The spectrophotometric identification of the permitted synthetic food colours

Thirteen specified water soluble dyes are permitted for use in edible products consumed in Canada and the United States. The official chemical-physical method of analysis is not very successful when small amounts of one dye are present with larger amounts of others, or even in the analysis of a single dye if present in small quantities. The spectrophotometer has been shown to be very useful in identifying the thirteen permitted dyes individually, and by its means many previously unresolvable binary mixtures have been readily analyzed. Further investigation of the possibilities of this method of analysis is proceeding.Science, Faculty ofChemistry, Department ofGraduat