Comparison of Edible Synthetic Colors and Edible Natural Colors
(i) Synthetic food coloring
With the rapid development of the chemical industry in the past hundred years, synthetic colorants have been widely used due to the following advantages:
① bright colors ② stable properties ③ high firmness
③ high firmness ④ arbitrary mixing ⑤ low cost ⑥ easy to use
Since there is a great debate on synthetic colorants and the regulations of each country are often modified, it is crucial to grasp the use of synthetic colorants in each country for the food trade.
(ii) Edible Natural Colors
Natural colorants have a long history of use. Natural products give people a sense of security, and there is a great deal of interest in natural coloring.
There are over 2,000 species of colored non-toxic plants in nature with a wide variety of colors.
Natural coloring:
① Stable to light, heat and oxidation
② not easily affected by metal ions or other chemicals
③ harmless to the human body
Advantages of eating natural coloring:
① Generally speaking, the safety is higher than consuming synthetic colorings;
② Some kinds are nutrients themselves (such as -carotene), or have certain pharmacological effects (peanut coat red, mulberry red, etc.);
(iii) The imitation of the color of natural substances and the naturalness of the coloring chromatogram is better.
Disadvantages of eating natural coloring:
① poorer dyeing, firmness, in the processing and circulation process is susceptible to external influences;
② poor color mixing, poor solubility of different pigments, it is difficult to mix any color;
③ product differences. Due to different raw materials, origin or processing methods, the production of the same variety of colorants, in the composition, nature is difficult to be completely consistent. Such as chlorophyll extracted from vegetables and sand from silkworms, in the chromatography of certain differences, the reason lies in the maximum absorption wavelength of the two chlorophyll (lmax) is different.
After extraction, purification and other processing of pigment products, may be in the nature and chemical structure of the change, so the natural products itself does not guarantee absolute safety. Accordingly, our country stipulates:
Toxicological test is not required: no change in the chemical structure during the production process and the concentration of the natural pigments used does not exceed the original state.
Toxicological evaluation is required: natural pigments whose concentration is greater than the original state or whose chemical structure has been changed in the production process.
The pigment products obtained after extraction, purification and other processing may change in nature and chemical structure, so the natural products themselves do not guarantee absolute safety. Accordingly, our country stipulates:
Toxicological test is not required: no change in the chemical structure during the production process and the concentration of the natural pigment used does not exceed the original state.
Toxicological evaluation is required: natural pigments whose concentration is greater than the original state or whose chemical structure has been changed in the production process.
