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Color and flavor together must create a cohesive match to effectively alter taste perception and increase patient acceptability. Image Source: Flickr user frankieleon

Medicine has a particular taste that many people dislike. It doesn’t even seem to matter what particular type of medication it is; the overpowering flavor is very hard to mask. Pharmaceutical companies are exceedingly aware of this dilemma, which is why there are so many flavor options available. However, studies have shown that masking the taste with sugar-based flavoring alone is simply not enough to trick the human psyche into believing that the medicine flavor is really gone1…and that is where pharmaceutical coloring agents come into play.

Color is an important element of quality in wine and can vary greatly depending on harvesting, variety, fermentation, and aging. Image Source: Flickr user Omar G!

Last weekend the weather was just perfect for taking a country drive, so we gathered some of our closest friends together and took a tour of the beautiful wine country the lies just beyond our backyard. I don’t consider myself a wine connoisseur, but I do enjoy a good glass with friends on a beautiful day. Most of wineries we visited enjoyed sharing their philosophies on wine analysis, which involved many complex processes to create the perfect bottle of wine. My own philosophy of wine analysis starts with color and ends with taste, but wine development is much more complex and relies on extensive monitoring of spectral data and analysis for quality and production.

As consumers look for healthy alternatives to carbonated soft drinks, apple juice is making a splash. Image Source: Pexels user Jeshoots

The fact that soda isn’t the most healthy beverage isn’t news. Historically, sugar content was the quality of soda that consumers considered to be “bad for you” and diet soda was presented as a healthier alternative. Part of this perception was driven by marketing campaigns that playing up their lack of calories. That much-feared word that has become synonymous with weight gain. But in recent years, we have increasingly begun to examine the health impact of diet sodas and, more specifically, the artificial sweeteners they contain. The results have been startling. Last week a study by researchers at George Washington found that sucralose consumption is linked to weight gain; the very phenomenon so many diet soda enthusiasts are seeking to avoid.1So what are health-conscious consumers to do? For a growing number of consumers, fruit juices offer a perfect solution. According to global market intelligence company Transparency Market Research, “the global juice market is [now] the most competitive segment in the beverage industry” and it’s expected to grow significantly in coming years.2 While some juice producers are responding to consumer demand for healthy alternatives to carbonated soft drinks by introducing exotic products, others are introducing organic and low-calorie alternatives to traditional juices. Chief among these is apple juice, an old favorite that is taking on new life in the rapidly changing fruit juice market. In Norway, for example, apple juice sales have nearly doubled in the past 5 years.3

But increasing global interest in apple juice doesn’t mean juice producers can rest on their laurels. As demand for healthier beverages has grown, so too has the desire for high quality and aesthetically pleasing products. For apple juice producers, this translates to juices of the right color and clarity, making apple juice color and haze measurement more important than ever before.

Food samples, such as cookies, require non-contact color measurement to maintain the true color and texture of the food product.
Image Source: Flickr user Vegan Feast Catering

Color analysis is an important part of safety and marketability in the food product industry. Numerous studies have shown that visual acceptance is the first thing consumers rely on when making choices in foods. Food color is so influential it can even change the way humans perceive taste and quality in foods. In fact, the brain has used color as an indication of freshness and food safety since the beginning of time, so it is no wonder that it is still considered an important feature of food products today.

Nearly every food product relies on color analysis during some point in the process it takes for raw materials to reach supermarket shelves. Whether developing a color analysis protocol for determining the ripeness of a crop, during in-line color and process monitoring, or for final product quality analysis, many major food industry leaders rely on spectrophotometric technology to maintain quality and safety standards in their products.

Non-uniform color samples are often poured and measured for true color analysis that best resembles human perspective.
Image Source: Flickr user Procsilas Moscas

For accurate color analysis of poured and placed food items, a non-contact measurement system is ideal. When a sample is measured from a focal point that sees the sample shades and hues as they are seen by the consumer perspective, the most reliable data can be obtained. This information can then be used to create a color-matching system and ensures consistency between sample batches. Consumers place their expectations on food products to maintain consistent color every time and associate these consistencies with quality products and brands.

The ICUMSA sugar color grading system offers a simple way of categorizing sugars and alerting manufacturers to unsafe products. Image Source: Flickr user Ervins Strauhmanis

The coffee shop I visit in the mornings offers an impressive array of sweeteners, perfect for someone like me who prefers a cup of sugar and cream with a hint of coffee flavor. For years I had been using raw sugar, bypassing the white packets of real and artificial sweeteners, congratulating myself on my commitment to healthy living as I stirred two teaspoons of golden crystals in my cardboard cup. Brown foods are better than white ones, right? I was definitely going to live forever.

Then I made the mistake of Googling. It turns out that sugar color does not, in fact, indicate virtue—white, brown, and raw sugar are all virtually nutritionally identical.1 However, color is reflective of refinement and acts as a key indicator of sugar purity, grade, and quality.

Sugar Color as an Indicator of Purity

The International Commission for Uniform Methods of Sugar Analysis (ICUMSA) was established in 1897 to create international standards for sugar quality classification. In order to produce a common, international language of sugar purity, the ICUMSA developed a colorimetric method of measurement that allows producers to quickly and easily categorize their products in accordance with global guidelines.

Sugar color is recognized as being so faithfully reflective of refinement and quality that it can be relied on as the sole determinant of grade. This is due to the fact that color results from the specific manufacturing processes to which sugar is subjected; the more processing sugar cane is subjected to, the more color is removed, and the final pigmentation of the product reflects the degree of processing to which it has been subjected. These processes are also what give each type of sugar its subtle but distinctive taste. While the nutritional value may not be impacted by refinement, palatability, safety, and usability are and precise manufacturing methods are necessary to ensure that the sugar meets both consumer and industry standards.

Consumer choice regarding spices is usually affected by color perception and buyers rely on color to determine the appeal and freshness of the product. Image source: Flickr user Ben Ramirez

In preparation for holiday cooking, I decided now was a good time to organize my spices, and I have to admit that my spice cabinet was a bit of a disaster. I quickly realized that the task was long overdue as I began to compare my duplicates (and yes, even triplicates), to decipher which to keep and which to throw out. As I was sorting I noticed a direct correlation between spice color and my perception of freshness and decided to investigate what color control really means to the quality of spices. The truth is, color control is a primary factor in quality analysis, which is used during the production of spices around the world. Process monitoring of color control is highly dependent on the use of spectrophotometers to ensure quality and safety in spice products.

Optical density measurements monitor color changes through chemical reactions and quantify these variations across the color spectrum. Image Source: Flickr user Shakimba

Determination of protein in foods and the ability to monitor the effect of heat on protein levels in food products is important for making accurate nutritional claims. Optical density is a common method of measurement used to quantify protein levels from a variety of sources and can be achieved in various ways. Depending on the food choice or preparation method for processing, protein levels can fluctuate and quantification can change. Spectrophotometers can use optical density measurements to create a colorimetric assay of information to monitor these changes.