Studies show that color is a critical factor in a consumer’s purchasing decisions and taste perception. Getting consistent color in juices, dairy, sports drinks, beer, spirits, and other liquids is an essential part of food production. However, color is one of the more difficult things to control during production. Any change in lot-to-lot color can make a big difference in the color of the final mix, especially when dealing with natural ingredients like fruit which can vary in color.
Beverages and other liquids are hard to measure because it can range in transparency from translucent to opaque. Liquids are also hard to hold, and the measurement device can’t touch it or the optics and the sample will both be contaminated. In order to achieve accurate and consistent color, beverage and food manufacturers need to select the right spectrophotometer for the liquid sample, understand how to present a liquid sample, and what to do with the data once the measurement is complete.