Caramel color is one of the oldest and most widely used food-color additives. Caramel has an odor of burnt sugar and a
pleasant, bitter taste. However, at the low levels used in food, the taste is not perceptible. Internationally, the Joint FAO/WHO Expert
Committee on Food Additives and Contaminants (JECFA) has divided caramel color into four classes, depending on the reactants
used in its manufacturing. For further details, see Burdock (1997).
Pharmaceutic aid
(color).
Caramel is a colorant that is an amorphous, dark brown product
resulting from the controlled heat treatment of carbohydrates such
as dextrose, sucrose, and malt syrup. it is available in liquid and
powdered forms, providing shades of brown. in coloring a food with
caramel, the food components must have the same charge as the
particles of caramel, otherwise the particles will attract one another
and precipitate out. caramel can exist as several types, for example,
acid-proof caramel of negative charge which is used in carbonated
beverages, acidified solutions, bakers’ and confectioners’ caramel
which are used in baked goods; and dried caramel for dry mixes.
major uses are in coloring beverages such as colas and root beers and
in baked goods.
caramel is used as a coloring agent. It provides products with a slight touch of brown. Some sources also state that it acts as a soothing agent in skin care preparations. Caramel is a concentrated solution obtained from heating sugar or glucose solutions.
Made by heating sugar or glucose, adding small amounts of alkali, alkaline carbonate or a trace of mineral acid during
the heating.
A sugar-based food colorant made from liquid corn syrup by heating in the presence of catalysts to approximately 250F (121C) for several hours, cooling to 200F (93C), and filtering. The brown color results from either Maillard reactions, true caramelization, or oxidative reactions. Caramels are colloidal in nature, the particles being held in solution by either positive or negative electric charges.
Mutation data reported.
When heated to decomposition it emits
acrid smoke and irritating fumes.
