COLOR MEASUREMENT FOR THE PHILIPPINE RICE INDUSTRY

Application case study of Hunterlab ColorFlex EZ

In partnership with Hunterlab, Mahachem PHILIPPINES engaged the National Food Authority (NFA) to share with them a solution for their color needs in their analysis of their rice samples in their laboratory. Presented and shared was the basic of color theory and concepts including the wide range of application in food industry.

Before, NFA is using their naked eyes to check colors of their solutions for rice ageing, milling degrees, whiteness, yellowness, and other physical parameters involving colors. This is where the human discrepancy in terms of qualifying the data is an issue. They were looking for color readers or colorimeter in the market. With the introduction of the color spectrophotometer to scenario, it has given the agency another way to quantify their color measurement accurately.

Mahachem Industrial Solution, conducted a live demo of Hunterlab’s ColorFlex EZ (CFEZ) and tested actual samples for NFA. Including the references from the grain industries that uses CFEZ, the demo proved to be beneficial and opened up the understanding of the people involved about instrument geometries, light sources, angles of viewing and all other parameters in getting the values from the color measurement as well as the difference of a color spectrophotometer to the traditional colorimeter.

Conclusion of Hunterlab ColorFlex EZ

NFA then has concluded that it is needed for them to use a color spectrophotometer in their process which benefits them by :

1. Reduce time in sample preparation, manual comparison of colors and 
2. Will give them the quantitative value of the colors instead of deciding based on their naked eyes.

The process took months and it undergone a public government bid. Competitors from other brands of color spectrophotometers have also engaged and shared their instruments. NFA published their requirements and ultimately, the Hunterlab’s ColorFlex EZ has been proven superior in the world of color measurement.

Now, NFA is using the CFEZ in their laboratory to gather some data and create a process document which will be in the future, the standard of their testing in terms of analysis by using colors. The CFEZ has been delivered and commissioned, and training was provided to all NFA personnel April of 2022.