Color additives have long been used in the food, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical industries. Food coloring is a term that refers to a variety of dyes, pigments, and other additions that denotes the freshness, high purity, safety, and aesthetic value of a food. It has a direct impact on the market value of colored food products. Colors in cosmetics may improve one’s overall appearance, hide imperfections, and define features, making them appear healthier and more rejuvenated. In cosmetic applications such as lipsticks, foundations, eye makeup, blushes, etc., the colors are an active element for makeup. Medications and capsules come in a variety of colors to make it easier for consumers to distinguish one pill from another and between prescription and non-prescription drugs.
Due to the omnipresence of edible colors in items for daily consumption and usage, leading food regulatory bodies throughout the globe, including JECFA and country-specific regulators from the USA, Europe, Japan, China, and India, have precise standards and limitations for the use of color content in food items to prevent any harmful implications on humans. When it comes to food, medicine, and cosmetic colors, it’s vital to verify their source, safety, and appropriateness before utilizing them. Likewise, the producers of such colors should ensure that only the safest goods are produced and sold.
Choosing the correct colorants for your food product is crucial if you want to attract more customers. The following are a few tips to help you select the right colors for your items and your company.
Understanding the psychology behind food coloring – To maximize the impact of color and food pairings, emotional links to the taste must be considered. Fast-food chains, for example, favor the color red, followed by yellow and orange. When individuals see yellow or orange, they get a feeling of being famished. Red is a color linked with passion and emotion. Natural, organic, and eco-friendly foods are often associated with green and earthy tones. These hues are attractive to health-conscious individuals.
Alignment with packaging and branding – When it comes to product packaging, food has the extra benefit of conjuring up flavor and fragrance and memories and sentiments, so make use of this to create a solid emotional connection with the consumer. Whenever possible, the package colors should correspond to the product’s flavor. When your product, be it an edible item or some cosmetic item, is displayed on the retail shelf, it only has a 2–3 second window in front of consumers. As much as possible, reinforce flavor aesthetically to arouse the senses, even subliminally.
Selecting the right medicine color with purpose – Pills and liquid medications come in a variety of colors. Patients frequently respond to the color of the drug, as blue represents deep slumber at night and vibrant red represents rapid recovery from any disease. When all tablets have the same size, color, and form, older people frequently become confused. Furthermore, brightly colored drugs make people who have been suffering for a long time feel happy with the addition of colors to their lives, even if the colorful things are tablets. Colors in medicine appeal to emotions while also significantly reducing the likelihood of medical mistakes.
Providing stability to your product – When employed in tablet coatings or gelatin shells, certain insoluble hues or pigments provide beneficial opacity, contributing to the strength of light-sensitive active components in the tablet or capsule formulation. It is also true for various food items like beverages and cosmetics. Pigments such as iron oxides, titanium dioxide, and certain aluminum lakes are beneficial for stabilizing the active ingredients, increasing the shelf life and efficacy of your product.
Understanding of Regulatory Environment – Check with your local legislative bodies before choosing a color for your products. Regulating agencies identify colorants exempt from certification, authorized colorants, approved colorants with quantitative restrictions, and prohibited coloring agents. The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) in the US regulates the use of color additives in drugs, food, and cosmetics. Food colors are also evaluated for safety by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in Europe and the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) in India.
Chemical characteristics of the color – This is one of the most significant aspects to consider while choosing a color. There are several elements to consider for cosmetics colors, such as the average percent of dye, mass tone and tint tone, organic or inorganic pigments, dispensable in Barium, Aluminum, or Calcium lakes water-soluble, and so on. For food colors, you need to consider the solubility of the coloring pigment, the temperature ranges, low impurities, and the status of approval in various countries.
Selecting colors with high-Quality Standards – Low impurity Food color can prevent allergy responses in certain adults and hyperactivity in sensitive youngsters. Some color additives may also include toxicologically hazardous contaminants, such as carcinogenic components. These contaminants enter the process when colors are combined or chemically changed with other substances throughout the production process. It is thus critical to choose the proper and trusted manufacturing partner, one with a track record of sustaining and providing high purity products with impeccable quality standards.
Evaluating the nature of the origin of the color – You must determine what sort of food color to use in your product, which is frequently related to the perception of your brand. Colors are classified into two kinds based on their origin: natural and synthetic. Natural food color refers to any dye, pigment, or other material derived from a vegetable or mineral that can be used to color foods or medicines. Synthetic food colors are also referred to as artificial colors. These are produced by a chemical reaction and are widely utilized in the food and pharmaceutical sectors.
Availability of Supplier ecosystem to deliver your color of choice – Before finalizing the color, you should first evaluate the supplier and manufacturing ecosystem preparedness. The provider you choose to offer you with stock in your preferred color should be able to deliver at a cheap cost without sacrificing quality. They should supply high-purity pigments. Your supplier should have a significant amount of industry expertise and excellent R&D capabilities to ensure ongoing colorant innovation.
Availability of color around the globe – “One World One Quality” – If you are doing your business globally, you should first consider colors that can be developed and used for your product easily in any region of your global business operations. Thus, it’s prudent to select the right color for your product which can be procured from manufacturers who can deliver on time and in the best quality across the globe. It will help you formulate and produce high purity, great consumable or cosmetic items for the world market.
Thus, colors and dyes serve a variety of functions. Their significance extends beyond generic aesthetics. As a result, you should choose a best-in-class manufacturer of food colors such as Neelikon Food Dyes and Chemicals Ltd, who can supply you with a plethora of alternatives while keeping you well inside the limitations imposed by food safety authorities. Your manufacturing partner should be able to supply your preferred color at the highest possible quality, low impurity content, and best pricing option and assist you in expanding your business internationally.
