Test systems and a method for express detection of synthetic food dyes in drinks

In this study, new test systems and express method were developed for the rapid detection of synthetic food dyes in drinks including alcoholic drinks, fruit juices, soft drinks and other non-alcoholic drinks. The detection is based on selective adsorption of synthetic food dyes from a drink by the specific adsorbent contained in the developed test system. The method allows screening of samples for synthetic food dyes in the presence of natural colors by differential spectrophotometry following adsorption. The said adsorbent provides adsorption of synthetic food dyes and substantially does not interact with natural dyes of drinks. Therefore, when a drink contains synthetic dyes, the color of the sample changes, whereas the color of a drink having only natural dyes stays substantially the same. This test can be used as a first step analysis for screening. So, only in a case when the test showed the presence of synthetic dyes in a drink, further laborious identification and quantitative determination of the revealed dyes could be performed. The use of such an approach reduces the time and costs required to perform the analysis. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.