There are three broad types of colours available to modern food, drug, and cosmetic manufacturers. The Foodditive site only covers applications in the food science industry, but some of the same colours may be used for pharmaceuticals and cosmetics.

Synthetic Colours

These colours are produced by chemical synthesis, but do not occur in nature. In many countries each batch of these colours must be tested for purity and certified prior to sale to manufacturers. The trend over the last century has been toward using synthetic colours for their cost, versatility, and ease of production but in recent years consumer demand has spurred an interest in using more natural products and colours.

Nature Identical Colours

These colours are manufactured by chemical synthesis and are considered functionally and chemically indistinguishable from their counterparts in nature. As of the time of writing (mid-2009) there is currently no applicable certification for these colours. Interestingly there is no generally accepted definition of "Natural" in relation to colours, so most countries leave the definition up to manufacturers. Many manufacturers consider "Nature Identical Colours" to be equivalent to "Natural Colours" for labelling purposes since they are chemical identical.

Natural Colours

Natural colours are extracted from agricultural and biological materials using conventional methods.