The dye is identical to the natural. What do food colors make of? All About Food Dyes

Why is a dye identical to natural dye needed? And how to use it in cooking? There are few answers to these and other questions about such substances. That's why we decided to dedicate this article to this difficult topic.

general information

Before telling you how to use food colors at home, you should tell what the product is.

This is a group of synthetic or natural dyes that are used to color products in different colors.

It should be especially noted that this ingredient was used in cooking a few centuries ago. Thus, in ancient Egypt, wine and sweets were stained, as well as other foods and drinks. But by the end of the 18th century the food industry had developed so much that it began to use a wide range of this product as an additive to completely different dishes, including masking the poor quality of the main ingredients. In addition, natural dyes are often used for decorative purposes.

Of course, in those remote times, there was no control over the use of this component. But with the development of the market, as well as with the notion of the dangers of toxic compounds for humans, legislation on the norms of their application nevertheless arose. At present, it comes down to an approved list of approved food additives.

Classification of substances

How are food colors used at home? This we will tell you a little lower. Now I want to tell you about the types of these supplements

As is known, dyes for changing the color of individual products are divided into 3 main types:

• Synthetic;
• Natural;
• A dye identical to the natural one.

Let's consider together what exactly is their difference.

Synthetic dyes

Food colors for cakes and other products do not necessarily have to be natural. That's why, when buying pastries or other sweets in the store, you should pay special attention to their composition.

If on the label you find that the product contains synthetic dyes, this does not mean that it is harmful to health. After all, all manufacturers are obliged to use only those additives that are included in the list approved by the legislation for manufacturing their products. Although we can not help saying that with regular use of dishes using dyes can cause significant harm to their health.

So, synthetic dyes are additives that do not occur in nature. In other words, they were made in a laboratory or in a factory.

It should be specially noted that, for safety reasons, these substances must undergo rigorous testing and be tested for food.

Examples of Synthetic Dyes

To recognize such additives in the composition (on the product package), we will present them several options:

• Dye E124 (another name for Ponce 4R). Such a crimson additive is of chemical origin. It is a salt (sodium), which can be in the form of granules or a powder of red color. One can not help saying that, despite the fact that such a dye is approved for use, it is considered to be hazardous to health substances.
• Azo dyes (also called amaranth or C ₂ 0H ₁₁ N ₂ Na ₃ O ₁₀ S ₃ ) and so on.

It should be noted that there are many other additives that are used to improve the appearance and quality of products (for example, quinoline, xanthene, indigoid, triarylmethane, etc.). Recognize them in the composition is not so difficult. They are designated as the dye E124, E123, etc.

Features of substances

Synthetic food colors for cakes and other products tend to dissolve well in ordinary water and can be used without pre-treatment. Usually, the dishes to which they are added can be subjected to completely any effects (for example, sterilization, freezing, cooling and pasteurization). Moreover, using red dyes or additives of other colors, the manufacturer is able to significantly improve the appearance of the products. Often they are used to mask the ingredients that have already left their shelf life.

Natural dyes

Natural dyes are considered the most harmless and safe for the human body. But, unfortunately, such additives are difficult to access and are not subject to long-term storage. That is why most manufacturers prefer to add to their products precisely those substances that have a synthetic origin.

So, natural dyes are made from natural sources. Among them, we can mention the following: herbs, fruit peel, leaves of vegetables, seeds and roots of plants, various fruits, berries and so on.

By the way, animals often act as such sources. For example, red dyes (carminic acid, say) are obtained from the bodies of scutes. The insects eat the leaves of the cactus. They are collected for industrial purposes in Spain, Africa and even Central America. In order to extract the coloring pigment, the bodies of all insects are first dried and then ground.

As you can see, the extraction of natural food additives is a rather laborious and lengthy process, which costs a lot of time and energy, as well as significant financial costs.

Dye identical to natural

As mentioned above, obtaining the necessary dyes from environmentally friendly natural raw materials can be so expensive that its retail sale can not pay back itself. Moreover, the quality of natural supplements varies markedly depending on certain factors (unstable). That is why the manufacturers of these substances decided to get out of the situation and find laboratory methods that would allow them to get a dye identical to the natural one.

It should be noted that additives made in this way are much cheaper and better.

So, food coloring components that are identical to natural, are exactly the same substances (that is, they have the same molecules), like those found in natural sources. However, they are made by artificial means.

For example, insects of a cactus pseudo-scabbard contain a red natural dye (or the so-called dye carmine). After long laboratory tests, scientists were able to artificially make the same bright additive, but without using the bodies of living beings. Now the dye carmine has become much cheaper and more affordable.

Chemical classes of natural dyes

Identical to natural dye for water and solid products - a compound that is divided into the following chemical classes:

1. Indigoid, which were found by specialists in beets. It should be noted that such an additive is very similar to carmine. Their color almost completely coincides (bright red or burgundy).
2. Flavonoids, which were found in many fruits, flowers and vegetables. Thanks to them, food manufacturers began to use a wide range of colors during the production of confectionery and other products.
3. Carotenoids. This substance is found in tomatoes, carrots, oranges, as well as in most plants.

Features of natural and identical-natural dyes

Unlike synthetic additives, natural substances practically do not dissolve in water. However, they interact well with oil. This means that they are difficult to add directly to the products. After all, for this you will have to convert them to potassium or sodium salts.

Requirements for food colors

It does not matter which dyes (identical to natural, natural or synthetic) are used to produce a particular product. The main thing is that they meet all the necessary requirements:

• Harmlessness. In other words, the substance used in the prescribed dosage should not harm the human body. It should be free of carcinogenicity, mutagenicity, and they should in no case have a pronounced biological activity.
• Color strength. Any food coloring must be resistant to light, reducing agents and oxidants, as well as to changes in temperature and acid-base medium.
• High degree of coloration of these or other products at low concentrations of added substance. For example, dye carmine (color - red) should give the product a rich color, even with small amounts.
• The ability to dissolve in fats or water. Moreover, absolutely all dyes should be evenly distributed in the total mass of food products (without the appearance of specks, spots, etc.).

It should also be noted that with the help of these or other food colors, it is not allowed to mask the true color of the product caused by its spoilage, the use of poor quality raw materials or the violation of the technological regime.

What are the groups of dyes?

About how food colorings are classified by origin, we described above. However, I want to tell you about what kinds they are divided by their structure.

So, colorants for food can be:

• Liquid;
• Dry;
• Gel-like.

Let us consider them in more detail.

Liquid Colorants

Such food additives are very often used to color creams and other confectionery products. Moreover, they are often used airbrushing, as well as to give a particular color of the protein-drawing mass.

It should also be noted that liquid food colors are best for painting sugar mastic prepared at home. They are simply added to the base instead of the usual drinking water. It should also be noted that most often there are natural liquid dyes. Although sometimes they can be found in the form of synthetic additives.

Dry substances

Dry (powder) food colors are the most economical option, which is most often used in large-scale food production.

Due to its saturation and dense consistency, such substances allow to significantly reduce dosages. And this leads to a significant reduction in cash costs when decorating various confectionery products.

Powder or dry dyes are universal. They can be used to apply to various surfaces (for example, marzipan, mastic, caramel, chocolate, food paper, etc.).

It should also be noted that dry substances can easily be added to confectionery masses and a neutral cold gel, as they are fat-soluble dyes. Due to this, the manufacturer is able to make completely different products, significantly changing their color.

One can not help saying that dry food colors can be converted into liquid ones quite easily. To do this, the powder must be diluted with alcohol, warm boiled water or vodka. In this case, the ratio of these ingredients is chosen at personal discretion.

Gel additives

Gel dyes are food concentrates of coloring gels. Most often they are used in confectionery production. So, with the help of these substances, sugar mastic is stained , as well as marzipan, fondant, an aysing, creams and cream, chocolate glazes, chocolate and other products that are made on the basis of granulated sugar.

If you decide to use gel food dyes in your production, then you should know what advantages they have.

First, this additive has absolutely no taste and smell. Secondly, after adding to a particular product, it is not able to change its structure. Thirdly, such dyes are quite economical. So, their approximate consumption is 1.5 grams of concentrate per 1 kg of the mass to be painted.

The method of using gel dyes is quite simple. To do this, the amount of additive required to obtain a certain color interferes with the bulk of the product to be colored.

As a rule, such a component is sold in plastic jars or tubes.

Features of use of food dyes

During the production of food products, where the dye is added, it is recommended to consider the following:

• With increasing fats, as well as prolonged mixing of the product, the intensity and degree of its staining significantly decreases;
• Acidity of the environment has a direct effect on the color shade and the intensity of the color;
• The increase in the amount of ascorbic acid lowers the intensity of the color of the finished product;
• Some synthetic and natural dyes in solutions may be discolored in the light;
• Thermal treatment does not change the shade and color intensity of the product made on the basis of synthetic food colors;
• Magnesium and calcium ions, which are contained in hard water, often produce precipitates with dyes;
• In sour-milk products synthetic dyes decolour for several hours;
• Natural dyes are not recommended for coloring products that are intended for long-term storage;
• Natural dyes are not recommended to be exposed to high temperatures;
• For staining dairy products in a reddish shade, it is better to use a beetroot dye or carmines that are most stable at a pH of 2 to 7.

Let's sum up the results

Now you know what food colors are, what they are and how to add them to foods. It should be noted that for household use it is best to purchase only natural substances. By the way, they can be done independently. For example, squeezing juice from beets or carrots, and then adding to butter or any other cooking oil.