Why use colours for pharmaceutical products?

Posted by Koel Colours on September 26th, 2016

Ever thought about pharmaceutical colours? Colours can be used in pharma for various reasons. Did you know, there is a variation in acceptance of pharma colours in different countries. Some of the widely used colours in pharma are white, blue, red, yellow, green and brown. Pharmaceutical colors manufacturers use colours made of natural or synthetic substances to achieve the right formulation.

Colours for pharmaceutical products are used to impart organoleptic properties or for technical purposes. Organoleptic properties are aspects of food or other substances that make it more appealing to the senses of consumers such as sight, smell, taste and touch. Colours are combined with flavours such as strawberry, mint etc. and matched with the formulation of the drugs to be created. Colour Measurement and control is necessary for achieving the consistency in application of pharmaceutical dyes.

Why colour is important in pharma?

• Therapeutic objectives can be easily achieved with the help of pharmaceutical colours. After all, colourful medicines are more comforting to patients, mainly children.
• Colour, shape and size of a drug eliminates the risk of counterfeiting.
• Colour coated drugs in various shapes and sizes help to differentiate the medicines, making it easier for end use and avoiding confusion.
• These days, colourful medicines help in advertising the product too.

Types of colours for pharmaceutical products

Dyes and pigments are two types of colorants used in various industries such as food, pharma etc. Pigments used in the pharmaceutical industry are oxides, lakes and non-synthetics.

Titanium and Iron Oxides

These pigments have wide acceptability, good chemical and light stability along with excellent opacity. But oxides have a limited colour range and mainly feature dull colours.

Aluminium Lake Colours

Lake colours are created using straight dyes with precipitants and salts through reactions. Usually, the blue-coloured aluminium lake colours are used as additives to coat tablets in the pharma industry due to their stability.  Lake colours are insoluble in water and therefore, are used in prescribed quantities to protect the contents of the pill from getting affected.

Aluminium lake colours have a wide range of bright colours and retain the brightness when mixed together with other substances. It has low opacity compared to other pigments and certain particle properties may affect its stability.

Non-synthetic colours

Non-synthetic colours have high acceptability but may not be feasible due to high cost. Also, the range of colours and poor properties in certain instances can be a disadvantage for these colour pigments.

Synthetic Pharmaceutical dyes are used as per the prescribed norms of the relevant authorities of the country where the product is to be consumed.  Strict compliance to the regulations is required by pharmaceutical colors manufacturers to ensure that the colours are safe for end use. Every country has a set of certified colours and detailed technical information that are followed only by reputed pharmaceutical colors manufacturers.

So, what your opinion about colour-coated pharma products like medicinal pills? Would you prefer Aluminium Lakes for brighter colours?