Who thought to make "Blue Raspberry" a flavor. Raspberries are not blue, and Blueberries are closer in color than raspberries. Does this bother anyone else? It's just not natural!
I am so glad to hear this question! My whole life I have never eaten blue foods...no candy, popsicles, icing, drinks, etc. Blueberries are purple not blue. Can anyone name a natural food that is blue?? I can't. I also read that there are NO blue colored foods known to man. I don't eat blue foods for this reason...
Interesting facts about Blue rasperry and blue colored food in general: The original Blue rasperry flavor was created because real raspberry flavor for items like ice cream, popsicles, and snow cones came out blackish when mixed with the other flavor components and looked like blood on a snowcone. Snowcones (in their commercial form, adding fruit flavorings to ice goes back 700 years or so) were introduced as a festival snack over a century and a half ago at county fairs, worlds fairs, etc. Since A LOT of the people attending were farmers, or had a very agrarian life, they were all too familiar with pig, cow, and chicken blood and the raspberry snow cone was just apparently too realistic to be appetizing. So a "blue raspberry" flavor was invented, and the original was a blueberry-raspberry mix which came out a deep purpley color. (better than blood!) but it eventually became bastardized into that neon blue plastic looking concoction that we know and love or hate. Mostly hate, because....
Ironically, blue registers in the senses as the most unappealing color for things that you eat (measuring how much color stimulates the appetite). A study done in the late 80's had observers eat slices of toast with velveeta dyed with vegetable dyes that did not affect the taste in any way. The natural color was not allowed on the table, and participants were asked to select which toast they would be most likely to eat. Naturally, the orange slices were chosen first, followed by yellow, then by red, then by green, and finally (do I have to?) blue. No word on if the true reluctance wasn't towards the velveeta itself. Ick.
Which is not to say that factory banana, grape, rasperry and mango flavors taste good at all. They taste nothing like the parent fruits. It's like that weird bird that climbs into strangers' nests and then the adult bird kind of claims it 'cause you know, what are you gonna do?
Yep, and have you ever had a banana that tastes like banana candy? Every time I eat Runts all I can think about is that cat-sandy stuff that the janitors sprinkled on vomit in school. Smelled just like the candy tastes. UGH!
We enjoy mixed flavors. Cherry coke, sweet and sour soup, and in fact chiles (the spicey ones) are chemically evolved to be offensive to our senses. We eat it because Chiles contain massive amounts of calcium. The mix of flavors stimulates multiple taste receptors on the tongue and we enjoy that!
I hear what you're saying, man. I think it has such appeal because its different, it catches your eye, so to speak. Like the one birthday card at the store that's all black and stands out among all the brightly colored ones. I generally like blue raspberry flavored things, though, especially Jolly Ranchers.
How about that blue ketchup they tried to sell for a while, though, huh? Talk about unnatural! Ugh!
It doesn't bother me. There are plenty of good fruit combinations, as a cook, I enjoy combining fruits and other foods together and making an enjoyable meal. The whole "Blue Raspberry" term is quite intelligently put together, "Rasp Blueberry" hurts my throat just thinking about it, but "Blue Raspberry" sounds delicious.
Have some Hawaiian Punch and think about it... because some of the fruits in Hawaiian Punch aren't found in Hawaii.
1527
