New Brunswick, NJ - A team of food scientists at Rutgers University found the use of food coloring may help them probe the quality of edible goods. Results show that the fluorescence in some food colors could act as embedded sensors for food's physical consistency in products such as yogurt or strawberry milk.
Testing the consistency of foods is important because consumers expect products to look and taste the same each time they buy them, and changes in physical consistency could also be indicators of bigger problems like spoilage, the researchers say. The researchers will present their results at the 59th annual meeting of the Biophysical Society, held Feb. 7 - 11 in Baltimore, Md.
According to Food Manufacturing, "Measuring light emission from fluorescent particles is a standard scientific technique to probe a material's properties without destroying it. But could the technique work on food? Many fluorescent dyes are toxic or expensive, making them unfit for human consumption and ruling them out for use as food quality probes. The Rutgers researchers wondered if the edible colors already added to many food products could act as fluorescent probes."
"Fluorescent probes have been used in many applications, but the idea of using food colors for this purpose is new," said Sarah Waxman, an undergraduate student who is working on a research project to study the fluorescent properties of food dyes in the lab of Rutgers food scientist Richard Ludescher.
The research team tested the fluorescent properties of five edible food colors that are routinely added to food or pharmaceuticals: Allura Red, Sunset Yellow, Brilliant Blue, Fast Green and Tartrazine, a yellow-colored dye.
For the full story: http://www.foodmanufacturing.com/news/2015/02/dyes-act-probes-aid-food-quality
According to Food Manufacturing, "Measuring light emission from fluorescent particles is a standard scientific technique to probe a material's properties without destroying it. But could the technique work on food? Many fluorescent dyes are toxic or expensive, making them unfit for human consumption and ruling them out for use as food quality probes. The Rutgers researchers wondered if the edible colors already added to many food products could act as fluorescent probes."
"Fluorescent probes have been used in many applications, but the idea of using food colors for this purpose is new," said Sarah Waxman, an undergraduate student who is working on a research project to study the fluorescent properties of food dyes in the lab of Rutgers food scientist Richard Ludescher.
The research team tested the fluorescent properties of five edible food colors that are routinely added to food or pharmaceuticals: Allura Red, Sunset Yellow, Brilliant Blue, Fast Green and Tartrazine, a yellow-colored dye.
For the full story: http://www.foodmanufacturing.com/news/2015/02/dyes-act-probes-aid-food-quality
