Rapid identification and quantitation of 34 synthetic colorants in 125 beverages and candies by ultraperformance liquid chromatography with photodiode array detection

Abstract

Ultraperformance liquid chromatography with photodiode array detection was used to simultaneously quantify 34 permitted and prohibited synthetic colorants in beverages and candies. Solvent extraction was employed to extract colorants from food samples, proving to be simpler, more rapid and cost-effective, and less labor-intensive than other pretreatment techniques. Additionally, a single-laboratory study was conducted to validate the above method. The results of this validation, which was performed using blank beverage and candy samples, demonstrated satisfactory linearity and detection/quantitation limits. According to the FDA guidelines for the validation of chemical methods, the method exhibited a recovery of 85.4–108 % and repeatability of 0.427–6.73 % for intra- and interday tests. The established method enabled the simultaneous analysis of 34 permitted and prohibited colorants within a short timeframe of 13 min, and its applicability was confirmed by analyzing 93 types of beverages and 32 types of candies available on the market to ensure that the colorant content in all products was within permissible limits. Thus, the developed method was concluded to be particularly suitable for the rapid, accurate, and convenient monitoring of colorant content in commercial products.