Blue food – yes or euw?

A group of diners is eating steak in a dimly lit room. Halfway through the meal, the lighting is raised and the diners are shocked to discover the meat on their plates is in fact blue. Almost all are violently sick. It’s unclear whether this oft-cited experiment from the 1970s actually took place, or is an urban myth. But the account nonetheless rings true because it affirms what we instinctively feel. Blue food is disgusting.

And yet blue food is everywhere: it’s there in the electric-coloured Blueberry Balance Bowls from Pret A Manger; the blue-rolled tortilla chips from Takis; it’s the navy base of the vitamin smoothies from Innocent Drinks; and in the spirulina-cured halibut served by a former Noma chef at the restaurant Moss in Edinburgh. Blue cakes and puddings are increasingly a feature on social media; there’s blue in the grocery aisle too. 

Pret A Manger Blueberry Balance Bowl, £3.75

Innocent Blue Bolt smoothie, £2.40, waitrose.com

In a recent research paper, Charles Spence, head of the Crossmodal Research Laboratory at the University of Oxford, identified three reasons why blue might be considered unappetising. Firstly, it’s rare and therefore makes us suspicious. Secondly, we assume it’s unnatural, which similarly raises concerns. Thirdly, it looks like mould, which may be OK in the case of stilton, but otherwise tends to make us recoil – we avoid it in meat or fish because we associate it with rot. In an op-ed from 2021, Spence even suggested colouring meat blue as a means of decreasing consumption. 

The use of blue in foods as a novelty dates back centuries

But the use of blue in foods as a novelty rather than flavouring dates back centuries. The third-century Roman emperor Elagabalus served fish in a blueish sauce to evoke sea water. At medieval European banquets, mawmenny was a dish of Arab origin that consisted of meat in a creamy sauce dyed blue, among other colours. Blue confectionery and cocktails have been an acceptable staple for decades. Raspberry-flavoured blue candyfloss and snow cones originated in the 1950s and were followed by a raft of “fun foods” aimed at young consumers such as Slush Puppies, sports drinks and Hubba Bubba chewing gum. 

Many of today’s common synthetic food dyes including “Blue No 1” were approved in the US by 1931. In the 1970s and 1980s, however, a growing distrust of synthetic dyes in processed food (then thought to cause hyperactivity in children) led global food manufacturers to phase them out in favour of natural alternatives. In 2006 Nestlé dropped blue Smarties while it sourced a suitable natural colouring. The Smartie was reintroduced in 2008 with a blue derived from the algae spirulina. 

In the years since, the rise of natural food dyes, such as pea flower, and colourants have reintroduced the colour as a health food. Likewise, the growing popularity for more artisanal produce has also encouraged people to get beyond their fears that blue equals artificial: blue cheeses, for example, are more desirable for their rich veins of indigo. In addition, a growing appreciation for heirloom produce means we no longer think twice about blue maize (a staple from Mexico) or blue potatoes. It was only a matter of chance, after all, that Walter Raleigh came back from the Americas with a white potato – and not one of the many coloured varietals.

Launched earlier this year, Pret’s new breakfast Blueberry Balance Bowl gets its blue hue from spirulina and pureed blueberries. Some might liken it to mouldy yoghurt, or Bridget Jones’s “blue soup”, but the product points to a major shift in the perception of blue prompted by the use of spirulina (a superfood) in “live well” products. Spence says: “The underlying message is you’re buying blue because it’s blueberries and healthy. Coincidentally the blue captures your attention.” Innocent’s launch of “Bolt from the Blue” was one of its most successful in 2019 because it was similarly disruptive and drew people’s attention to the shelf. The launch was accompanied by a social media campaign based on whether the smoothie (made from apple juice, coconut water, white grape juice, guava, passion fruit, spirulina and vitamins) was, in fact, blue or green. 

Blue food continues to conjure an aura of nostalgia – and subversion – especially when it comes to patisserie. According to cakemaker Lily Jones, aka Lily Vanilli, the trend for fun, experimental, heavily piped cakes that took off during lockdown has now coalesced around cakes that are “1980s gaudy blue”. When devising a birthday cake for Amelia Dimoldenberg of YouTube show Chicken Shop Date, for instance, the inspiration of “bonkers and different” was aptly met with a tiered cake resembling a dainty Dalek that was sprayed metallic blue.

Maybe this new proliferation of blue foods will lead to greater acceptance. One day perhaps the sight of a blue steak will have people asking for seconds rather than wanting to puke.

@ajesh34