The effect of color, as measured on the spectrometer, on the 4 basic tastes(sweet, salty, sour & bitter) perception of a series of colored and no-flavored solutions was quantified by 16 taste panel using magnitude estimation without modulus. The regression lines for each colored series were found to differ indicating that color had a significant effect on sweetness, sourness and bitterness. A sucrose level of 4.0%, a citric acid level of 0.05%, and a nicotinamide level of 0.08% maximized the effect of color on taste's perception and its acceptability. Although color tended to confuse the perception of saltiness, this effect was not significant except for yellow solutions.

Three sensory evaluations were conducted to assess the effect of food color on flavor identification. Elementary students and women university students served as subjects for three evaluations of hard candies, in order to assess color preference, to examine the effect of atypical color on flavor identification and to examine the acceptability of harmony between the color and the perceived flavor. Results showed that inappropriate coloring of the three flavored hard candies induced flavor responses that are normally associated with that color and decreased the acceptability. In addition, the acceptability of colorless candies is lower than that of colored candies. It is suggested from it that when there is no color on the product, even atypical color, it`s harder to identify the flavor and to get a high grade in its preference.