Understanding Different Types of Food Coloring

Different types of food coloring are used in today’s competitive marketplace. You can find various kinds of food coloring available on the market today. Still, traditional powder and oil-based food coloring is the most popular and widely used in food and beverage items. However, both types of food coloring have pros and cons and provide different colors and hues to food products. 

Understanding different types of food coloring and their importance is crucial to ensuring you’re using the right food coloring or food color additives for your food & beverage products. It’s essential to understand how to use food coloring in the right amount if you’re planning to decorate icings, candies, and other sweet treats for a loved one or add the finishing touches to your holiday cookies. 

Most chefs use liquid food coloring for cooking, but other options exist, each with its benefits. If you are a business wondering about the different types of food coloring available in the market, you have come to the right place. 

This quick guide will explain the basic concepts of various types of food coloring and food colorants used in the market. 

So, let’s dive right in!

Understanding Different Types of Food Coloring

Here is everything you need to know about different types of food coloring:

1. Liquid Food Coloring

This type of food coloring is most cost-efficient and is mainly found in grocery stores and supermarkets. However, these food colorings are typically less concentrated than you can ever see. Water-based and synthetic coloring are used in low concentrations to formulate liquid food coloring. 

If you want vibrant, rich, or dark colors, the base should be heavily dyed with food coloring or colorants. As a result, your texture will become thinner, and you may experience some issues with drying and color bleeding. It can be your go-to choice if you’re using other liquid mediums such as syrup, water, or alcohol, or trying to achieve pastel colors with your icing or batter. 

2. Gel Food Coloring

Gel food colorings are highly concentrated food colors or colorants often found in a gel-like consistency. Depending on the company and the brand, these gel food colorings or food colorants are usually a thick liquid and quite firm. Both food colorings are perfect for cakes, pastries, icings, frostings, and other confectionery items. 

You need a little drop or a toothpick to scoop the gel color into your frosting and mix it. When using gel color, you tend to use less, e.g., a few drops, as opposed to the others—the powder or liquid color. This is an effective food color or food colorant, especially for cake decorators who use fondant icing.

3. Oil-Based Food Coloring

Both natural and synthetic dyes dissolve in vegetable oil or alcohol to make oil-based food colors or colorants. Other food coloring brands often tend to be more intense and brighter since they use pigments. In general, these colors are costly, but their hues are more colorful and more intense. 

Most foods’ textures are smoother because oil-based food coloring does not fade as quickly as powder colors. However, it can be not easy to mix oil-based food coloring correctly.

4. Powdered Food Coloring

Powdered food coloring is one of the most commonly used food colorings for various applications. These food colorings contain no water and come in different-sized powdered containers. You need to add a little water or use food glycerin to make the mixture like a gel or paste consistency, more effectively concentrated. 

Using powdered food color in frosting or fondant can result in bitter flavors, so it’s essential not to use it in overdose. In addition, excessive use of food coloring can ultimately result in the frosting or product becoming bitter due to its preservatives.

Adding glycerin or water to the color is also recommended to ensure smooth functioning and operation in the long run. Powdered food colors or custom food colorants based on your specific business needs are easy to find. 

Conclusion

All types of food coloring have been specifically designed to provide better, brighter, and lighter stability, imparting colors better than other natural food colorings in the food and beverage industry. If you are a business in need of different types of food coloring or food colorants that offer more vibrant and attractive colors, look no further than Hridhan Chem. 

Hridhan Chem is a leading manufacturer and exporter of premium quality food colors or food colorants, looking to seek top-notch food colors for the food & beverage industry. At Hridhan Chem, we manufacture high-quality food colors or colorants that are of top quality, offer 100% purity, and are certified under the USFDA’s stringent rules and regulations.