The colour of your food plays a key role which should stimulate the consumer’s appetite. Right?
Now imagine eating or drinking something that is dull and has no appeal, no vibrancy, and is not appetising or attractive… Therefore, colour is often the first element you will notice in the appearance of a food product.
You, as a consumer, will not want to buy an inferior product. That is why the food we eat, or drink would not look appealing if there was not significant food colouring involved…
Hence people all over the Globe are using food colours. Colours impart appeal and create attractive consumables. Adding colours to food stimulates both episodic (easily retrievable memories) and semantic (unrelated to a specific memory).
But have you ever wondered what are Food colours?
Food Colours or colour additives, as it is otherwise known, are any dye, pigment, or substance that adds colour. These colours are added to food, beverages, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, home, personal care & other industries. Food Colours come in a variety of forms which include powders, gels, pastes, and liquids.
Food colours are classified into two types, Natural and Synthetic, which are also commonly known as artificial colours.
Natural food colours are any dye, pigment, or any other substance obtained from vegetables, animals, minerals that can colour foods. Colours come from a variety of sources, like plants, seeds, fruits, vegetables, algae, and insects.
Synthetic food colours are a result of various chemical reactions.
Synthetic food colours vary, and they are Primary Powdered Colours, Blended Powdered Colours, and Lake Powdered colours. This segregation of colours is purely based on their solubility.
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Primary Food colours are non-toxic and water-soluble.
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Blended Food Colours are a mixture of two or more water-soluble food colouring agents.
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Lake colours are oil-soluble colours which can be mixed with fats, oils, etc.
Common Name |
E. C No. |
Brilliant Blue |
E 133 |
Carmoisine |
E 122 |
Brown HT |
E 155 |
Erythrosine |
E 127 |
Ponceau 4R |
E 124 |
Quinoline Yellow |
E 104 |
Sunset Yellow |
E 110 |
Tartrazine |
E 102 |
