Ammonia Caramel
What it does
Brown colour (beers, sauces).
How it's made
Sugars heated with ammonium compounds.
Ammonia caramel is one of the four caramel colours, giving rich brown shades to foods such as beer, sauces, gravies and baked goods. It is made using ammonium compounds (but not sulphite), which produce a strong, stable colour well suited to these products.
It is manufactured by heating food carbohydrates with ammonium compounds under controlled conditions. The ammonia reactants take part in the browning chemistry, generating a deep brown colour with an electrical charge that helps it perform well in products like beers and sauces where plain caramel would be less stable.
The caramel is standardised for colour strength and supplied as a liquid or powder. As with all caramel colours, the reactants, temperature and time are controlled, and limits are set on certain by-products of the ammonia process to keep the finished colour within food-safety standards.
Possible reactions
Generally well tolerated.