Colors used in the pharmaceutical industry follow a defined set of guidelines issued by authorities in order to prevent counterfeit drugs and the misuse of harmful colors. There are a variety of colors that have been widely used by pharmaceutical industries for technical purposes to help pharmacists and patients quickly identify the medicine via its color.
Pharmaceutical industries use a comprehensive range of food colors derived from natural and synthetic substances for making various Pharmaceutical products, including tablets, capsules, syrups, etc. Food colors are not just limited to the food and beverage industry but are also used by various other pharmaceutical and chemical companies around the world.
Colors such as red, blue, white, green, yellow, and brown are the most commonly used colors used by Pharmaceutical companies. Aside from adding visual appeal to products, food colors also help distinguish pharmaceuticals from one another.
Well, in this article, you will learn the importance of food colors in the pharmaceutical industry: why pharmaceutical preparations are colored and why dyes are added to medicines?
Before we dive into the necessity of colors in pharmaceutical preparations and their uses on medicines, let's get started with the importance of colors in pharmaceuticals.
Colors play the most crucial role in providing better taste, smell, and pleasant look and feel to pharmaceutical products. In addition to providing visual appeals to pharmaceutical products, colors play an important role in various other factors, including:
Pharmaceutical preparations are colored to increase the aesthetic value of the product and improve the perception of quality, thereby preventing counterfeit drugs. Pharmaceutical dosage forms typically use colorants to give them a distinctive appearance. It's also possible to define colorants as cosmetics used to enhance the aesthetic appearance of pharmaceutical preparations since appropriate colorants can further enhance the aesthetic appeal of dosage forms.
Each unique color is produced for the use of a particularly active drug. Coloring pharmaceutical preparations can help eliminate the risk of counterfeiting. The color, shape, and size of a drug eliminate the risk of counterfeiting.
It is easier to differentiate colors and sizes of colors coated in various shapes and sizes, reducing confusion and making end-users lives easier. These days, colorful medicines help in advertising the product too in a more professional manner.
There are several types of dyes used in the medical field today, including dyes used in vital staining, tracing, and histopathology, as well as dyes required for chemotherapy. Photosensitizers are used in light-activated therapies for cancer and infection when it comes to modern applications, while medical textiles use biocidal dyes.
Apart from that, the fluorescence of some anticancer photosensitizers can be used as a tumor localizing agent that is highly recommended for use in precancerous conditions. It is assumed that dyes such as the phenothiazinium dye and methylene blue which were employed in Ehrlich's original studies are now widely used to disinfect donated blood products for clinical purposes.
In addition, dyes used in medicine for different purposes: Some hues help distinguish one dosage amount from another, and some shades distinguish a statin from an anti-nausea medication; while other colors are usually chosen to make the product more appealing for consumers.
Thus, colors play the most essential role in the pharmaceutical industries, allowing them to make their pharmaceutical products more visually appealing and preventing counterfeit drugs and unwanted uses of colors. From pharmaceutical and cosmetics to the food and beverage industry, food colors are widely used for a variety of applications.
If you are looking for premium quality food colors that contain high-purity and zero impurity, then Hridham Chem is the leading name in the sphere of high-quality food colors manufacturers and exporters. For more information on a variety of food colors that we produce, contact our Chemical Experts today.