What Is the Best Way to Measure the Color of Sports Drinks?

Measuring your sports drink colors with a reliable spectrophotometer is the best way to determine whether your product has the right color from batch to batch. Sports drinks are rich in color and can contain several food dyes regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Obtaining optimal color stability while remaining FDA-compliant is critical.

How the Color in Sports Drinks Is Measured

A spectrophotometer measures the color of sports drinks and many other color-infused liquids. The spectrophotometer measures the light absorption capacity of the colors present in your sample. It does this by measuring the color at a particular wavelength to separate the white light into a rainbow of colors. The machine then passes this light through your test sample using diffraction gratings.

Suitable Sports Drink Color Measurement Solutions

Liquids differ in consistency and transparency, so you cannot calculate the color of all liquids with the same method. You can measure the color of translucent and transparent beverages using transmittance spectrophotometry, as light can pass through these drinks fairly easily.

For opaque beverages with lots of pulp, reflectance spectrophotometrycan best measure their color. This is because light cannot pass through these opaque beverages as efficiently. A quality spectrophotometer that can measure color of your sports drinks will help you conduct tests quickly and reliably.

Maintaining Industry Standards When Measuring Color

The color of your sports drinks must match the beverage industry standards for color stability and consistency. Having the same color per batch ensures you save time and money by avoiding the need to fix inconsistencies, and consumers can purchase quality products that appeal to them.

Spectrophotometers ensure you measure your sports drinks more accurately than the human eye by exceeding the eyes' ability to identify intricate color changes and measurements. A spectrophotometer will help ensure color consistency while maintaining attractive sports drink colors.

The HunterLab Difference in Sports Drink Color Measurement

Measuring your sports drinks with a high-quality spectrophotometer is the best way to ensure your beverages appeal to your customers while meeting industry standards. We have some of the most comprehensive spectrophotometers here at HunterLab — our measuring solutions help you measure color accurately and with speed.

Test your sports drinks in a contactless environment with our spectrophotometers to preserve product safety. Contact us for a quote or call one of our professional team members for more information.