Juice Drinks & Smoothies

Juice Drinks & Smoothies

Juice drinks containing fruit and / or vegetable juices and purées often benefit from the addition of coloring ingredients as they have a tendency to brown over life. Adding Coloring Foods to juice drinks and smoothie style products enhances the shade and delivers a consistent appetizing appearance for the duration of the shelf life.

Formulation

  • Use a starting color dosage level between 0.05% w/w – 0.50% w/w taking into account the base color of the drink itself
  • For optimal appearance and color performance, beverage pH should be <3.5 for red, purple, and pink shades
  • Consider ascorbic acid and mineral levels when formulating with anthocyanin-based colors. Whilst the juices themselves may benefit from the use of an antioxidant, the red colors may perform better if levels are kept to a minimum
  • For carotenoid-containing colors it is recommended to include ascorbic acid (as an antioxidant to support performance) in addition to some form of stabilizer to maintain the homogenous appearance

Manufacturing process

  • Note the order of ingredient addition and add colors during the final stages of production
  • Avoid excessive processing or prolonged heat treatment
  • Homogenization is advisable in certain instances to provide stability where particle sizes of juices / purées vary
  • Measures should be taken to reduce in-pack oxygen as far as possible
  • Rapid cooling helps preserve color

Shelf-life

  • Optimal color performance for ambient juice drinks is 6 – 12 months. Smoothies on the other hand are typically chilled with a shelf-life up to 2 months.
  • Color addition can smooth out changes over time and improve shelf life by enhancing the appearance for a longer period
  • UV barriers and full-shrink labels will preserve color vibrancy and can help extend shelf life
  • Packaging material can impact on color performance over time