Separation of dyes in

our food

Sales and Marketing

There are a variety of factors to consider
when buying food, including price,
nutritional data, sell-by date, and
ingredients, but one of the first
considerations is appearance.
For many foods, its all about packaging,
but for others it is the appearance of the
actual food that is important.

Why do we color our

food?
The primary reasons foods are artificially
colored are perception and expectation of
the consumer.
Our previous experiences lead us to expect
margarine to be yellow, pickles to be
green, and maraschino cherries to be red,
but those colors are usually provided or
enhanced by coloring agents (-carotene,
FD&C Yellow 5, and FD&C Red 40 for
margarine, pickles, and cherries,
respectively).

FDA and USDA

In the U.S., the Pure Food and Drug Act of
1906 (also known as the Wiley Act,
because of the work done by U.S.
Department of Agriculture chemist Harvey
Wiley to improve food safety) restricted the
use of food additives and named seven
dyes that were safe to be used in foods.
Interestingly, two of these dyes are still on
the approved list today.

Approved Dyes
Currently, there are seven synthetic dyes
approved for use in the U.S. (the FD&C
colors; see Table 1), although other
countries permit the use of more dyes. For
example, the UK, France, and Spain allow
the use of 15 dyes, six of the FD&C dyes
plus nine more.

Purpose
The purpose of this lab is to determine the
dyes added in the different skittles to get
the color and compare relative molecular
weights.

Materials
Micro centrifuge
Extraction buffer
Skittles
Pipettes
Eppendorf tubes

1. Add skittles into cup

2. Cover skittles with extraction buffer
3. Allow skittles to sit in buffer until all color is in

the buffer
4. Decant buffer off and place in an eppendorf tube
5. Place the eppendorf tube in the

microcentrifudge to separate mixture

6. Set aside for lab