Food Industry Newsletters Vol. 3
Deborah Ejimofor | Posted on |
Food Industry Newsletters Vol. 3

Food Colours: Why do they matter?
Colour is the single most important product-intrinsic sensory cue that sets people’s expectations regarding the likely taste and flavour of food and drink.
Research has shown that changing the hue, intensity or saturation of food and beverage items can impact the expectations and experiences of consumers.
However, when the colour does not match the taste, the result may be negatively valenced with disconfirmation of expectation.
Why is colour added to food and beverage?
- Colours protect vitamins and flavours that may be affected by sunlight during storage.
- By using colours, we can enhance the natural appearance of a dish and introduce decorative colours to other foods.
- Off-colour foods are considered inferior; hence colours help reinforce the perception of good quality.
- The colour of the food can influence the perceived flavour.
Food colourings are of two types: Natural and synthetic. Not surprisingly, natural colours are a better alternative because they are wholly from plants.
Natural colouring usually appears less vibrant when compared to artificial colouring. This, however, does not affect the taste of your food.
Natural food colours are dyes, pigments or other substances obtained from vegetables, animals, and minerals capable of colouring foods or drugs.
Know your natural colours:
- Red, blue and violet: Derived from anthocyanins found in beetroots, raspberries and red cabbages.
- Green: Derived from chlorophylls, the green pigment found in all leaves and stems.
- Yellow, Orange, Red: Derived from carotenoids found in apricots, carrots and tomatoes.
Synthetic food colours (also called artificial colours) used in the food and pharmaceutical industries are made by chemical reactions. Some food colours include tartrazine, sunset yellow, amaranth, Allura red, quinoline yellow, brilliant blue and indigo carmine.
Due to consumer concerns around synthetic dyes, there is a prevalent preference for natural colours. However, certified and artificial colours remain popular because they are less expensive and effective in giving an intense and uniform colour. They also blend easily to produce a variety of hues. With the high cost of natural colours, a shift from synthetic food colours will be a slow process.
Interview:
Harrison Nnah - Procurement Manager, Perfetti Van Melle Nigeria Limited

Q. Kindly introduce yourself and what your company does.
Ans. My name is Harrison Nnah (SCA), a graduate of Olabisi Onabanjo, Ogun state. I am the Procurement manager of Perfetti Van Melle.
Perfetti Van Melle Nigeria Limited is an Italian-Dutch multinational producing confectionery and gum. Perfetti is located in Lagos, Nigeria and is part of the sugar and confectionery product manufacturing Industry.
Q. How did you know about Cormart; what was your first impression?
Ans. I knew about Cormart through an old colleague. My first impression of cormart was exciting. I was surprised by the wide range of products they have available.
Q. Which of the product(s) do you purchase? As the procurement manager, what prompted the decision to make Cormart your supplier?
Ans. I purchase confectionery glucose, colours, Caramel and sanitisers from Cormart.
Cormart is well known to partner with credible international principals. They supply only quality products and provide technical support to our team when needed.
Also, they are very reliable, and delivery is prompt.
Q. What leverage does Cormart have over other competitors?
Ans. Cormart is very trustworthy when interacting with its customers, and the terms of an agreement are relatively flexible.
Q. Do you have any new products coming up? Should we be expecting more patronage?
Ans. New products are in the works, and yes, we will continue to patronise Cormart as long as the product quality remains top-notch.
Q. What is your overall impression of Cormart?
Ans. Cormart is a good company with reliable hands producing and delivering on time.
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Sensient Colours
Sensient Colours provide customized colour solutions to food and beverage, cosmetic, pharmaceutical and industrial customers around the world. Sensient maintains the largest portfolio of natural and synthetic colours available in the marketplace.
Sensient range of red colours
- Allura Red is an orange-red dye, also called E129. Used in candies, drugs and cosmetics. It is the most commonly used red dye.
- Erythrosine red is a red to maroon coloured Azo dye, also called E127. It is primarily used in food products such as sauces, sweets and soups.
- Ponceau 4R is a red dye that provides a dark red shade in applications, also called E124. Used in snacks, dry mixes and seasonings.

Sensient range of yellow colours.
- Sunset yellow is an azo dye that is orange-yellow in colour. It is known as E110, used in candies, custards and sauces.
- Quinoline yellow is greenish-yellow in colour. It is designated E104, used in beverages, sauces, medicines and cosmetics.
- Tartrazine yellow is a lemon yellow dye known as E102. It is the most commonly used yellow colour used in food, medicine (syrups) and cosmetics.
Sensient range of other colours.
- Titanium dioxide is the most widely used colour in the world. It is designated E171. Used in dairy products, sweets & candies, medication tablets, soaps, detergents and toothpaste.
- Brilliant blue is a dye that imparts blue colour. It is designated E133. Used in beverages, candies, medications.
- Euroblend chocolate is a custom blend colour for snacks, dry mixes and seasonings.
Contact our Food Industry sales reps for more information.
Technical Advice & Tips
Tips for leveraging Industry 4.0 for Food & Beverage Manufacturing and Processing
By: SWK Technologies
There are different tips for leveraging food & beverage industry manufacturing and processing.
- Leverage Industry 4.0 before it is too late: Wholesale digitization was a slow process across many industries before COVID-19, particularly for small businesses; research shows that those that stalled suffered while those that implemented solutions before the pandemic were better prepared.
- Uncover where your business will benefit the most: Adopting the new technologies of Industry 4.0 should not be done out of a desire for novelty or a “cool” factor but because they can solve real pain points that businesses face regularly. The value of digitizing your processes is being able to automate repetitive processes, mitigate inaccuracies and streamline how users perform their roles through your business applications.
- Create an implementation plan and take it slowly: Despite images being a descriptive language of digitization, you should not expect to create a smart factory overnight by throwing an overwhelming number of gadgets into your production floor and expecting employees to adapt.
Practicality should breed efficiency, and an implementation plan should be created to outline where new technologies solve pain points and then deploys these solutions methodically and deliberately.
- Find partners that know Food and Beverage Manufacturing: Many technology vendors will promise their product does everything and more, but some solutions cannot be applied to all problems equally, and you must seek out a partner that knows how to approach pain points specific to your industry. Software for the modern food and beverage industry has to be able to guarantee visibility into your supply chain, no matter the circumstances, but so few can truly deliver real-time insight out of the box.

