Despite growing demand by consumers for healthy beverages, artificial colours are still widely used. Levels of anthocyanins and artificial colours were determined by HPLC with UV-Vis detection in red orange juices and other red beverages (nectar, juice-based, health, carbonated and sports drinks). The contribution of pigments to the visible colour of the beverage was calculated. Red orange juice samples contained about 34 mg l(-1) of anthocyanins, which were responsible for about 92% of the visible colour. Red juice-based drinks, containing from 0% to 30% of red orange, berry, grape or pomegranate juices, had low levels of anthocyanins (about 7 mg l(-1)) and high levels of E129 (about 32 mg l(-1)), which were responsible for about 90.7% of the colour of these beverages. Red health drinks, enriched with vitamins and polyphenols, contained from 3% to 50% of red fruit juices. Also in this case the E129 levels were higher (about 22 mg l(-1)) than anthocyanins (about 9 mg l(-1)), and were responsible for the colour of the beverages (76.1%). High levels of artificial colours were found in red orange carbonated drinks, but in comparable amounts with those found in the other beverage samples, while anthocyanins were only present in trace amounts. Although all of the beverages claimed to contain red fruits on the labels, no correlation was found between the level of anthocyanins and the declared percentage of red fruits. These labels generally conformed with the requirements of the law, but food product labels can often be misleading to consumers about the real characteristics of the product.
Keywords: additives; beverages; colours; fruit juices.