# Why is there no blue food? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 22, 2003, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-blue-food/190054 "2003-07-22T00:58:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2003, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-blue-food/190054/1 "2003-07-22T00:58:58Z")
Apart from a few artificially coloured sweets and cakes, and even those are rare. As far as I can see, nothing edible for humans is naturally blue. I can think of examples of food of every other colour, bu8t not blue. Don’t say blue cheese, thats greeny-grey. ---
**Author:** ![3waygeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/e95f7d/32.png) [@3waygeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3waygeek)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2003, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-blue-food/190054/2 "2003-07-22T00:59:48Z")
So what color do you consider blueberries to be? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2003, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-blue-food/190054/3 "2003-07-22T01:01:41Z")
Blueberries are purple. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2003, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-blue-food/190054/4 "2003-07-22T01:02:37Z")
Wow, flashback… ---
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2003, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-blue-food/190054/5 "2003-07-22T01:08:13Z")
Most truly blue compounds are poisonous. Think of various cobalt and copper oxides or sulphates. Rather nasty stuff. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2003, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-blue-food/190054/6 "2003-07-22T01:19:42Z")
When did Carlin do that routine? Like 1976? ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2003, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-blue-food/190054/7 "2003-07-22T01:21:55Z")
If you are going to claim that mulberries, blueberries etc are purple and not blue then you are going to have to provide some actual reflectance figures to support that. They look blue to me. Many berries are naturally blue. Blue is probably less common than some other colours because the dispersal agents, birds and mammals, are attracted to the warm colours and so very little fruit will develop cool colours. The only common green foods are plants that are either unripe or vegetative parts. There are some green fruit that are green simply because the never develop any other colour, so it’s a default. Blue however requires a specific pigment be produced, and that is unlikely to happen if nothing is attracted by the fruit ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2003, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-blue-food/190054/8 "2003-07-22T01:53:28Z")
This question has been asked before, **peter**. Take your pick… [Blue Food…?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=83148) [Why are there no BLUE food](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=8844) [Blue food, part two](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=8802) ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2003, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-blue-food/190054/9 "2003-07-22T01:59:13Z")
If you claim blueberries are purple, you’ve never actually _seen_ a [fresh blueberry](http://www.hesterfoods.com/pages/images/blueberry.gif). They are definitely blue, ranging from deep royal blue to navy. Some have a purplish tinge, but most are a shade of deep blue. They may turn purple when cooked, but who needs to cook blueberries? [Here’s another look.](http://www.alcasoft.com/winfrey/images/blueberry.jpg) And a [another](http://www.brunswick.k12.me.us/lon/lonlinks/forest/images/blueberry.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2003, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-blue-food/190054/10 "2003-07-22T02:08:24Z")
Web graphics are really bad cites for color accuracy. In any case, I have seen fresh ones, and they look more purplish than blue. Certainly not _that_ blue. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2003, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-blue-food/190054/11 "2003-07-22T02:19:09Z")
Working in a produce store, I can tell you as a matter of fact that while the outside of the blueberrie may well range from blue to purple (I’d say that Q.E.D. and RealityChuck are right). , the inside is NOT blue. It will stain your fingers a nice purplish color. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2003, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-blue-food/190054/12 "2003-07-22T02:20:53Z")
The blueberries I pick locally are THAT blue. Just like the pictures. They are by no means purple. They are BLUE. ---
**Author:** ![MikeG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikeg/32/4329_2.png) [@MikeG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeG)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2003, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-blue-food/190054/13 "2003-07-22T02:24:56Z")
I’ll back up **Athena** on that! When we would vacation in Grand Marais (In da UP, eh), there were scads of fresh blueberries growing wild around our campsite. They were a vivid shade of blue, no purple that I could see. OT; I’d kill for a good pastie, how is it that you cannot get one in Chicago where I can find almost any food 24/7??? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2003, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-blue-food/190054/14 "2003-07-22T02:33:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MikeG \* > **I’ll back up Athena on that! When we would vacation in Grand Marais (In da UP, eh), there were scads of fresh blueberries growing wild around our campsite. They were a vivid shade of blue, no purple that I could see.** There are different varieties of blueberry. The one most people relate to is the big blue one; however, there are smaller, purply ones also that grow wild. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2003, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-blue-food/190054/15 "2003-07-22T02:41:44Z")
There are lots of blue-colored fish, and people eat fish. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2003, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-blue-food/190054/16 "2003-07-22T03:04:24Z")
How about blue corn? ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2003, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-blue-food/190054/17 "2003-07-22T03:41:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MikeG \* > \*\* > OT; I’d kill for a good pastie, how is it that you cannot get one in Chicago where I can find almost any food 24/7??? \*\* pastY… pastY. Must spell it correctly! and FYI: there are plenty of places that ship them frozen. I used to get 'em when I lived in Colorado. I can hook ya up if ya want. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2003, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-blue-food/190054/18 "2003-07-22T04:18:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Joey P \* > \*\*Working in a produce store, I can tell you as a matter of fact that while the outside of the blueberrie may well range from blue to purple (I’d say that Q.E.D. and RealityChuck are right). , the inside is NOT blue. It will stain your fingers a nice purplish color. \*\* Yeah, but if you crush them up mix them into pancake batter, it turns a very definite shade of blue. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2003, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-blue-food/190054/19 "2003-07-22T05:21:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by peter morris \* > \*\*Apart from a few artificially coloured sweets and cakes, and even those are rare. As far as I can see, nothing edible for humans is naturally blue. I can think of examples of food of every other colour, bu8t not blue. > > Don’t say blue cheese, thats greeny-grey. \*\* Snozberries are Blue…I think… Stop throwing things at me. ---
**Author:** ![hyjyljyj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/0ea827/32.png) [@hyjyljyj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hyjyljyj)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2003, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-blue-food/190054/20 "2003-07-22T05:40:45Z")
I’ve been wondering now for about three decades how this question even came into being, when there’s a delicious food that is even NAMED for being blue. To me it’s the equivalent of asking, “How come there’s no _orange_ food?” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-blue-food/190054.md?page=2)