The interview has not even started yet when Marc van Os immediately shows a first example. On the table is a train made of biscuit. Made by an employee of the company, Ritza. Then she made the train with glaze and provided it with the coloring agents of Holland Ingredients.
“The pink is based on beetroot juice,” says the director, pointing to the train. “The brown bears come from caramel and the green is kiwi.” Remarkable about the color kiwi: “There is no kiwi in it at all.” The fact that it is called kiwi is because all colors are named. But yes, there are so many colors. This color green may be called kiwi, but there are also variants of that.
They come up with the names of the dyes in Meppel itself. But anyone who gets the ingredients on the back of a package will see coloring with an e-number behind it. “It is good that it should be mentioned, but this does not mean anything to anyone. I dare say that three-quarters of people do not read the ingredients. Look, someone who is lactose intolerant should know that it contains milk.”