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Fifth Edition Effective January 1, 2004
Committee on Food Chemicals Codex
Food and Nutrition Board
Institute of Medicine of the National Academies
Reprinted with permission from Food Chemicals Codex Fifth Edition(2003) by the National Academy of Sciences, courtesy of the National Academies Press, Washington, D.C.
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FCC V / Monograph Specifications
Caramel
Caramel Color
INS: 150 CAS: [8028-89-5]
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DESCRIPTION
Caramel usually occurs as a dark brown to black liquid or solid. It is a complex mixture of compounds, some of which are in the form of colloidal aggregates. Caramel is manufactured by heating carbohydrates, either alone or in the presence of food-grade acids, alkalies, and/or salts. Caramel is produced from commercially availible, food-grade nutritive sweeteners consisting of fructose, dextrose (glucose), invert sugar, sucrose, malt syrup, molasses, and/or starch hydrolysates and fractions thereof. The acids that may be used are food-grade sulfuric, sulfurous, phosphoric, acetic, and citric acids; the alkalies are ammonium, sodium, potassium, and calcium hydroxides; and the salts are ammonium, sodium, and potassium carbonate, bicarbonate, phosphate (including mono- and dibasic), sulfate, and bisulfite. Food-grade antifoaming agents such as polyglycerol esters of fatty acids may be used as processing aids during its manufacture. Caramel is soluble in water.
Four distinct classes of Caramel can be distinguished by the reactants used in their manufacture and by specific identification tests:
Class I (Plain Caramel, Caustic Caramel) Prepared by heating carbohydrates with or without acids or alkalies; no ammonium or sulfite compounds are used.
Class II (Caustic Sulfite Caramel) Prepared by heating carbohydrates with or without acids or alkalies in the presence of sulfite compounds; no ammonium compounds are used.
Class III (Ammonia Caramel) Prepared by heating carbohydrates with or without acids or alkalies in the presence of ammonium compounds; no sulfite compounds are used.
Class IV (Sulfite Ammonia Caramel) Prepared by heating carbohydrates with or without acids or alkalies in the presence of both sulfite and ammonium compounds.
All of these Caramels should meet the criteria established for Caramel in this monograph.
| Function | Color. |
| Ammoniacal Nitrogen(1) | Not more than 0.6%, calculated on an equivalent color basis. |
| Arsenic(2) | Not more than 1 mg/kg |
| Color Intensity(3) | Between 0.01 and 0.6 absorbance units (a.u.) |
| Lead(2) | Not more than 2 mg/kg |
| Mercury(2) | Not more than 0.1 mg/kg |
| 4-Methylimidazole(1) | Not more than 0.025%, calculated on an equivalent color basis. |
| Sulfur Dioxide(1) | Not more than 0.2%, calculated on an equivalent color basis. |
| Total Nitrogen(1) | Not more than 3.3%, calculated on an equivalent color basis. |
| Total Sulfur(1) | Not more than 3.5%, calculated on an equivalent color basis. |
(1) These tests are calculated on an equivalent color basis that permits the values to be expressed in terms of a Caramel having a color intensity standardized to 0.1 a.u.
(2) These tests are calculated on an as-is basis.
(3) Color Intensity is defined as the absorbance of a 0.1% (w/v) solution of Caramel in water measured in a 1-cm cell at 610 nm and is expressed on a Total Solids basis.
