Caramel as food additive

Caramel is a complex mixture of brown flavoring/coloring substances produced when sugars are heated above their melting point during caramelization. During heating, the compounds breakdown and reassemble to form hundreds of different molecules that add flavor and aroma to foods.

Caramel is also used in flavorings and flavor enhancers for a wide range of foods, including caramels, cakes, and biscuits.

There are four classes of caramel used as food additives and they are defined by the reactant added to the carbohydrate during production.
*Plain caramel
*Caustic caramel
*Ammonia caramel
*Sulfite ammonia caramel

Caramel colorant must be compatible with food products in which they are used, which usually means the absence of flocculation and precipitation in the food.

Caramel is made up from the following food-grade carbohydrate: dextrose, invert sugar, lactose, malt syrup, molasses, starch hydrolysates, and fraction thereof and sucrose, by carefully controlled heat treatment. A large amount of commercial caramel is produced from liquid corn syrup or glucose syrup.

Caramel coloring is freely soluble in water and insoluble in most organic solvents. In concentrated form the colorant has a distinctive burned taste that is unnoticeable at the typical levels of use.

Caramel colors are the most widely used food coloring agents, contributing about 90% by weight of the total coloring agents supplied in the UK food industry. World-wide 80% has been quoted.

Caramelization is done in the industry with different catalysts to produce either flavor or color. For flavor purposes, sucrose is caramelized in concentrated syrup.

The caramel aroma is mainly due to a group of cyclic alkylenolones, dihydrofuranones, and pyrones.
Caramel as food additive