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In the world of food, beverages, cosmetics, and the pharmaceuticals manufacturing industry, colours play a crucial role. They make the products attractive to customers and improve the brand recognition of the product in the market. However, maintaining the consistency and quality of the colours for large-scale manufacturing is a challenging task for manufacturers, even if they are using high-quality colours in their products. There are various other factors that may influence the performance of colour on the products, including processing conditions to ingredient interactions.
In this article, we are going to explore some of the most common issues that manufacturers often face related to colours and try to provide practical solutions within this article that help manufacturers in maintaining colour consistency, stability, and visual appearance in their products.
1. Understanding Why Colour Problems Occur
During the manufacturing of products, one or more factors may arise, such as:
- Heat and processing temperature
- pH variations
- Light exposure and oxidation
- Improper mixing or dispersion
- Incompatible ingredients or additives
Manufacturers can overcome these challenges by taking the first step toward preventing colour deviations in finished products.
2. Fading or Dulling of Colour
High heat during the manufacturing, storage, or exposure to light may fade or change the colour of products such as Tartrazine, Ponceau 4R, and Brilliant Blue FCF.
Solution
- Always choose heat-stable synthetic colours that are especially designed for products that face high-temperature like baking or extrusion.
- Try to add colour to products at the end of the process, as it may reduce the chances of fading.
- To prevent your products from photodegradation, you should use light-protective packaging for this.
- Store your products somewhere cool and dry, away from sunlight. Humidity and light can mess with the quality.
Pro Tip
Swap out water-soluble dyes for Lake Colours when you’re making baked goods or extruded snacks because Lake Colours provide the best stability and consistency to products that face heat during manufacturing.
3. Uneven Colour Distribution
In the base mixes, sometimes colour distributes unevenly on products, which makes the final product patchy or stripped. This makes the product ugly or unattractive.
Solution
- Make it a habit to premix your base colours, but don’t add them in bulk until you’re sure they’re just right.
- Use a high-speed mixer or a homogenizer for even colour blending.
- Always keep an eye on the mixing time and the amount of colour you use in the product because consistency really matters.
Pro Tip
Use oil-dispersible lake colours on the products that have a higher base content. Oil-dispersible lake colours provide better colour distribution and coverage on products.
4. Unexpected Colour Shifts
If you’re using synthetic colours, remember that pH levels can change the final look. It’s important to keep this in check if you want your colours to stay true. An example of this would be the stable Brilliant Blue FCF at most pH and the unstable Erythrosine or Carmoisine, which can even disappear in pH extremes.
Solution
- Control the product pH and choose colour selectively to stay in the preferred pH range.
- In jams and acidic beverages, the added dye should be acid-stable, like Sunset Yellow FCF.
- For neutral or alkaline environments, ensure the colour and dye are used in small batches that you have tested before large-scale production.
- Always ensure that all the formulations in every product batch are consistent to minimize pH fluctuations.
Pro Tip
Always ask for a pH stability chart when selecting a color to help with pH-balanced product formulations.
5. Colour Precipitation or Sedimentation
When colours don’t dissolve properly, or they clash with emulsifiers, or you just add too much, you end up with sediment in your drinks or syrups. Nobody wants that.
Solution
- Make sure you dissolve all the colours completely before mixing them into your main batch.
- If you need a hand, grab some food-grade emulsifiers or stabilizers—these keep everything blended. Be precise when adding colour.
- Measure it out and spread it evenly across each product for a consistent look.
- Before you package anything, give your liquid products a good stir or homogenize them. It helps keep things smooth.
Pro Tip
If you want your drinks to be crystal clear, stick with water-soluble synthetic colours like Brilliant Blue FCF or Tartrazine. They do a great job of keeping sediment out of clear beverages.
6. Interaction with Other Ingredients
Some ingredients in products—such as preservatives and flavourings—or minerals, might conflict with synthetic food colours, and some instability and undesirable hybrid colours would occur.
Solution
- Always perform colour compatibility tests before you settle on your product formulations.
- Negative hybrid colours suggest a need to reorder your mixing steps.
- Use colour-stable preservatives or replace them with more reactive dyes.
Pro Tip
Always maintain a good relationship with your colour supplier. They may suggest to you the best colour options or blends for your products that help to increase sales and brand recognition of the product in the market.
7. Colour Variation Between Batches
There is a very slight change in colour that impacts the brand image in the market. This happens because of raw materials, a measuring slip, or tweaks in your production process. Always make sure the exact shade of your product in every batch.
Solution
- Start by making your batch records and colour dosing methods rock solid.
- Use some tools like a spectrophotometer or a colourimeter to match the exact colour shade every time on your product.
- Source colour from a certified synthetic colour manufacturer that keeps attention on the colour quality from production to storage and supply. By doing so, you get the exact colour shade that you want.
Pro Tip
Always ask your colour supplier for a Certificate of Analysis (COA) for every batch you buy. This way, you know your colors are pure, consistent, and meet all the global standards.
8. Maintaining Long-Term Colour Stability
In the long term, colour stability manufacturers often face colour degradation during product storage or transportation, even manufacturers using premium synthetic food colours in their products.
Solution
- The best practice is to store finished goods in a cool, dry, and dark place.
- Always use airtight containers for packaging products as they help in preventing oxidation.
- For long shelf-life products, choose synthetic colours with proven light and heat stability.
Pro Tip
Try to work closely with your colour supplier as they help you to achieve the exact colour shade or colour blends in every batch. This colour stability on products is very crucial for creating a brand image of the product in the market.
9. Partnering with Reliable Colour Manufacturers
By partnering with a trusted and reliable synthetic food colour manufacturer that follows all the strict quality control, runs advanced manufacturing plants, and holds global certificates that show their expertise in the field of synthetic food colour manufacturing, you can get the exact quality of colour you want for your products. These colours meet all the strict guidelines set by various governmental bodies around the world, such as the FDA, EFSA, and FSSAI, helping manufacturer to sell their product in the market and export it to the international market without any problem.
Ajanta Food Colours is a leading synthetic food colours manufacturer in India with over 75 years of legacy in the field of synthetic food colours manufacturing industry. By sourcing high-quality, FDA-approved colours from Ajanta Food Colours, you can ensure the consistency, quality, and regulatory compliance for your products, whether you are manufacturing bakery, drinks, pharma, cosmetics, pet food, or personal care products, because Ajanta offers a wide range of colourants, including dyes, lake colours, granules, and custom mixes.
Conclusion
There are various types of challenges manufacturers face during the product manufacturing related to the colours. They not only impact the visual appeal of the product but also damage the brand reputation in the market. Manufacturers can overcome these challenges and achieve vibrant, stable, and uniform results in their products every time by understanding the root cause behind it, like they have to maintaining proper pH, mixing, and storage.
By partnering with a trusted and reliable synthetic food colour manufacturer, you have various advantages, like expert guidance, consistent colour quality, and tailored colour solutions according to your products.