Question

Which of the following dyes would be successful in coloring margarine and why?

Azorubine

Tartrazine

Brilliant Blue

Indigo Carmine

Answer 1

The most suitable answer to this problem is Tartrazine .

This is due to following reasons-

While butter that cows produced had a slightly yellow color, margarine had a white color, making the margarine look more like lard, which many people found unappetizing. The manufacturers began coloring the margarine yellow to improve sales.

Azorubine- It is a red dye and offers red to maroon shades in application.

Tartrazine- Is a lemon-yellow dye that provides a yellow to Orange shades in application.

Indigo carmine- is an organic sodium salt resulting from the formal condensation of indigo carmine (acid form) with two equivalents of sodium hydroxide.

Brilliant blue- It has the appearance of a blue powder and is soluble in water and glycerol, with a maximum absorption at about 628 nanometers.

As only Tartrazine is the dye which is yellow in colour and fulfills the requirements. Thus it is used to colour margarine.