It contains turmeric which imparts the color. I think the same marketing rationale is behind why American mustard is bright yellow - it also contains tumeric. Jello and Kool-aid are also bright colors that do not occur naturally in foodstuff. Perhaps the American marketing moguls think Americans don't know what color real food is and that like children, are attracted to bright shiny objects.

American cheese resembles English cheese. Orange coloured cheese is very popular in England; it is generally known as red Leicester, although other varieties of cheese may be coloured orange as well.

What was the incentive to create orange coloured cheese? www.carbery.com/products/cheese/, among other websites, tells us that the original colouring agent in red Leicester was carrot juice; it also reminds us that the natural colour of cheese varies from white to deep yellow as it matures. Other factors, such as the quality of grass the cows have been eating, also influence the colour.

This gives rise to a theory: light orange colouring can be used to make a cheese seem better than it is; a completely orange cheese, such as red Leicester, loses the most obvious characteristic by which a customer can guess its real age. It also allows the manufacturer to produce a more consistently coloured cheese. The typical customer will favour bland uniformity over inconsistent quality, so this kind of move is generally a smart thing to do.

Log in or register to write something here or to contact authors.