reacted to this color four hours after intake, worse than synthetic dyes, such asamaranth (9%),tartrazine (11%),sunset yellow FCF (17%),allura red AC (16%),ponceau 4R (15%),erythrosine (12%) andbrilliant blue FCF (14%).[35]
Annatto is not among the "Big Eight" substances causinghypersensitivity reactions which are responsible for more than 90% offood related allergic reactions.[4] TheUS FDA and experts at the Food Allergy Research and Resource Program (FARRP) of the University of Nebraska do not include annatto in the list of major food allergens.[36]
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The coloring additive that gives Cheddars that orange color is called annatto
The seed is traditionally used to color Leicester and Cheshire cheeses.
Colby cheese gets its distinctive color from the addition of annatto coloring.
In Cheshire, one pound of good annatto is deemed sufficient for a ton of cheese; in Gloucester double that quantity is used.
Made in and around the university city of Leiden, this Gouda-like cheese is colored with annatto
The colour comes from brushing with an annatto solution.
Mimolette curds are then colored with annatto
They're also dyed with roucou, a natural red dye derived from the seeds of the annatto shrub.
In Europe, annatto extract is used to color butter, margarine, ice cream, sausages and many cheese including red Cheddar, Muenster, Livarot and Leicester.
In all forms, Red Leicester has a distinct reddish-orange color derived from the addition of annatto, a naturally occurring food colorant.
Ingredients ... RIND CONTAINS ANNATTO (COLOR)
paste coloured orange red with annatto
Annatto at the Wikibooks Cookbook subproject