When SeaSugar Handmade Confectionery was first started, we did so with the intention of making our sweets using only natural products. The reason being that there is no satisfaction in eating something laden with chemicals, artificial flavours and colours and which may have to come with a health warning. The ingredients we use are simple, with the SeaSugar base ingredients of:
- Sugar – always UK beet sugar (https://www.britishsugar.co.uk/)
- Glucose - for stability
- Citric acid - as a flavour enhancer
Add in natural flavours and natural colours and we have our range.
FREE FROM ARTIFICIAL COLOURS. All our sweets contain only 100% natural colours. The colours we use are gluten free and alcohol free:
- Yellow – Curcumin
- Green - Copper chlorophyllin
- Black – Vegetable Carbon
- Orange – Curcumin and cochineal
- Red – Cochineal
Many food producers are trying to move away from using artificial colours. This is because more and more, consumers are demanding it and quite right too. Some producers continue to use the six more problematic colours previously commonly used in sweets and drinks (sunset yellow FCF (E110), quinoline yellow (E104), carmoisine (E122), allura red (E129), tartrazine (E102),ponceau 4R (E124)) referred to as the ‘Southampton Colours’. The Food Standards Agency funded research into possible links between food colours and hyperactivity in children. It found that consuming certain artificial food colours could cause increased hyperactivity in some children and as such food and drinks containing any of these six colours must carry a warning on the packaging. This will say ‘May have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children’. (https://www.food.gov.uk/safety-hygiene/food-additives#food-colours-and-hyperactivity)
We don’t want to produce or eat anything which has to carry a health warning so we refuse to use these artificial colours.
All our sweets contain only 100% natural flavours. These give a clean, fresh and true flavour and we don’t scrimp in using them. We want you to taste the full flavour which is on the label as we know how frustrating it is to eat something and have to look at the label to remind yourself of the flavour because you can’t taste it!