Quantitative Determination of FD&C Colors in Foods

A published procedure using Amberlite LA-2 (a liquid anion exchange resin) solutions to extract colors from food and the salt solution cellulose chromatographic technique to separate colors from each other were updated and submitted to collaborative study. Three batches of cookies and 4 purchased products were analyzed by 13 collaborators. The 3 batches of cookies contained different color mixtures requiring the selection of various procedures. The 4 purchased products were selected principally to include a variety of foods. Some results were partially deficient. The deficiencies reflect certain inadequacies in the directions as written rather than basic flaws in the method. Some improvements were suggested by the collaborators. The Associate Referee recommends that the method be further revised to correct the present inadequacies and to include some improvements, and that the revised method be submitted to another collaborative study.