Natural food and beverage colourings - Natural Food Additives, Ingredients and Flavourings - page 37

of processing and shelf storage conditions make it a robust choice for a red colour.
Carmine will however 'de-lake' at low pH (typically pH 3.5 and below). Under
these conditions the red shade is replaced by a weaker orange shade and a black
precipitate can form. Acid-stable formulations are available from the major
natural colour companies but these tend not to give the clear colour in application.

2.3 Conclusions
Increasingly, consumer-driven trends in the market place have expanded the use
of natural ingredients including colours. Although the colours covered in this
chapter are natural they still have 'E' numbers, and as such are approved and their
use levels in each application governed by the European Commission.
Natural colours are extracted and produced from a diverse range of sources,
often with a long history of use. From this follows their wide range of characteristics
as food colours where seemingly no patterns exist. For example some colours
such as the carotenoids are stabilised by vitamin C whereas anthocyanins react to
form a brown colour. The role of emulsifi ers within some colour formulations, the
use of anti-oxidants and impact of metal ions also have to be considered on a case-
by-case basis.
Potential users of natural colours can take faith from the diverse range of fi nal
products in the market place that contain natural colours and the availability of the
experience necessary to understand and successfully introduce the correct natural
colour to deliver the required shade. Although across the range of natural colours
the characteristics may differ, within one pigment type they are constant and are
both known and understood. Partnering an appropriate supplier or expert will
ensure that the best coloured fi nal food or drink is achieved.

2.4 References
1 EC (1994), 'European Parliament and Council Directive 94/36/EC of 30 June 1994 on
colours for use in foodstuffs', Offi cial Journal of the European Communities , L237 ,
13 - 29 .
2 WANG Y , ZHAOXIN L , FENGXIA L and XIAOMEI B ( 2009 ), ' Study on microencapsulation of
curcumin pigments by spray drying', European Food Research and Technology , 229 ,
3 , 391 - 396 .
3 EC (2008), 'Commission Directive 2008/128/EC laying down specifi c purity criteria
concerning colours for use in foodstuffs', Offi cial Journal of the European Union , L6 ,
20 - 63 .
4 CONSTANT P B L , STRINGHETA P C and SANDI D ( 2003 ), ' Colorantes alimentícios ', Bol.
CEPPA , 20 , 203 - 220 .
5 LOVERA J R ( 2005 ), Food Culture in South America , Greenwood Publishing Group ,
Westport, CT .
6 EDWARDS W P ( 2000 ), The Science of Sugar Confectionery , Royal Society of Chemistry,
Cambridge, p. 73 .
7 GHOSH D and KONISHI T (2007), 'Anthocyanins and anthocyanin-rich extracts: Role in
diabetes and eye function', Asia Pacifi c Journal of Clinical Nutrition , 16 , 2 , 200 - 208 .

￿ ￿ ￿ ￿ ￿