Food coloring is increasingly used in processing to make dishes more eye-catching and exciting for people to enjoy. However, do you know the safe classification of colorants and how to use them? Let’s take a look at the notes about food coloring with Green Starch.
Two groups of food coloring: Natural and Synthetic
Normally, food coloring will be divided into two large groups including natural coloring and synthetic coloring, with different characteristics and dosages.
Natural colorants
Extracted and processed from organic ingredients available in nature. This group is almost not harmful to users. However, the color fastness is poorer and the price is also much higher than synthetic colors.
Green group: Usually obtained from amaranth leaves, hemp leaves, and other green leafy vegetables. Concentrated with alkaline solution for 2 – 3 hours. You should only use 15mg/kg of body weight.
Red, purple, pink, and similar colors group: yam, grape skin extract, dosage 0.1mg/kg body weight
Orange yellow 1: Turmeric extract, dosage 0.1mg/kg body weight. Commonly found in the production of curry powder, mustard, soup powder, and other products.
Orange-yellow group 2: Obtained from fermented mushrooms, wheat germ, eggs, and animal liver. Dosage: 0.5mg/kg body weight. Often found in the production of dairy products, ice cream, cakes, candy, jam, etc.
Bright red group: Obtained from dried eggs and young of a red aphid insect. Dosage: 2.5mg/kg body weight. Used in the preparation of appetizers, cooked meats, and dairy products.
Dark brown group: Obtained by cooking sucrose at high temperatures. Dosage 100mg/kg body weight, commonly found in vinegar products, wine, beer…
Dark brown group: Obtained from black tea with unrestricted dosage. Used in many drinks, food, or candy products.
Chemical dyes
This type of food coloring is created by chemical reactions and has been tested to be non-toxic if used at permissible levels.
Yellow group: Used a lot in the production of confectionery, desserts, jams, caviar, cheese coating, and cooked meat. Dosage can range from 0.5mg – 7mg/kg body weight depending on the type
Red group: Often found in jams, syrup, soft drinks, caviar, wine… Dosage ranges from 0.5mg – 2.5mg/kg of body weight.
Blue group: Often used in the production of confectionery, jam, ice cream, syrup, canned foods… Dosage ranges from 2.5mg – 6mg/kg of body weight.
Black group: Often used in the production of confectionery, desserts, wine, and jam. Dosage: 1mg/kg body weight.
White group: Often found in fast food, sweets, toothpaste…
Notes when using
For safest and most effective use, you need to ensure compliance with the following conditions:
Do not buy the black market, products with unknown names and origins.
Only use dyes that have been tested and approved for use. Along with that, the colorant must have high purity.
Use the correct dosage.
It’s best to create your own natural color for long-term use.
Are food dyes toxic?
Currently, on the market, there are countless artificial colors with many designs, uses, origins, etc. And the question is whether these food colors are toxic or not. Let’s learn with Green Starch about useful information about this colorant.
Uses
Used in food processing as an additive to create or improve the color of dishes. Therefore, it helps increase attractiveness. At the same time, the beauty of the dish’s appearance also helps increase the user’s appetite.
If used too much, in the wrong dosage, of unknown origin, etc., that colorant will be the cause of many dangerous diseases, even leading to the risk of death for the user.
Source
Currently, food coloring is divided into two main types including:
Natural food coloring: Extracted from naturally occurring organic ingredients including plants and animals. Eg:
Red: Usually extracted from amaranth, gac fruit, tomatoes, red peppers,…
Yellow: Usually extracted from turmeric, gardenia seeds,…
Purple: Usually extracted from sour hibiscus flowers, grape skins, mulberry fruits, ginseng, and onion,…
Green color: extracted from bamboo leaves, pandan leaves, fragrant leaves, spinach,…
Natural crab bricks will create a very beautiful red-brown color,…
Advantages of natural dyes: Because they are extracted from organic ingredients, they are almost safe for your health if you preserve them properly and are very easy to use.
Disadvantages of natural dyes: The colors are not diverse, the usage time is short, it is difficult to preserve and the color fastness is poor, so large doses must be used to get the desired color, so the cost is quite high.
Artificial food coloring: Made from petroleum as well as chemically synthesized compounds.
Advantages: Long shelf life. Easy to preserve, diverse, and eye-catching colors.
Disadvantages: Most of these dyes can easily cause poisoning if not used in the correct dosage as well as using products that are not guaranteed, of unknown origin, etc.
Where to buy food coloring?
Currently, there are many types on the market, diverse in the form of liquid, gel, or powder. You can easily find and buy food coloring in any place such as supermarkets, grocery stores, baking shops, markets,…
As for natural food coloring, you can also easily prepare it in your small, beautiful kitchen.
However, for artificial food coloring, you should buy it at large stores with clear brands, origins, and sources.
What kind of food coloring is good?
Not all artificial food coloring causes poisoning or adverse health effects. Artificial food coloring from big brands such as Americolor, Avia, and Wilton are all made from safe ingredients and have a permissible level of toxic substances.
These products are easily excreted by the body after absorption. In particular, it does not degrade, decompose, or cause chemical reactions during processing. Let’s learn with Green Starch about information about these famous food colorings.
Americolor
A food coloring brand originating from the US. Very popular in preparing delicious dishes and desserts. Made from ingredients that are safe for health and will not cause poisoning if you accidentally use too much. Americolor food color in liquid form is the company’s most prominent product.
Advantage:
Easy to use: you just need to add a few drops of the product to any ingredient from flour, cream, water, condensed milk, etc. Use chopsticks, hands, or an egg beater to instantly create a mixture of ingredients with beautiful cassava color.
Additionally, you can mix different types of Americolor food coloring to create your favorite color.
Americolor food coloring is quite light, so you can easily adjust the different thicknesses for the dish.
However, this is also the weakness of this type of product because creating bold, bold colors will be quite expensive.
Avia
It is a food coloring brand produced in Vietnam with affordable prices and safety, so it is very popular. The product is produced with many diverse designs such as watercolor, gel color, …
Designed in a bottle with a smart spray nozzle so it is very easy to use. You just need to tilt the bottle, squeeze it gently, and start shaping it to your liking. All products have been tested for safety by the Vietnam Ministry of Health and licensed for nationwide circulation.
The only disadvantage of Avia food coloring is that it cannot be mixed together to create other diverse colors.
Wilton
Wilton is a famous American food coloring, extracted in a thick gel form. The product includes safe ingredients for health such as water, glucose, glycerin, and corn syrup. Suitable for coloring desserts such as cake decoration cream, bread, sponge cake, areca jelly,…
Wilton food coloring has a concentrated color. In particular, the product is very durable and does not lose color during processing.
Besides, it also has some minor flaws as follows:
You have to use a small stick to get the color and it is difficult to dissolve into hard powder materials.
The product has a dense texture so it is difficult to mix evenly and small lithium color particles can easily appear.
That is some basic information about food coloring that Green Starch wishes to convey to you. Hopefully, you will have the right view of food coloring and how to use it properly in processing to ensure everyone’s general health!
Reference source: Unilever Vietnam
