[Kitsa]

Well, I tried to be fair and there is a brand of 100% natural food coloring that I endorse when people ask. And when I had my gallery show last summer, I asked the company for handouts, which they sent. Every time someone came over and tried to pick a fight with me over food coloring (and there were a few), I'd hand them the flyer and tell them about it.

The problem is, the stuff is made with natural spices and vegetable juices and it's always going to taste a little like the original ingredient. So you could end up with vaguely beet-flavored cake icing or something like that and it could be weird. I try to use the natural stuff whenever I can, but sometimes the artificial colorings are unavoidable.