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Independent Validation of a Heat‑Stable Natural Blue Colourant

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Case Study: Independent Validation of a Heat‑Stable Natural Blue Colourant

The challenge

The colour of a food or drink products is an important sensory attribute. As the demand from consumers for clean label and sustainable food and drink products increase, so does the demand for natural food-grade colourants. This demand is also driven by changes in regulations where, for example, in the USA, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Food and Drug Administration Admin is currently phasing out the use of petroleum-based food dyes from America food supply. Tracking Food Industry Pledges to Remove Petroleum Based Food Dyes | FDA

This swap from synthetic dyes to natural presents a challenge for manufacturers in areas such as colour intensity, processing, storage and shelf life.

Our client sought to assess the performance of market leading blue colourants derived from spirulina in a range of applications.

What SPG Innovation delivered

SPG designed and executed a comparative testing programme aligned with food manufacturer decision‑making. Blue colourants were benchmarked against each other in multiple representative systems:

  • Clear sports drinks (pH 4.5 and pH 3.25)
  • Jelly
  • Milk‑based drink

All colourants were calibrated to the same initial colour intensity, then assessed before and after pasteurisation (80 °C, 15 s) using spectrophotometry, colourimetry and stability observation.

These tests demonstrated performance under pasteurisation conditions and provided quantified stability and dosage efficiency data.

Key outputs

The results highlighted the superior performance of a spirulina colourant called Supablu.

  • Pasteurised sports drink (pH 4.5): Supablu was the only colourant to remain fully in solution with strong colour retention; all comparators precipitated.
  • Acidic sports drink (pH 3.25): Supablu delivered the highest post‑pasteurisation colour intensity and the lowest relative colour loss.
  • Jelly: Supablu showed the highest colour strength and lowest proportional loss after heat treatment.
  • Milk drink: Supablu achieved the bluest final colour and the smallest visible colour change following pasteurisation.

Dosage modelling showed alternative colourants would require significantly higher inclusion levels (up to >10× in some matrices) to match Supablu’s colour intensity.

Commercial impact

The project provided:

  • Independent validation of colourant heat and pH stability across multiple product formats
  • Quantitative performance data with colourants ranked in market-specific applications
  • Quantified dosage‑efficiency data to support cost‑in‑use discussions

 

Need independent validation of your ingredient’s performance? SPG Innovation provides testing, application trials and technical evidence to support commercial launch.

Drop us a line on contactus@spginnovation.co.uk or Contact Us

Find out more at Functional Ingredient Testing