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The color of crackers can indicate issues that influence flavor and impact consumer perception of products. Measurement offers a standardized method for determining and comparing color and spectral data to improve quality and minimize waste.

Understanding Color Measurement

Color measurement is an objective process that translates color into numerical data. Quantifying color data enables cracker producers to maintain product consistency and quality. 

Cracker manufacturers have a unique need for objective data because numerous factors influence customer perception, including:

• Irregular shapes
• Ingredients
• Baking processes
• Textured surfaces
• Multicolored flavorings or seasonings

Before someone tastes candy, they see its color and make assumptions about its flavor, freshness, and quality. Color matters in sweets because they come in vibrant hues, and consumers tend to reach for the product that most matches their ideal of a desirable color. Color can also indicate issues in product development or processing steps, making it an effective indicator of quality control. Additionally, measuring color enables consistency across batches. All underscore the importance of knowing how to quantify it accurately.

1. Size and Shape

Size, shape, and texture vary among candies and can create a measurement challenge. Advanced color and spectral data measurement tools account for these variances. Calibration allows for more accurate color measurement across differences while reducing errors. 

2. Color Variations

One piece of candy may contain multiple colors, and some sweets have a different surface color than the interior. A color measurement device must be able to quantify these spectral variations across the color of every layer and swirl.

Pet owners want the best for their companion animals to help them live long, happy, and healthy lives. As the nutritional basis these animals need, pet food is instrumental to that goal. Standardizing color measurement helps pet food manufacturers ensure their products consistently fall within allowable tolerances to support the creation of high-quality ingredients, treats, and foods that are safe for pets.

An Overview of Color Standards for Pet Food

Modern pet food manufacturing often introduces color additives to make the products more visually appealing to pet owners, who correlate color with quality and nutrition. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) governs and enforces certification and color standards for additives, and costly penalties can apply for noncompliance.

The Association of American Feed Control Officers (AAFCO) also sets industry color standards for pet food safety and quality. The nonprofit works closely with both federal and state regulators to design legislation, review ingredients, establish grading requirements, and more. AAFCO also issues its own certifications for color additives, including AAFCO-natural and AAFCO-compliant.

Biomedical optics offer non-invasive alternatives to many healthcare procedures through the use of spectrophotometric technology. Image Source: Flickr user frankieleon

Biomedical optics very well may be the future of our health care industry. Whether you are an athlete, patient, or parent of an infant, biomedical optics will most likely play a significant role in your health care or that of someone you love in the near future. Biomedical optics utilize NIR (near-infrared) spectroscopy in a number of ways and provides a safe, non-invasive, and non-destructive method of analysis for a variety of medical needs.

Nearly every industry around the world uses measurement in one form or another. From quantity to quality, measurements must be consistent and accurate to promote productivity and profit. However, when dealing with a limited supply of materials, the use of micro measurement is where the real challenges begin. Whether you are trying to eliminate wasted product, are dealing with rare or valuable materials, or simply do not have excess materials on hand, accurate micro measurement is essential when needing to quantify data using only minimal sample amounts.

Spectrophotometry is the most advanced form of measurement for small-to-micro samples. Image Source: Flickr user Surian Soosay

This chart illustrates how metameric colors appear the same under certain illuminants and drastically different under others. Image Source: Flickr user Johannes Ahlmann

Color matching is a basic but critical component of product manufacturing across industries, and manufacturers go to great lengths to ensure color consistency throughout their production process. Sometimes, this is fairly straightforward, particularly if a product is being manufactured using a single material and pigmentation source. However, when the color of multiple, different product types must be visually identical or a product is being assembled using a variety of materials undergoing unique manufacturing processes, color matching becomes more challenging. One of the primary obstructions to accurate color matching in these situations is illuminant metamerism, which must be identified through the sophisticated analytical capabilities of spectrophotometers.

Colorimeters are straightforward color comparison tools that are often confused with spectrophotometers. However, colorimeters have a more limited range of capabilities than spectrophotometers. What exactly is a colorimeter, and how does it work?

What Is a Colorimeter?

A colorimeter is a device that measures and quantifies emitted light from a sample. It is used primarily to identify color differences between a production sample and a known color standard. The primary elements of a colorimeter include:

• Illuminant: A controlled light source used to illuminate the sample being measured.
• Tri-stimulus absorption filters: Red, green and blue (RGB) filters which quantify the emitted sample light in the form of tri-stimulus values, which replicate the human visual response to color.
• Display: Presents the data in the form of industry standard color scales and color differences.

Colorimeters may be tiny and portable for usage on the road or bigger for benchtop use in a lab.

How Does a Colorimeter Work?

The colorimeter illuminates the sample being measured using a controlled light source. The light not absorbed by the sample is ‘emitted’. This light is what we see as the color of the sample. This emitted light is compared to an established standard for pass/fail determination.

The colorimeter's lens and tristimulus absorption filter converts the light beam into an isolated wavelength. The photocell measures how much of the wavelength was absorbed and displays the data on its digital display. Colorimeters and spectrophotometers are among the most advanced color-measuring tools. Although closely linked, they each have distinct qualities that make them best suited to specific measurements.

A tristimulus colorimeter is an essential tool for objective color measurement. It consists of three fundamental components:

• Light source: The initial lighting is provided by a steady light source, usually a bulb with a consistent voltage.
• Filter system: The filter system consists of a collection of three filters. Each filter transmits a specific wavelength, allowing for selective study of the reflected light from the sample.
• Photoelectric detector: This detector transforms the intensity of emitted light into an electrical signal. The electrical output matches the sample's color attributes. 

Ideally, the combined response of the light source, filters, and detector should closely resemble the spectrum sensitivity of the human eye to a certain illuminant. Getting a perfect match between the instrument response and human eyesight is difficult. However, high-quality tristimulus colorimeters provide an accurate approximation. Notably, the mismatch occurs often in the short-wavelength band. Mathematically modifying the measured blue value (Z) in proportion to the green value (Y) creates a more accurate total value.

Because the instrument's response might vary over time, it is critical to calibrate it regularly according to manufacturer’s recommendations. Modern colorimeters generate digital outputs that may be automatically translated into industry standard color values such as CIELAB (L*,a*,b*) or CIELCH (L*C*h*) systems. 

What Are Colorimeters Used For?