October 2011/Prepared Foods-- San Joaquin Valley Concentrates (SJVC) supplies liquid red grape colors to the food industry. The company’s Red Grape Colors are made from Rubired grape varieties, which contain predominantly diglucoside anthocyanins, and are claimed to be more red-color-stable than European grape skin extracts, with less browning. Moreover, sulfur dioxide is not used as an extractant to produce its colors. The company claims use of sulfur dioxide results in residual retention in the extract, also causing the extracted pigments to become more polymerized--resulting in red color loss, browning and some insolubility in the liquid extracts. All of the Rubired grapes used for SJVC’s colors are produced by local farmers with long-term supply contracts. San Joaquin Valley Concentrates (SJVC), www.sjvconc.com pf