International Journal of Food Science and Technology 2004, 39, 125131

Type, extent and use of colours in ready-to-eat (RTE) foods

prepared in the non-industrial sector a case study
from Hyderabad, India
Padmaja R. Jonnalagadda,1* Pratima Rao,2 Ramesh V. Bhat2 & A. Nadamuni Naidu2
1 Food and Drug Toxicology Research Centre, National Institute of Nutrition, Jamai-Osmania (PO), Hyderabad 500 007,
AP, India
2 National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad, AP, India
(Received 28 September 2001; Accepted in revised form 28 April 2003)

Summary

The type and extent of colours added to ready-to-eat (RTE) foods prepared in the nonindustrial sector of India was investigated. Of the 545 RTE foods analysed, 90% contained
permitted colours, 2% contained a combination of permitted and non-permitted colours
and 8% contained only non-permitted colours. However in RTE foods with permitted
colours, 73% exceeded 100 ppm, as prescribed by the Prevention of Food Adulteration
Act of India, and 27% were within the prescribed levels. Among the permitted colours,
tartrazine was the most widely used colour followed by sunset yellow. The maximum
concentration of colours was detected in sweet meats (18 767 ppm), non-alcoholic
beverages (9450 ppm), miscellaneous foods (6106 ppm) and hard-boiled sugar confectioneries (3811 ppm). Among the non-permitted colours found, rhodamine was most
commonly used. Some of the foods, such as savouries and miscellaneous foods like sugar
coated aniseed and almond milk, are not supposed to contain colours as per the Prevention
of Food Adulteration Act, but were found to contain colours.

Keywords

Colourants, food regulations, orange G, rhodamine, sunset yellow, tartrazine.

Introduction

In India, like most developing countries, both the

industrial and non-industrial sectors are engaged in
food processing activities. The industrial sector is
subjected to quality checks whereas the nonindustrial sector, by its very nature, is outside the
realm of quality checks and statutory controls.
Rapid urbanization has meant that the associated
sociological change is impacting on the life-style of
a large segment of the population. This is resulting
in enhanced demand for pre-packaged and precooked ready-to-eat (RTE) foods. The annual
production of RTE foods in the industrial sector
of India is 345 411 tonnes (Anon., 1995). However,
RTE foods produced in the non-industrial sector,
including bakery products like bread, biscuits,

*Correspondent: Fax: 91 40 27019074;

e-mail: nin@ap.nic.in

2004 Blackwell Publishing Ltd

rusks, cakes, and other RTE foods such as potato

chips, are two to three times that produced in the
industrial sector (Agarwal, 1990, 1994; Alagh,
1990; Chowdhry, 1990; Sharma & Sharma, 1994).
It has been suggested that the consumption of such
foods could sometimes lead to harmful eects
(NIN, 1994, annual report). Colour additives are
known to be one of the causes of such harmful
eects. The variety of synthetic colours, developed
in the middle of the nineteenth century, are a
reliable and economical method of partly restoring
the original shade of the foods (that would
otherwise be virtually dull) and also act as a
competitive substitute to the natural colourants
which are more expensive, less stable, and possess
lower tinctorial power (Achaya, 1984; Rao, 1990).
The use of synthetic colours by the food processing
industry is increasing because they are considered
as important adjuncts.
The use of permitted and non-permitted colours
in foods in India has been reported previously

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Usage of colours in RTE foods P. R. Jonnalagadda et al.

(Khanna et al., 1973, 1985, 1986; Chakravarti,

1988; Biswas et al., 1994; Babu & Shenolikar,
1995; Dixit et al., 1995; Singh, 1997; Bhat &
Mathur, 1998; Mathur, 2000), as has the fact that
the use of non-permitted colours are known to
cause adverse eects in experimental animals
(Prasad & Rastogi, 1982; Wess & Archer, 1982;
Singh et al., 1987) and in humans (Power et al.,
1969; Chandra & Nagaraja, 1987; Sachadeva
et al., 1992). Subsequently, the use of non-permitted colours in RTE foods and other items of daily
consumption have been subjected to regulatory
scrutiny involving the judiciary (Sinha, 1988).
Repeated exposure to even the permitted synthetic
colours is hazardous (Lockey, 1977; Achaya,
1984). The Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) has
been dened as the amount of a substance that can
be consumed everyday throughout the lifetime of
an individual without any appreciable health
eects (JECFA, 1996). The ADI of erythrosine
was reduced from 2.5 to 0.1 mg kg)1 body-weight,
as it produced eects on thyroid function in shortterm studies in rats (Larsen, 1991). It has also been
reported that the consumption of a particular
brand of aniseed (saunf), having very high levels of
ponceau 4R, produced symptoms of glossitis of
the tongue in children (NIN, 1994, annual report).
Based on toxicological evaluation of synthetic
food colours the Central Committee for Food
standards (CCFS, India) has been constantly
updating the food regulations. As a part of these
regulations, certain colours such as amaranth and
Fast red E were banned and the reduction of the
synthetic food colour limit from 200 to 100 ppm in
all foods except in canned foods, jams and jellies
has been recommended. Dierent countries permit
dierent synthetic food colours. The USA permits
seven, including Fast red (which is prohibited for
use in India), Iran and Australia, thirteen each and
in the European Union (EU) sixteen synthetic
permitted food colours are permitted. European
countries have been harmonizing the regulations,
and most of the controls on colourings in food
stem from EU directives. Each country is attempting to review these controls by surveillance work.
India permits addition of eight colours, viz.
erythrosine, carmoisine, ponceau 4R, tartrazine,
sunset yellow, brilliant blue FCF, Fast green FCF,
and indigo carmine up to specied food items. In
India, the Prevention of Food Adulteration (PFA)

Act, which lays down specications on the addition of additives to foods, was amended in 1995
(Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1995) and
permitted the use of the above-mentioned synthetic food colours in or upon food items
(Table 1).
Data on permitted synthetic food colours and
the levels to which they can be used, was used to
study, within the outlets of Hyderabad city, the
variety of RTE foods sold, the RTE foods with
added colours and the quality, quantity and extent
of use of colours in RTE foods produced by the
non-industrial sector.
Materials and methods

A total of 145 outlets, viz. supermarkets (twentythree), sweetmeat stalls (forty-ve), wholesale
markets (fteen), retail outlets selling only confectioneries and other coloured RTE foods such as
deep-fried snack foods, fun foods for children like
sugar toys, coloured synthetic powders, etc. (ten),
bakeries (twenty-one), fast food centres (six) and
small vendors (twenty-ve) were surveyed to nd
out the type and extent of RTE foods sold in the
city of Hyderabad, using a pre-tested pro forma. A
total of 545 samples of coloured food items were
purchased from the 145 outlets mentioned above.
Extraction of synthetic dyes from coloured
RTE foods
Five to ten grams of the coloured food was ground
thoroughly and colours extracted using three
Table 1 Permitted synthetic food colours can be used in the
following foods as per the PFA Act
Food items
1. Ice-cream, milk lollies, frozen dessert, flavoured milk,
yoghurt, ice- cream mix powder
2. Non-alcoholic carbonated and non-carbonated
ready-to-serve synthetic beverages including syrups,
sherbets, fruit bar, fruit beverages, fruit drinks, synthetic
soft drink concentrates
3. Biscuits, including biscuit wafer, pastries, cakes,
confectionery, thread candies, sweets, savouries
(dal moth, mongia, phul gulab, sago papad, dal biji)
4. Peas, strawberries and cherries in hermatically sealed
containers, preserved or processed papaya, canned tomato
juice, fruit syrup, fruit squash, fruit cordial, jellies, jam,
marmalade, candied crystallised or glazed fruits

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Usage of colours in RTE foods P. R. Jonnalagadda et al.

dierent methods. Mostly the samples were

extracted to identify colours by using a column
chromatography method and wool dyeing methods (Toteja et al., 1990). For certain categories of
RTE foods such as sweetmeats, bakery foods and
confectioneries, a modied method suggested by
Biswas et al. (1994) was used. The extracted
coloured solutions were spotted onto Whatman
no. 1 chromatography paper strips together with
authentic standard colours. The samples were
separated for colours using dierent solvent systems. The standard colours supplied by Bush
Boak and Allen (Chennai, India) and S.D. Fine
Chemicals Ltd (Mumbai, India) were subjected to
purity checks (Walford, 1984).
Qualitative analysis was performed by comparing the relative factor, i.e. ratio between the
distance moved by the spot of the food colour
and the distance moved by the solvent front of the
separated colours with those of standard colours,
which were prepared in water (1 mg mL)1). The
quantitative analysis of the single colours in water
solutions was done directly by measuring the

absorbance values. Blends of colours were separated by paper chromatography and the separated
colours were then eluted from paper into water
and their absorbance was measured against standard colours using a Perkin Elmer spectrophotometer (Lambda-1: C632-000; Perkin Elmer,
Norwalk, CT, USA). The values were tabulated
and calculated to express the quantity of colour in
micrograms per gram (lg mL)1 in the case of
liquid samples) of the preparation (Ranganna,
1986).
Results

A variety of RTE food products with added

colours sold in the city of Hyderabad is given in
Table 2. Most of the RTE foods sold in the
market were coloured and it is dicult to nd an
RTE food without any colour. Some of the RTE
non-vegetarian preparations, like chicken 65,
chicken manchuria and chicken gravy, were also
found to be coloured. Of the 545 coloured RTE
foods analysed, 32% were sweetmeats, 40% were

Table 2 Variety of RTE foods with added colours sold in the city of Hyderabad
Food Groups

Food items

Bakery items

Biscuits (both plain cream), wafers, rusks, cakes (sponge plum and fruit),
bread, buns, and pastries in different flavours
Lollypops in various forms like cherries, raspberries, grapes, apples, etc.;
mints, golis, gems, toffees, sugar toys in various forms of birds, candies,
fruit bars, mouth fresheners like peppermints; fun foods like chewing gums,
bubble gums, syrupy balls, confectioneries in the shape of oil seeds such as
groundnut with some gifts like rings, etc.
Bengal gram pulse flour preparations like laddus, Mysorepaks. Black gram pulse
flour preparations like jangris. Preparations with refined wheat flour:
jilebis, khajoor. Milk-based preparations: burfies and pedas, milk product-based
preparations: rasagolla, chum chum, gulabjamoon, basundi. Sweets made in the
shape of beetel leaf, cereal-based preparations like wheat halwas, halwas made
of vegetables such as pumpkin, carrot, with ghee and sugar, puffed rice
and flaked rice preparations such as laddus.
Rice flour and bengal gram pulse-based preparations such as murukus*.
Refined wheat flour preparations such as chekodi*. Bengal gram flour
preparations such as sev*, bujiya, boondi*. Fried pulses such as bengal gram
and green gram pulses.
Non-carbonated and carbonated synthetic syrups, sherbets, juices, synthetic
soft drink concentrates, badam (almond) milk*, lassi* (buttermilk, yoghurt)
Synthetic* coloured powders in different tastes like mango (aamchuran),
katmit powder, sugar* coated coloured saunf (aniseed), coconut gratings,
crushed ice, fresh green peas, soups, sauces, chicken 65, chicken manchuria,
chicken gravy, fried groundnuts*, biryani (a rice preparation), ice candies,
ice creams. Cherries, crystallized or glazed fruits such as tuiti frooti.

Hard-boiled sugar
confectioneries

Sweetmeats

Savouries

Non-alcoholic beverages
Miscellaneous foods

*Foods which are not supposed to contain added colours as per the PFA Act.

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Usage of colours in RTE foods P. R. Jonnalagadda et al.

Table 3 List of permitted and non-permitted food colours

Permitted colours

Non-permitted colours

Tartrazine
Sunset yellow FCF
Ponceau 4R
Carmoisine
Erythrosine
Brilliant blue FCF

Rhodamine
Orange G
Amaranth
Fast red
Metanil yellow

hard-boiled sugar confectioneries, 21% were

miscellaneous foods and 7% were non-alcoholic
beverages. Among the 545 coloured RTE foods
analysed, 90% were found to contain permitted
colours, while 8% contained non-permitted colours, and 2% contained a combination of
permitted and non-permitted colours. Forty-ve
RTE foods had non-permitted colours and 11
had a combination of permitted and non-permitted colours. These include seven sweetmeats,
thirty-six hard-boiled sugar confectioneries and
thirteen miscellaneous foods. Non-permitted colours were absent in all the non-alcoholic beverages. The permitted and non-permitted colours
are listed in Table 3. Of the 90% of the
permitted coloured RTE foods analysed, 54%
contained tartrazine (in blend with brilliant blue
FCF), 31% had sunset yellow (in blend with
carmosine, ponceau 4R, and tartrazine), 19%
had brilliant blue FCF, 10% had carmosine, 8%
had ponceau 4R and 3% had erythrosine. The
distribution of the permitted colours in the
various food groups is given in Table 4. It was
observed that tartrazine and sunset yellow were
the most common permitted colours used. The
overall pattern of the frequency of the permitted
colours in a variety of coloured RTE foods
indicated that tartrazine in blend with brilliant

Permitted colours

Sweetmeats

Hard-boiled sugar
confectioneries

Tartrazine
Sunset yellow
Ponceau 4R
Carmosine
Erythrosine
Brilliant blue FCF

63.4
33.7
5.1
6.3
Nil
16.0

48.4
27.9
6.8
11.0
5.9
21.0

blue FCF is the most widely used colour,

followed by sunset yellow (in blend with carmosine, ponceau 4R, and erythrosine), carmosine,
ponceau 4R, brilliant blue FCF (in blend with
tartrazine) and erythrosine. There seemed to be
slight variations in the frequency of the colours
when the individual food categories are considered. It was tartrazine followed by sunset yellow,
brilliant blue FCF, carmosine, and ponceau 4R
in sweetmeats, hard-boiled sugar confectioneries,
bakery foods and miscellaneous foods, while in
non-alcoholic beverages it was tartrazine followed by sunset yellow, carmosine, ponceau 4R,
brilliant blue FCF and erythrosine. The use of
erythrosine was totally absent in sweetmeats and
miscellaneous foods, and the green colours
Indigo carmine and Fast green FCF, were not
detected in any of the coloured RTE foods
analysed in the present study (Table 4). Of the
90% of the RTE foods having permitted colours,
73% were found to exceed the 100 ppm level
prescribed by PFA, while only 27% were well
within the prescribed levels. The individual status
of each permitted colour within and above the
prescribed levels are given in Table 5. It was
observed that the limit was exceeded most for
ponceau 4R, followed by sunset yellow, tatrazine, carmoisine, erythrosine and brilliant blue
FCF. Ten per cent of the non-permitted colours
(including the 2% blended with permitted colours) present in the coloured RTE foods were
rhodamine, orange G, amaranth, Fast red and
metanil yellow. The distribution of non-permitted colours in coloured RTE foods indicated that
rhodamine followed by orange G, Fast red,
amaranth and metanil yellow are the colours
used. The pattern of distribution varied when the
individual food categories are reported (Table 6).

Miscellaneous
foods

Non-alcoholic
beverages

52.7
28.6
11.6
9.8
Nil
22.3

53.8
48.7
15.4
20.5
2.6
12.8

Table 4 Distribution of permitted

food colours in RTE foods (%)

The total percentage for each food category is more than 100 because some foods had
combinations of two colours.

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Usage of colours in RTE foods P. R. Jonnalagadda et al.

Table 5 Number of RTE foods (expressed as percentage)

having colours below and above permissible levels
Permitted colours

<100 ppm

>100 ppm

Tartrazine
Sunset yellow
Ponceau 4R
Carmosine
Erythrosine
Brilliant blue FCF

31.5
28.5
23.3
37.0
53.3
64.8

68.5
71.5
76.7
63.0
46.7
35.2

Table 6 Distribution of non-permitted food colours in a

variety of coloured RTE foods (%)
Hard-boiled
Non-permitted
sugar
Miscellaneous
colours
Sweetmeats confectioneries foods
Rhodamine
Amaranth
Orange G
Fast red
Metanil yellow

Nil
14.3
85.7
Nil
Nil

36.1
25.0
22.2
36.1
13.9

30.7
15.4
Nil
38.5
15.4

The total percentage for hard-boiled sugar confectioneries is

more than 100 as they are combinations of permitted colours.

Discussion

The present study shows permitted colours were

used in the majority of the RTE foods. However,
the quantities of the colours detected ranged
from 101 to 18 767 ppm (higher or much higher
than the level of 100 ppm prescribed by Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1995). Biswas
et al. (1994) reported the use of permitted colours
in RTE foods exceeding the then permissible level
of 200 ppm, upto a maximum of 730 ppm. In the
present study, the highest concentrations were
found in sweetmeats (18 767 ppm), non-alcoholic
beverages (9450 ppm), miscellaneous foods
(6106 ppm) and hard-boiled sugar confectioneries
(3811 ppm).
Reports on earlier studies showed that nonpermitted colours were used in wide range of RTE
foods (Khanna et al., 1973, 1985, 1986, 1987;
Chakravarti, 1988; Biswas et al., 1994; Dixit et al.,
1995). In contrast, in the present study, the use of
non-permitted colours was found to be considerably less than previously as it was detected in only
10% of the RTE foods. This could be due to the
awareness of the manufacturers to the hazards of
non-permitted colours but could also be because
2004 Blackwell Publishing Ltd

of the stringent action taken by the regulatory

authorities.
It was also observed in the present study that
the RTE foods shown in Table 2, although not
supposed to contain any added colours as per the
PFA Act, contained colours. Although the PFA
Act was amended in 1995 and the use of colours
restricted to specic items like biscuits, thread
candies, sweets, dalmoth, fruit juice, ice cream, etc.
a variety of RTE foods still contained synthetic
food colours (Table 2), thereby implying that the
implementation of food regulations needs to be
much more vigorous.
It was interesting to note that although the
Prevention of Food Adulteration Act (1995)
permits eight colours to be added to specic
foods, only six colours were used, i.e. tartrazine,
sunset yellow (either individual or in blend with
other permitted colours such as carmosine, ponceau 4R, erythrosine and brilliant blue FCF),
carmosine, ponceau 4R, erythrosine and brilliant
blue FCF. However, brilliant blue FCF was
mostly used in blends with tartrazine to give a
green shade to food items such as fresh green peas,
fried green peas, milk-based sweetmeat preparations, bakery foods like pastries and cakes, ice
cream, ice candies and synthetic syrups, etc. The
use of individual green colours such as Fast green
FCF and Indigo carmine were not found in any of
the coloured RTE foods in the present study.
Of the six permitted colours analysed, in the
present study, tartrazine and sunset yellow (either
in blend or individual with other permitted synthetic colours) seem to be the most popular and
often used. Similar observations were made by
Khanna et al., 1973, 1985, 1986; Chakravarti,
1988; Biswas et al., 1994; Dixit et al., 1995;
Mathur, 2000). The overall pattern of usage of
colours, in the present study, indicates that, of the
six synthetic permitted colours found to be used,
there was less common usage than expected.
Hence, there is a pressing need to revise the number
of permitted synthetic colours to be added to foods.
The predominant use of the two colours mentioned
previously could be attributed to the traditional
practice of the manufacturers to try to match the
colour of the basic raw materials such as bengal
gram dhal preparations, or as a substitute to the
natural colours like turmeric, or to attain yellow
colour in foods with added pineapple avour, and

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Usage of colours in RTE foods P. R. Jonnalagadda et al.

for orange to substitute the natural colours like

saron (Achaya, 1994). The use of non-permitted
colours was found to be more in hard-boiled sugar
confectioneries, bakery foods and miscellaneous
foods than in the rest of the food groups.
It can be concluded from the present investigation that although the prevalent use of nonpermitted colours has been considerably reduced,
the level or concentration of synthetic permitted
colours was noticeably higher than the specications prescribed under the PFA Act. A closer
vigilance and stricter enforcement is necessary.
Also, a better awareness is necessary for enhancing the quality of coloured RTE foods prepared
in the non-industrial sector on the part of the
State food health authorities. In addition, a
relentless campaign needs to be undertaken to
improve the awareness amongst consumers of the
unscrupulous use of synthetic food colours,
particularly concerning vulnerable consumers
such as children.
Acknowledgments

We thank Dr Kamala Krishnaswamy, Director,

National Institute of Nutrition (NIN), for the keen
interest shown by her in the study. The nancial
support provided by the Council of Scientic and
Industrial Research (CSIR), New Delhi, India (for
the Senior author, PRJ), and also the Ministry of
Food Processing, New Delhi (for the second
author, PR), is gratefully acknowledged.
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