Colour is something we take for granted. We assess it, process what it means from the first time we open our eyes in the morning until we go to bed at night. The human eye is very good at differentiating colours and even quite subtle changes can be noticed. In consumer research, the information on colour in products is always the “tightest” with the least variance of any sensory characteristics measured. That indicates just how good we all are at assessing it.
Nature has “hard-wired” us to recognise “healthy” colour and “unhealthy” colour Blue is rarely found in natural foods (blueberries are an obvious exception!) Generally, blue is associated with poison and so, when one of our foodie friends colours the mashed potato blue we find it hard to eat. Intellectually, we know it is safe but emotionally our stomachs tend to rebel at the thought (even if the mash is based on the blue potatoes now available.)
New and interesting colours abound in the vegetables available to us now (often based on heritage varieties). However, if we have traditionally eaten orange carrots, somehow white or purple carrots don’t seem right – to our visual senses they are “wrong”.
Brilliant Reflections/Consumer Research Specialists 