From: Steve Harris <sbharris@ix.netcom.com>
Newsgroups: sci.med.nutrition
Subject: Re: pink lemonade
Date: 24 Oct 2005 16:06:14 -0700
Message-ID: <1130195174.682571.63770@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com>

Julie Bove wrote:
> <bob@coolgroups.com> wrote in message
> news:1130076658.993775.12950@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> > Out of curiosity, anyone know what makes pink lemonade pink?
>
> Cherry juice or syrup.
>
> --
> See my webpage:
> http://mysite.verizon.net/juliebove/index.htm

COMMENT:

Not commercially. Actually, although red grape extract has been used, I
find on further search the claim that traditionally in the US, beet
juice is used for pink lemonade. Reason: the betacyanin in beets holds
up better in acid environments like lemon juice. Betacyanin is not the
same stuff as anthocyanin (the pigment in grapes). As you might guess
from the fact that enough dietary beet will turn urine red, but no
amount of grape juice will.

http://www.answers.com/topic/beet

SBH

From: Steve Harris <sbharris@ix.netcom.com>
Newsgroups: sci.med.nutrition
Subject: Re: pink lemonade
Date: 24 Oct 2005 20:02:27 -0700
Message-ID: <1130209347.800296.204750@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>

bob@coolgroups.com wrote:
> i don't see any of this stuff when i read the label.

I'll bet you see something like "natural coloring".  That's the beet
juice. If it comes from a natural food source and is below a certain
percent, they don't have to tell you exactly what it is.

From: Steve Harris <sbharris@ix.netcom.com>
Newsgroups: sci.med.nutrition
Subject: Re: pink lemonade
Date: 25 Oct 2005 12:00:49 -0700
Message-ID: <1130266849.415048.264410@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>

bob@coolgroups.com wrote:
> it says 'red 40'.
>
> the yellow kind has something like 'yellow 20'.

"Some like" doesn't cut it. There is no such thing as Yellow #20, so
far as I can tell.

Red 40 is an synthetic azo dye, which has some similarities to dyes
that have mutagen problems. Yuck. You might want to check out other
brands. This seems an odd risk to take (or give) for a few fractions of
a cent. Here's a neat website on red 40 with molecular pics which you
can change by passing your mouse across them.

http://www.red40.org/pages/chemistry.html

From: Steve Harris <sbharris@ix.netcom.com>
Newsgroups: sci.med.nutrition
Subject: Re: pink lemonade
Date: 26 Oct 2005 18:09:10 -0700
Message-ID: <1130375350.751912.90300@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>

bob@coolgroups.com wrote:
> it's yellow 5.  i quit the red stuff.


LOL. See the same Red40 website. Yellow #5 (tartrazine) is related, and
has an even worse reputation, mainly due to the occasional person who's
allergic to it. And of course, all those Feingold diet people who think
their kids have ADHD due to food dyes, with yellow #5 heading the list.
Whether there's anything to this, I don't know. There is at least one
good double blind study of tartrazine and mood, which was positive.

In any case, in your stuff, for red they should have used beet juice
:). And for yellow, beta carotene.  Yellow solid foods (like mustard)
are usually colored with Natural Yellow #3, which is curcumin. Which is
probably good for you. So you have to read the labels carefully.

SBH

From: Steve Harris <sbharris@ix.netcom.com>
Newsgroups: sci.med.nutrition
Subject: Re: pink lemonade
Date: 26 Oct 2005 19:16:09 -0700
Message-ID: <1130379368.973415.56770@g43g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>

b...@coolgroups.com wrote:
> beta carotene causes lung cancer.  plus, it's not yellow.


Solutions of it are, I promise. Ask how I know.

It only causes lung cancer in smokers.

SBH

From: Steve Harris <sbharris@ix.netcom.com>
Newsgroups: sci.med.nutrition
Subject: Re: pink lemonade
Date: 27 Oct 2005 11:37:00 -0700
Message-ID: <1130438220.649760.33050@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>

MMu wrote:
> > also, why do you think it's yellow
>
> a dilution effect probably.. lycopene should be the yellow carotinoid while
> beta carotene could be yellow if diluted and is orange otherwise.


Yep. All carotenoids are basically yellow in dilution, as true
solutions or microemulsions. And they get pretty yellow before they
begin to show orange or red.