The Food and Beverages industry is a complex chain of diverse industries that supply all the food that we consume. All the food we see on our shelves has gone through a number of processes to get there. Starting at the Farm where fresh produce like Fruits and Vegetables are grown and moving to the manufacturing stage, produce is processed to meet consumer expectations and demands. Finally, produce arrives at the retailer where the final goods are marketed and sold.
Colour indicates freshness, flavour and quality of a product. Compared to the variety of parameters which require accurate analytical monitoring in a food laboratory, colour represents the only immediately apparent quality indicator to the consumer. This deserves the right attention through objective and repeatable measurement from Farm to Fork including raw materials, production processes and the final product. You eat with your eyes and for this reason it is important to ensure that products look fresh, appealing and appetizing.
Food and Beverage Colour Control
Controlling the colour of food is challenging as the colour and appearance of food and beverages changes during the processing and production stage. Challenges can arise due to a change in raw materials, changes in the production process and changes to food colourants and additives. Debates around colour occur regularly between suppliers and customers as different people perceive colour differently. All of these challenges can be solved with the reliable measurement of colour.
Apart from measuring the colour of food and beverages, we can also indicate ingredient adulteration, chemical make-up and other properties through spectroscopy and NIR.
We serve an almost endless number of applications in the Food and Beverage industry. Below we have highlighted some examples of how colour is used to monitor quality, prevent production rejections and ensure that customers receive the same standard of goods time and time again.
To learn more about Food Processing Sensing, read this detailed article on why Food manufacturers use sensing tools in their production processes.
