Food coloring

Food additives are used to protect food, increase quality and extend shelf life in many stages, from production to consumption of food. Additives used in the food industry are added to the food during preparation, production, packaging and storage stages.

Color may be considered one of the most impressive and delightful attributes of foodstuffs, which directly influences preference, selection and eating desires of the consumers. To maintain or simply restore product color uniformity, coloring agents are intentionally added to food products. Thus, these agents belong to the food additive category of compounds

Color is one of the most significant factors that directly affects consumers' food choice and eating desires. Color is a visual feature that arises from the spectral distribution of the light. From a chemistry perspective, food coloring agents share the property to absorb light due to the conjugated double bonds they contain, creating a delocalized electron system. The number of conjugated double bonds is indicative of the wavelength of the absorbed light.

The formation of light occurs from the interaction of matter and light, and humans see wavelengths between 380-770 nm.

According to FDA, a food colorant is “any dye, pigment or substance which when added or applied to a food, drug or cosmetic, or to the human body, is capable (alone or through reactions with other substances) of imparting color”

FDA regulations require certified and exempt colors to be declared as “artificial color” or “artificial coloring” on the food labels.

It has been shown that the influence of color on food acceptability, choice, and preference comes more from education than any inherent psychophysical characteristics. Considering that:
*the brain associates color with flavor,
*the initial food perception occurs within the first 90 s of observation, and
*approximately 75% of the assessment is based on color, it is clear that if food color differs from the consumer’s expectation, flavor identification is decreased.

Two types of colorants:
Natural colorants
Synthetic colorants

Synthetic certified colors remain the most popular type of food colorings, as they are brighter, more uniform, better characterized, and of higher tinctorial strength, encompass a wider range of hues, and are less expensive than colors derived from nature.

Today, due to the development of the food industry, the need to colorize food products has increased for various reasons. The Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) defines colorants as substances added to color food or to correct the color of the food.
Food coloring

Protection against food spoilage

Microorganisms can grow and multiply in all sorts of environments, which cause food spoilage problems. They change flavors and textures, and may produce toxic materials.

The microorganisms themselves may cause human disease. Although foods can be sterilized (as by heat processing)and contained in such a way as to prevent contamination by microbes during storage, it still is often necessary in some cases to forego sterilization, thus making it necessary to take other steps to prevent microbial degradation of the food.

Foods can be protected against microbial attack for long periods (months to years) by holding them at temperatures below freezing. They can be preserved for shorter periods by several days by holding them in ice or in a refrigerator at temperatures in the range 32 – 46 F (0 – 7.8 C).

Foods can also be preserved by altering them to make them incapable of supporting microbial growth. Drying is an example of this type of preservation. Food must be preserved against color and texture changes.

Quite often it is either impossible or undesirable to employ conventional preservation methods, and a large variety of food additives is available for use, alone or in combination with other additives or with mild forms of concentrations 0f 0.1% or less.

Sometimes, radiation has been experimented upon as a means of preventing microbial spoilage of food. Electric energy, radiowave, etc are known to kill microorganisms. Ionizing radiations such as alpha, beta, X-rays and ultraviolet rays have also been tried for the purpose.

Sodium diacetate and sodium or calcium propionate are used in breads to prevent mold growth and the development of bacteria that may produce a slimy material known as rope. Sorbic acid and its salts may be used in bakery products, cheeses, syrups, and pie fillings to prevent mold growth.

Sulfur dioxide is used to prevent browning in certain dried fruits and to prevent wild yeast growth in wines used to make vinegar. Benzoic acid and sodium benzoate may be used to inhibit mold and bacterial growth in some fruit juices, oleomargarines, pickles, and condiments. It also be noted that benzoic acid is a natural component of cranberries.

Mould spoilage of bread is generally prevented by the addition of food grade preservatives such as propionic, sorbic and acetic acids and their salts.

Aeration plays a major role in food spoilage. By creating anaerobic conditions, the action of spoilage organism may be reduced, Complete evacuation of air or replacement or air with CO2 or nitrogen may help in preventing the action of microorganisms. But some of the anaerobic organisms, if present, may become more virulent and cause damage to the food products.
Protection against food spoilage

Food additive and safety

The food additive are used to preserve the quality of the food and maintain its appeal and at times tor restore diminished nutritional value.

A large number of chemical additives are familiar, and there is a need for regulatory agencies to question their use from stand point of safety.

Estimates are that 2000-20,000 agents are added to the food that currently consumes. These includes preservatives, stabilizers, conditioners, thickeners, colorings, flavorings, sweeteners and antioxidants.

We should not fear the use of chemicals, but we do need to screen them for safety when their effects on human health are not known. Some lessons have been learned along these lines.

Today food additive are regulated more tightly than at any other time in history with safety as the primary goal.

For example, indiscreet use of certain additives used for coloring candy and popcorn was reported to have caused diarrhea in children resulting in the removal of these dyes from the FDA approved list of additives.

The FDA sets safety standards, determining whether a substance is safe for its intended use. If it’s found to be safe, the FDA decides what types of foods the additive may be used in, in what amounts and how it must be indicated on a food label.

There are a number if related ideas that must be remembered when dealing with food additives:

*All food are composed of chemical compounds, many of which can be extracted and added to other foods, in which case they are classified as additives.

*Any particular or chemical compound can be injuries to health when particularly high levels of that compound are added to foods.

*Any additives or chemical compound can be safe to use when particularly low levels of that compound are added to foods.

*A food or color additive must provide convincing evidence that proposed additive performs as it is intended.

*It is necessary to evaluate each additive including microcapsules for its usefulness and toxicity in a sensible, scientific way, regardless of how safe its proponents say it is and how toxic its opponents say it is.

The key difference between a food additive and adulterant is consent and approval. Both food additives and adulterants are avoidable substances but a food additive is legally allowed to be part of foods if the proper conditions of its use are followed.

Food additive and safety