Food additives in soft drinks: Caramel

Caramel color has been used in foods and beverages for over 150 years and is globally regulated as a color additive and most used colorings in food and beverage with the European food additive number E150. Color additives reinforce the colors already present in the food and ensure uniformity of the food from season to season and batch to batch. They also add color to “virtually colorless foods.”

Caramel is the most widely used (by weight) coloring added to foods and beverages, with hues ranging from tannish-yellow to black, depending on the concentration and the food. Generally, it is gluten-free and vegan.

Caramel color is added to many widely-consumed beverages as a colorant. The use of colorings in soft drinks serves several important functions:
*Making the product more aesthetically appealing;
*Helping to correct for natural variations in color or for changes during processing or storage;
*Contributing to maintaining the qualities by which the drink is recognized.

Caramel coloring is made by heating a sugar compound (usually high-dextrose corn syrup), often together with ammonium compounds, acids, or alkalis.

There are four classes of caramel used as food additives and they are defined by the reactant added to the carbohydrate during production.
*Plain caramel
*Caustic caramel
*Ammonia caramel
*Sulfite ammonia caramel

With any beverage application caramel color is used for a variety of reasons, but first and foremost it is to provide “eye appeal”. People eat and drink with their eyes, with color often the first attribute to influence expectations of appetite, flavors, and even mouthfeel.
Food additives in soft drinks: Caramel