FDA may finally ban artificial red dye from beverages, candy and other foods

[JoseBalow]

28. I thought they still sold them, but seems they've been (mostly) phased out

The disappearance of red-colored pistachios is a direct result of the exponential increase in homegrown pistachios and the limit on pistachio imports from the Middle East. When the U.S. was importing pistachios, the nut shells would often be splotchy in color, the Kitchn explains. The shells got stained from traditional harvesting methods in which the nuts weren't immediately hulled and washed. Since the appearance of these stains was unappetizing, pistachio producers in the Middle East took to dying the shells bright red to hide the stains, Richard Matoian, Executive Director of the American Pistachio Growers told HuffPost Taste. A few American producers followed suit because the market was used to seeing pistachios with a bright red hue, Matoian said. But all that's over now.

Red pistachios starting disappearing in the '80s, Matoian confirmed. With the limit on imports and the increase of American grown nuts with American harvesting systems, there became no need to dye the nuts. American pistachio producers use a harvesting system that dries and hulls the nuts before they are able to get stained, which eliminates the need for covering up blemishes altogether. Even today in Iran, Matoian explained, pistachio producers have picked up the new harvesting technique that eliminates stains and the subsequent need for dye.

You can still find red pistachios in some places, Matoian told HuffPost Taste, but they're just a rare novelty product and a seasonal one at Christmastime, not the dominant trend they once were.

The upshot of red pistachios being all but obsolete today, thanks to California-produced pistachios, is that you no longer have to worry about dyed hands -- an unfortunate result of the red dye. Pistachios are just a little more boring now.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/what-are-red-pistachios_n_6570944