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TECHNICAL APPLICATION BRIEF

THE COLOR OF QUALITY

“No, No, Sam-I-am! I do not like green eggs and ham!”

From the Dr. Seuss children’s book, “Green Eggs and Ham” Brief compiled fromKonica Minolta Instrument Systems Division Application Engineer Field Reports Two Principal Color Measurement Techniques When it comes to foods, color and appearance arethe most important first impressions, even before one's olfactory sense is tickled with a pleasing aroma.That is the point Dr. Seuss makes in his famousbook, "Green Eggs and Ham," loved by children and adults alike. His lesson for everyone is "Don't reject things just because they look different." In fact, for the grumpy character whom "Sam-I-am" pursues up hill and down dale to try his dish, even the normally appealing smell of cooked ham and eggs couldn't overcome the "off-color" of the foods.In today's retail world of behind glass, chilled, frozen,boxed, dried, vacuum-packed and plastic wrapped foods, eye-appeal is far more important than nose-appeal.Both fresh and processed food producers know thiswell, and are increasingly adopting instrumental color measurement technologies and practices to control color better across a wide range of applications.
Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss; trademark and copyright renewed 1988 by Dr. Seuss Enterprises, L.P.. All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto. ISBN: 0-394-80016-8 (trade); 0-394-90016-2 (lib. bdg.). This wonderful book is available just about anywhere in bookstores and children stores around the world. CR-400 Series Colorimeter In current food industries’ practice, two principal color measurement techniques are used: Colorimetry and Spectrophotometry. Colorimetry is the technique whichquantifies color by measuring three primary color components of light which are seen by the human eye, specifically, red, green and blue (also referred to as "RGB"). This "tristimulus" color measure- ment provides data on how much of these three components are present in the light reflected (solids) or transmitted (typically liquids) by a food product. Such data may be used, for example, to adjust the color components in a prepared food or beverage recipe to improve "eye-appeal," to gauge "doneness" in a baked product,
FOOD INDUSTRY COLOR CONTROL