HCMC INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF BIOTECHNOLOGY

REPORT
INTRODUCTION TO FOOD SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Food Color Chemistry

Group’s members:

1. Lê Thanh Bảo Ngọc _ BTFTIU17065

2. Đinh Anh Quân _ BTFTIU17052
3. Lê Quang Thông _ BTFTIU17067

Instructor: Dr. Nguyễn Vũ Hồng Hà

Date of submission:14/06/2020

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 Contents

I. INTRODUCTION: ....................................................2

II. NATURAL FOOD COLORING:..............................2

III. ARTIFICIAL FOOD COLORING: ...........................3

IV. ROLE OF FOOD COLOR: .......................................2

V. COMPARISON: ........................................................3

VI. CONCLUSION: ........................................................4

VII. REFERENCES: .........................................................4

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I. INTRODUCTION:
Food coloring is any dye, pigment or substance that imparts color when it is added to food or
drink
They have 4 forms: liquid, power, gel, and paste.
They are divided into 2 types: Natural food coloring and Artificial food coloring

II. NATURAL FOOD COLORING:

Natural food colors originate from a wide range of sources like vegetables, fruits, plants,
minerals and other edible natural sources. They impart color when added to food or drink.
Natural food colors are preparations obtained from foods and other edible natural source
materials obtained by physical and/or chemical extraction resulting in a selective extraction of
the pigments relative to the nutritive or aromatic constituents. They have been used for centuries
to color food.
Some of the most common ones are carotenoids, chlorophylls, anthocyanins, turmeric, and
carminic acids
- Carotenoids: Carotenoids have a deep red, yellow, or orange color. There are many types of
carotenoids but probably the most common carotenoid is beta-carotene, which is responsible for
the bright orange color of sweet potatoes and pumpkins. Since beta-carotene is soluble in fat, it is
a great choice for coloring dairy products, which typically have a high fat content. So, beta-
carotene is often added to margarine and cheese.
- Chlorophylls: Chlorophyll is another natural pigment, found in all green plants. This molecule
absorbs sunlight and uses its energy to synthesize carbohydrates from carbon dioxide and water.
This process is known as photosynthesis and is the basis of life on Earth. Mint- or lime-flavored
foods, such as candy and ice cream, are sometimes colored using chlorophyll.
- Anthocyanins: The best natural source for deep purple and blue colors is anthocyanin. Grapes,
blueberries, and cranberries owe their rich color to this organic compound. Anthocyanins, which
form a class of similar compounds rather than a single chemical compound are soluble in water.
So, they can be used to color water-based products. They are used for blue corn chips, brightly
colored soft drinks, and jelly are often dyed with anthocyanins.
- Turmeric: Turmeric, which is added to impart a deep yellow color. Turmeric is obtained from
the underground stem of a plant that grows in India, and it is commonly used as a spice in Indian
food. Turmeric is also a great acid/base indicator. If you add a basic substance to mustard, it will
turn red. Its pigment, curcumin, is oil soluble and tends to fade in light, but has good heat
stability. Its applications include pickles, soup and confectionery.
- Carminic acids: The water – soluble red pigment carminic acid (carmine) is derived from the
female cochineal insect. Introduced into Europe via the Aztecs it has the advantage of being

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stable when exposed to heat, light, and oxygen. Uses include alcoholic beverages and processed
meat products.
Advantages and Disadvantages:
Natural food coloring help to make flavor of food, increase nutritional value of food, and affect
positive for health because they extract from natural food, which contain many vitamin, mineral,
special characteristic. Moreover, their waste not only safety for environment but also improve
the quality of soil. However, they have some disadvantages. They need large of number of foods
to produce, so they are very expensive. Additionally, they are very sensitive with environment
therefore they need to storage in appreciate temperature, avoid sunlight and mold.

III. ARTIFICIAL FOOD COLORING:

It also known as Synthetic food colors, are manufacture chemically and are the most used dyes in
the food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. There are two types of artificial food color:
- Primary food colors are those when they are mixed produce other color
• E 104 (quinoline yellow) • E 127 (Erythrosine)
• E 102 (tartrazine) • E 124 (Ponceau 4R)
• E 110 (sunset yellow FCF) • E 131 (Patent blue V)
• E 129 (Allura red) • E 132 (Indigo carmine)
• E 122 (Carmoisine) • E 151 (Black PN)
• E 123 (Amaranth) • E 142 (Green S)
• E 155 (Chocolate brown ht) • E 128 (Red 2G)
• E 133 (brilliant blue FCF)
- Blended food colors which are prepared from mixing of previously certified batches of primary
colors
• VC 10 (egg yellow) • VC 18 (coffee brown)
• VC 11 (yolk yellow) • VC 19 (chocolate brown)
• VC 12 (orange red) • VC 20 (dark chocolate)
• VC 13 (strawberry red) • VC 21 (lime green)
• VC 14 (rose pink) • VC 22 (apple green)
• VC 15 (raspberry red) • VC 23 (pea green)
• VC 16 (grape) • VC 24 (black currant)
• VC 17 (violet)
In the developing world today, there are more and more new types of food coloring appear,
especially artificial ones. However, through many studies and research, they found several
negative effects in these components, so health organizations were established to regulate the
amount of concentration can be added into the food products. Each country has its own laws and
regulations about the amount of added food color and which types of them can be used in many
aspects also the limitation of intake. According to European Food Safety and Authority (EFSA)

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and Food and Drug Administration (FDA), these following artificial food coloring are approved
and can be used:
- Blue No. 1 (Brilliant Blue): A greenish-blue dye used in ice cream, canned peas,
packaged soups, popsicles and icings.
- Blue No. 2 (Indigo Carmine): A royal blue dye found in candy, ice cream, cereal and
snacks.
- Green No. 3 (Fast Green FCF): A food, drug and cosmetic synthetic dye with an
aquamarine color
- Red No. 3 (Erythrosine): A cherry-red coloring commonly used in candy, popsicles and
cake-decorating gels.
- Red No. 40 (Allura Red): A dark red dye that is used in sports drinks, candy, condiments
and cereals.
- Yellow No. 5 (Tartrazine): A lemon-yellow dye that is found in candy, soft drinks, chips,
popcorn and cereals.
- Yellow No. 6 (Sunset Yellow): An orange-yellow dye that is used in candy, sauces,
baked goods and preserved fruits.
Advantages and Disadvantages:
Artificial food coloring may act as antioxidants. Also, it can make the food more acidic, reduce
the moisture content in the product, slow down the ripening process, prevent the growth of
microorganisms, prolong the shelf life of the foods. However, artificial food coloring may bring
some negative effects such as causing allergies to some heavy metallic colours that can be
carcinogenic or cancer-causing. Food colours are used in excessive amounts to give the food a
nice colours, which may be harmful. Moreover, it can even destroy the nutrients in the food
because of their chemical composition. Finally, they can be harmful to the environment

IV. ROLE OF FOOD COLOR:

1. Purposes:
As mentioned before, food coloring can be used for many different purposes. Firstly, adding it to
make food more attractive, appetizing, eye-catching and delicious. Also, food dyes are added to
remain the natural color of the products and revive the discoloration by intrinsic and extrinsic
factors such as temperature, light, moisture content, air, storage condition, … For some specific
products, they have the significant appearance, so food coloring can create a characteristic look,
so we can easily identify such as the flavor of the products. Moreover, to provide variety of
wholesome and nutritious food that meet customer’s demand, also improve or maintain the
nutritional value of foods, food colorants are considerly added.
2. Applications:
a) Dairy products and confectionery:
They are used to create wide range of colors used in bakeries (biscuits, cookies, cake pastries,
cake mixes, …) and the production of confectionery items (jellies, chewing gum, cream). These
colors possess high quality, harmless and purity levels. Some examples such as annatto extract

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which can be extracted from a tropical tree seed, and then added to cheese to form the yellow
colour.
b) Meat and poultry products:
These colours provide the color of meat and make them more delicious. Furthermore, the most
important thing in food colors is heat resistance. Example for this application is FD&C Red No.
40 which is mentioned before, it can be used in meats, sausages and hot dogs.
c) Beverages:
They provide drinks color used in the production of cold drinks, juice, dry mixes and so on.
These colors must be preserved in proper packaging to keep their purity and composition for a
long time. In cola and beer products, producer usually caramelize sugar to bring caramel coloring.
Turmeric has stability toward light exposure, extend shelf life to food products and bring bright
lemon-yellow color.
d) Other applications:
Colors additive can also be used in cosmetic and pharmaceutical aspect. For cosmetics, it can
provide the colors used in the production of lipstick, nail polish where lake colors are mainly
used. Whereas in pharmaceutical, colors are available in different types such as injections, tablets,
mouth wash, gels, … These colors are ideal for coloring products including fats, oils or items
lacking sufficiency moisture to dissolve dyes.

V. COMPARISON:
a) Advantages

NATURAL FOOD COLORS ARTIFICIAL FOOD COLORS

Natural food colors give minimal
environmental impact because of their natural
sources (vegetables, fruits, plants,…)
Natural food colors are made from renewable
sources
Natural food colors can create soft hue or
soothing shade (pastel color)
Natural food colors are safe for human health.
Moreover, some natural food colors also have
positive health effects (Anthocyanin help to
boost cardiovascular strength)
Artificial food colors are consistent quality and
greater purity than natural food colors
Artificial food colors are easy to use
Artificial food colors can be produced more
economically
Artificial food colors have desirable sensory
results
Artificial food colors are always available to
produce

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 b) Disadvantages

NATURAL FOOD COLORS ARTIFICIAL FOOD COLORS

Natural food colors are fade quickly since they Artificial food colors can cause allergies
are sensitive to pH, light, presence of oxygen which can turn to some cancers

It is high cost to produce natural food colors With excessive amounts artificial can be
because we need lots of raw material to make harmful to both human health and
small amounts of color environment

Natural food colors are difficult to produce Artificial food colors can destroy nutrients in
food because their making processing almost
remove or destroy important nutrients

VI. CONCLUSION:
Food coloring is now very popular in food industry to make foods more attractive, appealing,
appetizing, and informative. There are two types of food coloring: Natural and Artificial food
colors, both have their own advantages and disadvantages so based on what purpose of using,
there are many applications for 2 types of food coloring above. In food industry, food coloring
can act as many roles in different kind of food: provide colors in dairy products and
confectionary, meat and poultry products, beverages; help in extend shelf-life in beverages. To
sum up, food coloring is still being researched and developed to bring consumers the best quality,
outlooking, friendly product as much as possible.

VII. REFERENCES:
• A. Larry Branen, P. Michael Davidson, Seppo Salminen (Nov 2001) Food Additives
Second Edition Revised and Expanded

• Jain J L, Biochemistry, 1st ed (S Chand & Company Ltd., New Delhi) 1979, 197- 224

• Jose Luis Caivano and Maria del Pilar Buera, (2012), Color in Food: Technological and
Psychophysical Aspects,1st Edition

• Matthew Attokaran (2011) Natural Food Flavors and Colorant

• U.S. Food and Drug Administration (Nov 2004) Overview of Food Ingredients, Additives
and Colors