terminatortoo
Well-Known Member
Can you use food coloring in soap? I have seen on some websites that you can and i have seen where you shouldn't so just wondering what the group thoughts are on this.
From Wikipedia:
Turmeric contains up to 5% essential oils and up to 5% curcumin, a polyphenol. Curcumin is the active substance of turmeric and curcumin is known as C.I. 75300, or Natural Yellow 3. The systematic chemical name is (1E,6E)-1,7-bis(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-1,6-heptadiene-3,5-dione.
It can exist at least in two tautomeric forms, keto and enol. The keto form is preferred in solid phase and the enol form in solution. Curcumin is a pH indicator. In acidic solutions (pH <7.4) it turns yellow, whereas in basic (pH > 8.6) solutions it turns bright red.
I had picked up some turmeric from the local health food store yesterday along with some paprika and annatto seeds. I hot processed all of them in some olive oil to use as dyes for CP soap. Imagine my surprise when the yellow on my dishcloth from the turmeric turned a shocking shade of pink when it came in contact with my handmade soap!
If you ever plan on selling your products in the U.S., you can't use food coloring. They do tend to fade and come off on washcloths as well.
Genny, I don't mean to question you, but I believe you're mistaken about this because food coloring is FD&C color which by definition means approved for food, drugs & cosmetics. And many of the commonly sold dyes labeled for soap use are FD&C colors.
It's unfortunate but not everyone is willing to verify what is approved by the FDA for use in cosmetics.
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