Phytolon and Ginkgo Bioworks triple natural color output efficiency amid crackdown on synthetic dyes

Phytolon and cell programming platform Ginkgo Bioworks have achieved a nearly threefold increase in the production efficiency of Phytolon’s color-producing yeast strains. The expanded collaboration aims to accelerate the commercialization of natural alternatives, such as “beetroot red” and “prickly pear yellow,” amid mounting regulatory and legislative scrutiny of synthetic dyes.

Artificial food dyes are facing increasing pressure in the US as Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has prioritized the removal of synthetic colors. The FDA has announced an initiative to eliminate the dyes from the US food supply by the end of 2026.

Israel-based Phytolon’s natural colors are formulated using baker’s yeast fermentation and Ginkgo’s AI modeling expertise. The companies’ multi-product collaboration has led to Ginkgo receiving additional equity in Phytolon to explore follow-up projects for developing sustainable and cost-efficient food colors.

“As innovators, our mission is to enable food manufacturers to maintain high quality and performance when switching from synthetic dyes to natural alternatives, Halim Jubran, co-founder and CEO of Pytolon, tells Food Ingredients First.

“With our vast range of colors, we provide high-performing and accurate choices for CPGs to select for their brands. Cost and supply issues are also addressed through our agriculture-independent technology, using fermentation technology for color manufacturing.”

Phytolon’s production process offers a more robust supply chain, less affected by climate or plant diseases than traditional agriculture, says CEO Halim Jubran.The company is currently focusing on the “low-hanging fruit,” where its colors, in their current formulations, show the most competitive advantage over current natural solutions in terms of cost-in-use and performance, mainly attributed to the unprecedentedly high purity of the natural colors, he adds. 

These categories include salty snacks, seasoning, baked goods, confectionery, yogurts, ice cream, and frozen novelties.

Tapping fermentation for consistency

Phytolon’s natural color formulation journey includes US$14.5 million in funding in 2022 and additional funding the following year to advance its technology toward commercialization.

With Ginkgo, the company tapped fermentation to formulate natural food colors encompassing the full-color palette of the yellow-to-purple spectrum last year.

According to Phytolon, improved production efficiency significantly reduces production costs and carbon footprint. Its manufacturing process requires less energy and capital investment to reach higher coloring efficiency than natural colors that rely on farming and extensive post-processing.

“Our manufacturing technology ensures batch-to-batch consistency, attributed to our fermentation and subsequent production steps, which are held in a closed and controlled environment,” explains Jubran. 

“Our manufacturing is advantageous in terms of supply-chain robustness, being less sensitive to climate changes, land conditions, and plant diseases compared with agriculture-based processes.”

Targeting scalability

Jubran highlights that improving yeast strains’ production efficiency is impactful only if the yielded strains are “scalable.”

Phytolon’s portfolio includes natural hues like purple, pink, red, orange, and yellow formulated using fermentation (Image credit: Phytolon).Additionally, the yielded product specifications must “comply with regulatory requirements (for F&B) and meet the performance standards in food.”

“The underlying R&D process has been accurately designed to address all of the above.”   

Phytolon’s “beetroot red” and “prickly pear yellow” colors are expected to be available in US markets upon approval by the FDA.

Expanding global reach

The use of natural colors has spiked worldwide in recent years, with a 4% average annual growth rate between 2019-2023, indicates Innova Market Insights data. Europe tops the regions for natural color launches at 33%, followed by Asia (29%) and LATAM (16%).

Jubran tells us that Phytolon has established commercial manufacturing with a European co-manufacturer. Meanwhile, the food tech firm has also worked with its distribution partners, dsm-firmenich, for several years “to ensure a robust supply and high standards for customer service.”

“Our plans for addressing the need for innovative natural colors extend beyond the US and Europe, and we are now preparing to register our colors in additional regions worldwide, starting with LATAM, Canada, and Mexico,” he concludes.