NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Lifestyle

Wendyl wants to know: Artificial colour earns black mark for red jelly treat

By Wendyl Nissen
NZ Herald·
23 Nov, 2012 04:30 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Aunt Betty's Jelly Jiggle Topping. $4.69 for 340g. Photo / Supplied

Aunt Betty's Jelly Jiggle Topping. $4.69 for 340g. Photo / Supplied

Each week, Wendyl Nissen takes a packaged food item and decodes what the label says about its contents.

Aunt Betty's Jelly Jiggle Topping
$4.69 for 340g

This brightly coloured bottle of squeezable jelly made it into my house via an enthusiastic grandfather who saw the words "made with real raspberry juice" and brought it home.

This jelly tastes like the jelly you get on the top of a Jelly Tip icecream so I can see why it would be enthusiastically accepted on some icecream by most families.

It also uses no artificial flavours which is great. But what have they used to get the bright-reddish pink colouring?

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Ingredients (in order of greatest quantity first):

Sugar
This is a sweet topping which you put on icecream so of course it's going to have sugar in it but 41 per cent is very high. Each 20g squirt will give you just under two teaspoons of sugar.

Raspberry juice
(35 per cent) (from concentrate)
This is great to see. More and more food producers are swapping out sugar in favour of fruit sugars. It's more natural and has nutritional value, unlike sugar.

Water

Food acids (330, 331)
These are citric acid (330) and sodium citrates (331) which will be in here to flavour, balance acidity or preserve.

Thickeners (418, 415)
These are gellan gum (418) and xanthan gum (415), both natural gums used in here to keep the jelly thick.

Discover more

Lifestyle

Wendyl wants to know

05 Oct 08:30 PM
Lifestyle

Wendyl wants to know: Nutritionally fantastic stir fry

12 Oct 04:30 PM
Lifestyle

Wendyl wants to know: Artificial colours ring alarm bells

19 Oct 04:30 PM
Lifestyle

Real food or mystery chicken?

26 Oct 04:30 PM

Natural flavour
Hurrah! Nice to see a food producer use a natural flavouring instead of opting for a much cheaper alternative which is an artificial flavour.

Preservative (202)
This is potassium sorbate (202) which has no known health effects.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Firming agent (333)
This is calcium citrate which is a salt of citric acid and will be in here to create a jelly-like consistency.

Colour (123)
This is a real shame.

To have bothered using a natural flavouring but then opting for amaranth or red no 2, which is a colouring banned in the United States, is disappointing.

This colour was banned in the US in 1976 because of concerns it is a carcinogen and it was reaffirmed in 1980.

Russia has also banned it and in the past Norway and Austria banned the colour.

Its use is restricted in Europe to fish roe, aromatic wines and other alcoholic drinks.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

My recommendations:
I'm all for food producers making an effort to take away artificial flavourings and use real fruit to provide flavour and sweetness.

Which is just what Aunt Betty's have done.

But, in my opinion, they stopped short of making this product a safe treat by using the artificial colour amaranth which is banned in the US for good reason. It has some nasty health studies attached to it.

Many food producers are now opting for more natural red dyes such as cochineal/carmine that are available.

So, for this reason, and this one alone I would recommend opting for homemade raspberry jam on your icecream because last time I looked you didn't have to add colour to jam.

Highlights
* Uses natural flavour and real raspberry juice.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

* Uses an artificial colour banned in the US.

* 41.2 per cent sugar

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Lifestyle

Premium
Lifestyle

After 45 years as a sex therapist, I know exactly what makes someone cheat

10 Jul 06:00 PM
Lifestyle

Smokefree Rockquest Wairarapa Regional Finals 2025 Highlights

Lifestyle

Smokefree Rockquest Northland Regional Finals 2025 Highlights

Get your kids involved in your reno

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Lifestyle

Premium
After 45 years as a sex therapist, I know exactly what makes someone cheat

After 45 years as a sex therapist, I know exactly what makes someone cheat

10 Jul 06:00 PM

Telegraph: Celebrated psychotherapist on how to restore sexuality and desire.

Smokefree Rockquest Far North Regional Finals 2025 Highlights

Smokefree Rockquest Far North Regional Finals 2025 Highlights

Smokefree Rockquest Wairarapa Regional Finals 2025 Highlights

Smokefree Rockquest Wairarapa Regional Finals 2025 Highlights

Smokefree Rockquest Northland Regional Finals 2025 Highlights

Smokefree Rockquest Northland Regional Finals 2025 Highlights

Sponsored: Why heat pumps make winter cheaper
sponsored

Sponsored: Why heat pumps make winter cheaper

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP