Colours
Food colouring is an ingredient used to change or enhance the colour of edible items. Colourings can be made from both natural and synthetic substances and are used by individuals at home and food-producing companies for commercial purposes. A range of foods can be enhanced with colour additives, including drinks, confectionery, fruit, vegetables, dairy items, baked goods and ready meals. Food colourings tend to be used to add colour to products that would otherwise lack it, or to emphasize a particular shade that is already naturally occurring in that food item. In the US, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is responsible for approving and regulating the use of colourings in not only food, but also cosmetics, drugs and medical devices. Man-made colour additives need to undergo an additional certification process by the FDA to determine whether they are suitable for human consumption.
Colours with the FD&C label come in the form of either dyes or lakes. This depends on how soluble they are, as dyes have to be dissolved to work, while lakes can work without dissolving and are seen as useful in products with the necessary moisture for solubility.
