Colorimeters are widely used in the food industry for quality control, consistency maintenance, and compliance with standards throughout the production and supply chain. Record color data throughout the supply chain for quality traceability and dispute resolution.

Beverage Analysis: In the beverage industry, colorimeters are used to ensure the consistent color of drinks such as juices, soft drinks, and alcoholic beverages.

Baking and Cooking: Colorimeters help monitor the color of baked goods and cooked foods, ensuring they achieve the desired appearance and doneness. Real-time track color changes during processing steps such as baking, boiling, fermentation, and frying.

Raw material incoming inspection: Verify the color consistency of raw materials like grains, fruits, vegetables, and food additives.

The core systems for color estimation in the food industry are standardized color spaces and supporting color difference formulas, which quantify visual color into measurable data for objective, consistent evaluation. Color measurement systems that are widely adopted by the food industry are the HunterLab system, the CIEL*a*b* system, and the L*C*H* system.

CIE LAB Color Space (Most Widely Used)

The most common system in food color measurement, independent of specific devices (device-independent). Suitable for almost all foods, from solid (roasted nuts, bread) to liquid (sauces, beverages) and powder (flour, seasonings), as it directly reflects human visual perception.

CIE XYZ Color Space (Fundamental Standard)

The basic color space defined by the International Commission on Illumination (CIE), serving as the foundation for other color spaces. Often used in professional R&D or when converting between different color spaces.

Hunter Lab Color Space (Industry Classic)

Widely adopted in traditional food processing industries (e.g., dairy, bakery) for its simplicity and compatibility with older measurement equipment.

Color Difference Formulas (For Comparing Consistency)

Based on color space data, these formulas calculate the numerical difference (ΔE) between a standard sample and a tested sample. Common ones include ΔE*ab (from CIE LAB, the most universal), ΔE Hunter (from Hunter Lab), and CMC(l:c) (adjusted for visual sensitivity, used in high-precision scenarios like confectionery). A smaller ΔE indicates closer color consistency—food enterprises typically set thresholds (e.g., ΔE < 1.0) to judge pass/fail.

Specialized Systems for Specific Foods

CIE LCh Color Space: Converts CIE LAB's rectangular coordinates to cylindrical coordinates (L = lightness, C = chroma/saturation, h = hue angle), suitable for foods where hue (e.g., redness of fresh meat, yellowness of butter) is a key quality indicator.

RGB Color Space: Based on red, green, blue primary colors, mostly used in digital imaging (e.g., food packaging design, online product display) but less common for physical product measurement due to device dependence.

Colorimeters are more cost-effective for routine quality control, while spectrophotometers excel at high-precision, complex food color measurement—the decision depends on your specific needs like accuracy requirements, food types, and budget.

Food Colorimeters: Low cost, simple operation, compact size, and fast measurement. It directly outputs Lab* values and ΔE (color difference), which is easy for on-site workers to use.Suitable for routine quality control of foods with uniform colors and simple textures, such as packaged snacks, standard sauces, and powdered seasonings. It meets the needs of batch consistency inspection (e.g., ensuring each batch of roasted nuts has the same color).

Food Spectrophotometer：High precision (can detect tiny color differences with ΔE < 0.05), full-spectrum measurement (400-700nm), and support for multiple color spaces/formulas. It can analyze spectral data to avoid interference from food surface gloss, texture, or transparency. Suitable for high-end food R&D, strict quality control, and complex food types. Examples include measuring the redness of fresh meat, the yellowness of dairy products, gradient-colored pastries, or translucent beverages. It’s also ideal for complying with strict industry standards or customer requirements.

High-precision quality control (QC) of finished products: Quantify tiny color deviations (ΔE < 0.05) for high-value or strict-standard foods, such as premium chocolates, fresh meat, and organic dairy. Ensure batch-to-batch consistency of products with critical color indicators, like the redness of ham, yellowness of butter, or brightness of baked goods.
Process monitoring for complex production: Track real-time color changes during processing steps sensitive to color, such as fermentation (wine, yogurt), baking (bread, pastries), and frying (chips, fried chicken).
Adjust process parameters (temperature, time, ingredient ratio) promptly to avoid over-coloring or under-coloring, reducing waste.

Raw material and ingredient inspection: Verify the color consistency of raw materials with variable quality, such as fresh fruits, vegetables, grains, and natural colorants.
Detect subtle defects in raw materials (e.g., slight discoloration of flour due to moisture, uneven ripening of fruits) that ordinary colorimeters might miss.

Specialty food and complex sample measurement: Measure foods with uneven surfaces, textures, or transparency, such as textured snacks, gradient-colored candies, translucent beverages, and frosted desserts.

Accurate Monitoring of Shelf Life: As many foods undergo changes in natural pigments over time, spectrophotometers provide a precise means to track these alterations. By doing so, manufacturers can accurately determine the shelf life of their products, ensuring consumer safety and product quality. Analyze color stability of perishable foods during storage. Evaluate the effectiveness of color protection measures (e.g., antioxidants, packaging materials) by tracking color changes over shelf life.

The core tools for measuring food coloring are colorimeters and spectrophotometers, with auxiliary tools like color cards for preliminary visual reference.

Colorimeters suitable for daily quality control of most foods with stable coloring, such as bottled sauces, packaged snacks, and powdered seasonings.quantify color by measuring the three primary color components — red, green and blue, Directly outputs quantifiable color data (e.g., CIE LAB values, ΔE color difference) for judging consistency between batches.

Spectrophotometers used for high-demand measurements, such as subtle coloring differences, complex foods (translucent beverages, gradient candies), or high-end product R&D.

An Lab* colorimeter is a device that measures foods color using the CIE LAB color space, quantifying color into three parameters: L* (lightness), a* (red-green axis), and b* (yellow-blue axis) for objective, consistent color evaluation.

A colorimeter in food analysis is a portable, easy-to-use instrument that quantifies food color via standardized color spaces (e.g., CIE LAB), converting visual traits into measurable Lab* values/ΔE to ensure quality consistency and compliance. Measure the concentration of chlorophyll and other pigments in vegetables to determine the quality and freshness of food. The accuracy of colorimeter readings may be affected by factors such as sample turbidity, temperature, and the presence of interfering substances.