371
Views
6
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Original Articles

Colour and label evaluation of commercial pasteurised red juices and related drinks

, , &
Pages 201-211 | Received 19 Jul 2010, Accepted 13 Sep 2010, Published online: 25 Nov 2010
 
Help: about the FAC B Database

The Food Additives and Contaminants - Surveillance Database is a searchable database containing all the surveillance data published in Food Additives and Contaminants Part B (FAC B) since its launch in June 2008. Search results may be viewed on screen, or downloaded into standard reports or spreadsheets by simply clicking a button. You may search the entire database by following the link Visit FAC B Database, or alternatively you may choose to move from a FAC B article through to the specific dataset that corresponds to the article you are viewing. There are links to the relevant datasets from all FAC B articles. All subscribers to the FAC B journal will be granted access to the entire database. Pay-per-view customers will be granted access to the datasets corresponding to the articles that they have purchased, but they will not be able to search the full database. Please follow the link if you wish to visit the database now.

Abstract

Despite growing demand by consumers for healthy beverages, artificial colours are still widely used. Levels of anthocyanins and artificial colours were determined by HPLC with UV-Vis detection in red orange juices and other red beverages (nectar, juice-based, health, carbonated and sports drinks). The contribution of pigments to the visible colour of the beverage was calculated. Red orange juice samples contained about 34 mg l−1 of anthocyanins, which were responsible for about 92% of the visible colour. Red juice-based drinks, containing from 0% to 30% of red orange, berry, grape or pomegranate juices, had low levels of anthocyanins (about 7 mg l−1) and high levels of E129 (about 32 mg l−1), which were responsible for about 90.7% of the colour of these beverages. Red health drinks, enriched with vitamins and polyphenols, contained from 3% to 50% of red fruit juices. Also in this case the E129 levels were higher (about 22 mg l−1) than anthocyanins (about 9 mg l−1), and were responsible for the colour of the beverages (76.1%). High levels of artificial colours were found in red orange carbonated drinks, but in comparable amounts with those found in the other beverage samples, while anthocyanins were only present in trace amounts. Although all of the beverages claimed to contain red fruits on the labels, no correlation was found between the level of anthocyanins and the declared percentage of red fruits. These labels generally conformed with the requirements of the law, but food product labels can often be misleading to consumers about the real characteristics of the product.

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.