General Mills Inc. did it. Kraft Food Groups Inc. did it. Papa John’s Pizza, Campbell Soup Co., Taco Bell, Nestlé, Subway, Panera Bread Co., The Hershey Co., Pizza Hut, Kellogg’s Co. and more—they all did it. And maybe it’s time you did it, too.

The “it” these companies did was replace the artificial ingredients in their formulations—including artificial colors and flavors—with naturally sourced alternatives….

Looking at colors, Andy Dratt, chief commercial officer, Imbibe, reflected on how the move away from synthetics has changed the nature of the industry itself. “Because synthetics were products of a chemical process, the trick was building facilities to make them,” he said. “When you go natural, you’re bringing in an agricultural element that you didn’t have before. You don’t just have to know how to process these colors; certain pigments may mean breeding certain crops in different ways. And that’s a very different business.”

Read the full article in Natural Products Insider.