Food used to derive its hues from natural pigments and what animals ate, not from marketing. Before industrial production and synthetic dyes became common in the 19th century, colors came largely from real ingredients and the processing methods applied to them. As synthetic dyes appeared, colorant use spread quickly, reshaping expectations about how food should look. By the early 20th century, color in foods had become a staple, and today’s familiar shades often diverge from their natural origins. Here’s how seven well-known foods looked before modern coloring changed them.

Cheddar Cheese — A block of the familiar bright orange is a product of marketing in early England, not the cheese’s original appearance. Dyes from plants were added to compensate for paler milk fat when cream was skimmed off during milking. The yellow came from beta-carotene in grass eaten by cows, carried in milk fat, and faded when fat was removed. Over time, saffron, marigold, annatto, and even carrot juice were used to maintain that golden tone. In the 1800s, some producers even used lead chromate to intensify color, a practice tied to broader concerns about adulteration. Today, annatto remains the common coloring agent, and lead-based dyes are thankfully gone.

Salmon owes its pink-orange hue to the crustaceans in its diet; wild salmon eat carotenoids from krill, while farmed salmon fed artificial diets would otherwise look gray. When the grocery trade expanded, consumers paid more for pinker fillets, so farmers began adding astaxanthin to feeds. The pigment, naturally produced by certain organisms, standardized the color, and a color chart called the SalmoFan helped farmers pick their preferred shade. This practice persists, supporting consistent appearance across farmed stock.