Chr. Hansen launches orange drinks colouring

Responding to what the company says is a growing market demand for a bright and stable natural colour for orange-flavoured powder soft drinks, Chr. Hansen has extended its I-Colors range with a new orange shade.

The company’s I-Colors solutions were launched in November 2011, and are natural colours developed for instant powder drinks, which are popular in South America, the US, the Middle East and Asia due to their ability to withstand warm conditions and long shelf life.

“The new ‘I-Colors Orange 700 WSS-P’ is the perfect solution for colouring orange powder beverages,@ said Chr. Hansen’s Ji Hoong Too, Industry Product Manager, Natural Colors Division. “Based on annatto pigments extracted from the seeds of the South American annatto shrub, the new I-Color gives a beautiful tangerine shade in drinks – at a very competitive price compared to other orange colourants.”

According to Chr. Hansen, the key technical benefits include excellent plating (the ability of the colour to colour the powder; no de-phasing (meaning that the colour stays evenly coloured in the powder); easy to dissolve; and excellent stability in the beverage.

Combined with the existing I-Colors Yellow 900 WSS-P, I-Colors Orange 700 WSS-P produces a bright orange shade.

“Outside Europe, where annatto can be used in beverage applications, the new I-Colors Orange is a very cost competitive solution,” continued Ji Hoong Too. “The common challenge when using annatto in beverages is the overall stability and its lack of brightness compared to carotenoid solutions. With the I-Colors Orange, these issues are addressed. It can be stable throughout the shelf life of the powder beverage and once dissolved the colour is stable up to maximum consumption time for powder beverages.”