Synthetic Food Colours – Things You Should Know
Synthetic food colours are one variety of food colours which are primarily classified as water soluble dyes and food lakes or water insoluble colours.
In the following sections we will look at these two classifications of synthetic food colours and other details about synthetic food colors in general.
- Water Soluble Dyes: These dyes are type of food colors which are normally dissolved in water before being applied to any food product. Water soluble dyes are hygroscopic and moisture absorption could be prevented if they are re-sealed after every use.
- Lakes or Water Insoluble Colours: The insoluble form of various water soluble dyes is called as lakes. The method of applying these colours is by dispersing them over the food which is to be coloured.
More about Synthetic Food Colours
Now let us look at some of the things in general about synthetic food colours such as their storage conditions, solubility and shelf life.
Synthetic Food Colours – Storage Conditions & Shelf Life
These colours remain stable for several years if they are kept in their sealed containers. They should also be kept in dry as well as cool conditions and well protected from sunlight to increase their shelf life. The packaging used for storing these food colours are polythene liners and are subsequently kept in fiber, paper box or HDPE drums.
Regarding their shelf life, as these colours are stable organic compounds, they have relatively longer shelf life than natural colours.
Solubility
Solubility of any water soluble food colour is calculated as:
Total quantity of any colour which shows solubility in any particular volume of water (of temperature 28OC) is known as solubility of that particular synthetic food colour. The common norm is to express solubility in percentage like, grams/liter or as grams/100 milliters.
A Final Note
Finally, we would like to tell that before any synthetic food color is approved for use few parameters are tested to make sure it can be used in foods, these parameters are; water insoluble matters, pure dye content, dye impurities, ether extracts and heavy metal contents like Mercury, Cadmium, Lead and Arsenic.
As an expert author Peter Hogg provides valuable information about food lakes and how trends are changing in the food colours industry.
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