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Since color influences product quality, safety and costs, consistency is important, establishing the need for international color standards. Certified color standards are composed of electrophotographic reflectance data that combines a master electronic standard and visual reference to ensure consistent colors across materials.

International Color Standards

There are several color standard charts for reference:

• RGB: The red, green, blue (RGB) color standard is the color display for LCD screens, CRT monitors and plasma displays.
• CMYK: The cyan, magenta, yellow, key (CMYK) color standards are used for printing since the RGB standard cannot create black.
• Pantone: Pantone color standards are vibrant, solid colors that can be converted to RGB or CMYK when necessary.
• USDA: USDA color standards help agriculture professionals decide when produce should be picked and how it should be graded. Food processors also use these standards for food processing and packaging.

Color spectrophotometers are used to measure sample color and their specific applications span across all industries ⁠— from food to chemicals to plastics. With so many diversified fields, it’s vital that you secure the instrument that delivers the most value for your individualized needs.

A reliable spectrophotometer should have various capabilities and features to produce the most accurate results, no matter the industry. When choosing a color measurement solution for your field, keep the following characteristics in mind to secure a spectrophotometer that’s right for you.

Features for Every Industry

Spectrophotometers are versatile instruments used to measure samples of all types across the following industries:

• Agriculture.
• Coffee roasting.
• Plastics.
• Pharmaceuticals.
• Cosmetics.
• Biomedical optics.
• Processed foods.
• Forensics.
• Food additives.
• Chemical analysis.
• Water analysis.
• Paints and coatings.
• Tea fingerprinting.
• Power building products.

What is DDGS?

Distillers dry grains with solubles (DDGS) is a feed ingredient substitute widely used for its high nutritional content and low production cost in the feed industry. It is a significant co-product of dry-milled ethanol production from corn. For every bushel of corn, dry-grind ethanol extraction yields ~10.22 L of ethanol and 8.16 kg DDGS.

When blended into the animal feed, DDGS provides a high-protein meal. It is also a good source of calcium, phosphorus, and sulfur and most commonly feeds cattle, dairy cows, swine, and some poultry. DDGS substitute roughly 1-to-1 for corn grain in feed rations.

The DDGS industry is booming.

According to the US Grains Council, high ethanol production across the country has led to the export of 11 million tons of DDGS to 69 countries in 2020/21 when compared to 5 million tons in 2009. Mexico is the biggest buyer, with over 18 percent of the export market. Vietnam, South Korea, Turkey, and Indonesia are the other top importers.

The future looks bright too. Data Bridge, a leading market research organization, projected the demand for organic DDGS to grow at a rate of 7.00% in the 2020 to 2027 forecast period and expected to reach USD 20.95 billion by 2029.