Annatto is a natural plant-based dye that gives cheese its orange or yellow-orange color. It comes from the seeds of a tropical tree native to the Amazon basin in Brazil, and it has been used as a food coloring for centuries. The tiny seeds are covered in a thin red-orange layer that contains pigments called carotenoids, and these pigments are extracted and added to cheese during production. At the amounts used in cheese, annatto has no meaningful impact on taste.
Where Annatto Comes From
Annatto is extracted from the seeds of the achiote tree, a tropical plant that produces spiky pods, each containing 30 to 45 small seeds. The coloring pigment sits in a thin outer coating on each seed. Indigenous peoples in Central and South America used this pigment long before European colonization, both as a food coloring and a body paint. The primary pigment in annatto is bixin, a red-orange compound that belongs to the carotenoid family, the same broad group of pigments that makes carrots orange and tomatoes red.
For commercial use, manufacturers extract the pigment from the seeds using solvents like ethanol or vegetable oil, then concentrate it into a liquid or powder form. Some modern producers use pressurized carbon dioxide extraction, which leaves behind a purer product with no solvent residue. The final extract is then sold to cheesemakers, who add small amounts during the early stages of production.
Why Cheese Started Being Dyed Orange
The tradition of coloring cheese goes back to a bit of fraud in 17th-century England. At the time, milk from certain cow breeds like Jersey and Guernsey had a naturally yellowish-orange tint from beta-carotene in the grass the cows ate. That color carried into the cheese and became a signal of quality to buyers in London.
Cheesemakers eventually figured out they could skim the cream off their milk and sell it separately or churn it into butter for extra profit. The problem was that skimming removed most of the fat, and the natural orange pigment lived in that fat. What remained was pale, low-fat cheese that looked obviously inferior. To disguise this, cheesemakers began adding colorings like saffron, marigold, and carrot juice to make their skimmed-milk cheese look like the full-fat product customers expected. Annatto eventually became the preferred option because it was inexpensive, reliable, and nearly tasteless.
Paul Kindstedt, a cheese expert at the University of Vermont, has described this bluntly: the cheesemakers were trying to trick people by masking the white color of their cheese. Over time, though, the orange color simply became tradition. Today it’s a stylistic choice rather than an act of deception.
Cheeses That Use Annatto
Many familiar orange and yellow-orange cheeses get their color from annatto. Cheddar is the most well-known example, but the list also includes Colby (a Wisconsin original), aged Gouda, Double Gloucester, Cheshire, Red Leicester, and the French cheese Mimolette. Blue Shropshire, which has a striking orange body streaked with blue veins, also uses annatto. White versions of cheddar and other cheeses are simply made without the added coloring. The cheese itself tastes the same either way.
Does Annatto Affect Taste or Nutrition?
At the small quantities used in cheesemaking, annatto does not change the flavor of the final product. One study evaluating the sensory properties of whey protein concentrate made with and without annatto found no detectable differences in taste or functionality. Some people describe annatto in larger amounts as having a faintly peppery, slightly nutty flavor, but in cheese the concentration is far too low for this to register.
Nutritionally, annatto is a source of carotenoids with antioxidant properties. Lab studies have shown that bixin can neutralize several types of reactive oxygen species, the unstable molecules linked to cell damage. However, the amount of annatto in a serving of cheese is so small that it doesn’t contribute meaningful nutrition. You’re not eating enough of it to get antioxidant benefits the way you would from, say, a serving of carrots or tomatoes.
Safety and Allergic Reactions
Annatto is approved for use in food in both the United States and the European Union. The FDA permits it as a food coloring, and in the EU it is authorized under the designation E 160b with specific purity standards and maximum permitted levels. European food safety authorities have established acceptable daily intake levels for both bixin and norbixin (the two main pigments in annatto), confirming that normal dietary exposure falls well within safe limits.
Allergic reactions to annatto are possible but uncommon. The overall prevalence of adverse reactions to food additives is estimated at less than 1% in adults and 1 to 2% in children. Two studies have documented reactions in children that included hives and facial swelling, and there have been rare concerns about more severe allergic responses in adults. Children with existing skin conditions like eczema appear to have a slightly higher risk of reacting to food additives in general. Still, for the vast majority of people, annatto in cheese poses no health concern. If you’ve eaten orange cheddar or Colby without issues, you’re almost certainly fine.
How to Spot Annatto on a Label
In the United States, annatto must be listed on ingredient labels, but because it’s classified as a natural color, it sometimes appears simply as “color” or “annatto color” rather than with a detailed chemical name. In the EU, you’ll see it listed as E 160b. On cheese labels, it typically shows up near the end of the ingredient list as “annatto” or “annatto extract.” If a cheese is bright orange and the label lists any form of coloring, annatto is almost always what’s being used. Cheeses labeled “white cheddar” or similar simply skip this step, relying on the natural pale ivory color of the milk.