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If you are a manufacturer and work with food colours, you have faced this situation before. A colour looks perfect during its lab trials, such as bright, consistent, and exactly what you want. But it may change or appear duller, darker, and uneven when it is used on a large-scale production. The final product’s colour does not match the lab results.
This difference between lab tests and large-scale production is very common among food manufacturers. In this article, we discuss the reasons for such differences in color and how manufacturers can achieve their targeted shade in the final product.
Lab Trials vs Mass Production: A Real-World Gap
Lab trials are often done with limited colour, controlled conditions, and accuracy. On the other hand, mass production happens with large colour quantities, multiple variables, and various operational conditions. However, synthetic food colours are especially designed to be used in food products and overcome colour variations in lab and mass production, but the quality and some conditions can affect the performance of synthetic food colours.
The key reason behind colour variation lies in how the process scale, ingredients of the product, equipment, and environment interact with the colourant.
Key Reasons Food Colours Look Different at Scale
1. Scale of Formulation and Mixing
In lab tests, colours are properly dissolved or disappear in small quantities by using precise measurements and uniform mixing. In mass production, even a slight difference in:
Mixing speed
Mixing time
Order of ingredient addition
Can affect how evenly the colours are distributed on products. Poor colour is not properly dissolved on a large scale that leads to uneven shades or a patchy appearance on the final product.
2. Processing Conditions Change
Temperature, pressure, and processing time are usually more controlled in a lab. During the larget scale production:
Higher temperatures
Longer heating cycles
Faster processing speeds
Can impact the solubility of colour in products. Some synthetic food colours may show shade variations when they expose in different pH, heat, or light.
3. Ingredient Interactions Become More Complex
At a large scale, the ingredient interactions are limited to use in products. At the commercial level, the same formulation may behave differently due to:
Higher concentrations of sugars, fats, or proteins
pH fluctuations across large batches
Interaction with preservatives or stabilisers
These factors can influence how a synthetic food colour develops and appears in the final product.
4. Water Quality and Dissolution Differences
The quality of water in which colours are dissolved plays a critical role in colour performance. It varies under such conditions as:
Water hardness
Mineral content
Temperature during dissolution
Between lab and factory environments, colors may be able to affect solubility and intensity. This happens more with water-soluble synthetic colours.
5. Equipment and Surface Contact
Lab equipments are often made of glass or small stainless-steel vessels. Industrial-scale equipment involves large mixers, pipelines, and holding tanks. When the colour contacts with different surfaces, and dead zones in mixers, they may slightly vary the colour from batch to batch, which shows in the final product.
6. Light, Storage, and Exposure Factors
In laboratories, colour samples are normally not preserved for any extended period of time and are protected from direct light. In large production:
Products may be kept in light
Storage timing before evaluation increases
Packaging material may affect the colour difference
These real factors may change the shade of colours on products as compared to the lab sample.
Why This Matters for Manufacturers
Inconsistent colour in products not only impacts the visual appeal of the product but also leads to various other challenges for manufacturers such as:
Batch rejections
Customer complaints
Regulatory scrutiny
Increased production costs
Manufacturers who use synthetic food colours in their products should maintain colour consistency to create brand identity, consumer trust, and compliance.
How Manufacturers Reduce Colour Variations
Work Closely with Your Food Colour Supplier
A reliable synthetic food colour manufacturer may help you in:
Scale-up guidance
Application-specific recommendations
Stability data under real processing conditions
Conduct Pilot-Scale Trials
Before full-scale production, manufacturers can bridge the gap between lab testing and mass production by conducting pilot trials.
Standardise Processing Parameters
Consider the following when striving for batch-to-batch consistency:
Mixing times and speeds
Temperature
The order of ingredient addition.
Monitor pH and Water Quality
Manufacturers can avoid unexpected colour changes in the final product by continuously monitoring the pH and the quality of water throughout the process.
Conclusion
Food manufacturers can achieve the desired shade of colour found in testing and in large-scale production by understanding the different factors in this article and by using quality synthetic food colour from a dependable source like Ajanta Food Colours.
With more than 75 years of experience in the industry, Ajanta Food Colours is a highly regarded and reputable manufacturer of synthetic food colour in India. Ajanta Food Colours manufactures and supplies synthetic food colours for food, beverage, pharmaceutical, and other manufacturing sectors in all of India, and also exports its colours to international markets worldwide.