Food Colours

The colour of food is an integral part of our culture and enjoyment of life. Even early civilizations such as the Romans recognized that people “eat with their eyes” as well as their palates. Saffron and other spices were often used to provide a rich yellow colour to various foods. Butter has been coloured yellow as far back as the 1300’s.

We provide Food Dye. Today, all food colour additives are carefully regulated by authorities to ensure that foods are safe to eat and accurately labeled.

Why are Colour Additives Used in Foods?

Colour is an important property of foods that adds to our enjoyment of eating. Nature teaches is early to expect certain colours in certain foods, and our future acceptance of foods is highly dependent on meeting these expectations.

Colour variation in foods throughout the seasons and the effects of food processing and storage often require that manufacturers add colour to certain foods to meet consumer expectations. The primary reasons of adding colours to foods include:

  • To offset colour loss due to exposure to light, air, extremes of temperature, moisture and storage conditions.
  • To correct natural variations in colour. Off-coloured foods are often incorrectly associated with inferior quality. For example, some tree-ripened oranges are often sprayed with Citrus Red No.2 to correct the natural orangy-brown or mottled green colour of their peels (Masking inferior quality, however, is an unacceptable use of colours.)
  • To enhance colours that occur naturally but at levels weaker than those usually associated with a given food.
  • To provide a colourful identity to foods that would otherwise be virtually colourless. Red colours provide a pleasant identity to strawberry ice while lime sherbet is known by its bright green colour.
  • To provide a colourful appearance to certain “fun foods.” Many candies and holiday treats are coloured to create a festive appearance.
  • To protect flavours and vitamins that may be affected by sunlight during storage.
  • To provide an appealing variety of wholesome and nutritious foods that meet consumers’ demands.
On CottonFood ColoursFD & C.NoColour Index ReferenceTotal Dye Con.Volatile MatterSolubility In Water (20℃)Light Stabi- lityHeat Stability (100℃)Alkali StabilitySubsidiary Dyes (Max)Dyes Intermediate (Max)
 
TartrazineYellow 5Yellow 485%15%120 gram/litre6541.00%0.50%
 
Sunset Yellow
FCF
Yellow 6Yellow 385%15%120 gram/litre4545.00%0.50%
 
Carmoisine-Red 385%15%120 gram/litre5441.00%0.50%
 
Ponceau 4R-Red 782%18%120 gram/litre4531.00%0.50%
 
AmaranthRed 2Red 985%15%120 gram/litre4543.00%0.50%
 
Allura RedRed 40Red 1785%15%120 gram/litre4543.00%1.50%
 
Chocolate Brown HT-Brown 370%30%120 gram/litre45410.00%0.70%
 
Quinoline Yellow WSYellow 10Yellow 1370%30%120 gram/litre5444.00%0.50%
 
Brilliant Blue FCFBlue 1Blue 285%15%120 gram/litre6556.00%1.80%
 
Indigi CarmineBlue 2Blue 185%15%120 gram/litre3531.00%0.50%
 
ErythorsineRed 3Red 1487%13%120 gram/litre3534.00%0.50%
 
Patent Blue VBlue 3Blue 585%-120 gram/litre4532.00%0.50%
 
Red 2G S-Red 1080%20%120 gram/litre4532.00%0.50%
 
Black PN-Black 180%20%120 gram/litre4534.00%0.50%