How to Remove Color From Food

In an achromatic episode of The Action Lab. the resident scientist demonstrated the process by which to remove color from food, specifically a strawberry and a raspberry, by soaking them bleach for 24 hours. While the raspberry was completely destroyed, the strawberry survived and was bleached almost all the way through. He also shared the fascinating reaction that occurred by putting food coloring into bleach and the importance of not bleaching one’s food (obvious reasons aside).

You’re better off just leaving the color in your food. The reason is … oxidation. Oxidation breaks things down it disrupts these chemical bonds and it causes them to break. And the last thing you want is your cells to oxidize. You’d rather have something else oxidize instead…They’re called antioxidants … They’re antioxidants because they get oxidized instead of you.

Lori Dorn
Lori Dorn

Lori is a Laughing Squid Contributing Editor based in New York City who has been writing blog posts for over a decade. She also enjoys making jewelry, playing guitar, taking photos and mixing craft cocktails.