High Pressure Liquid and Thin Layer Chromatography of Synthetic Acid Fast Dyes in Alcoholic Products

High pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used to resolve FD&C Blue No. 1 (Brilliant Blue), FD&C Blue No. 2 (Indigotine), Amaranth (formerly certified as FD&C Red No. 2 ) , FD&C Red No. 3 (Erythrosine), FD&C Red No. 4, FD&C Red No. 40, FD&C Yellow No. 5 (Tartrazine), FD&C Yellow No. 6 (Sunset Yellow FCF), and FD&C Green No. 3 (Fast Green FCF). These synthetic acid fast dyes as found in wine and flavor samples were extracted with wool yarn and analyzed by HPLC and thin layer chromatography. The 2 methods are compared for sensitivity and resolution. The HPLC procedure is a quicker way to screen a larger number of samples for artificial colors with better resolution than that obtained by thin layer chromatography. HPLC can separate FD&C Red No. 40 from FD&C Red No. 4 and this could not be achieved by using the described TLC solvent system. The FD&C dyes most commonly found in flavors and distilled spirits were FD&C Red No. 40, FD&C Yellow No. 5, and FD&C Yellow No. 6.