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IC-COLOR™ · SUGAR

Rapid ICUMSA-equivalent color in undiluted sugar syrups.

The standard ICUMSA workflow requires dilution, filtration and pH adjustment — 15–20 minutes per sample. IC-COLOR™ measures undiluted, unfiltered syrup directly, in seconds, validated against two independent reference spectrophotometers across 35 diverse syrup samples.

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R² > 0.999

vs. two reference spectrophotometers

2.8%

Mean absolute error, 0.014 A420

135 A420

Read on undiluted molasses — no dilution step

Five sugar process syrup samples in cuvettes, ranging from pale amber to near-black

Dark sugar syrup being poured into a beaker during sample preparation

Process syrup samples, from pale amber to near-black molasses — the same population used in this validation.

— Absorbance accuracy

As close to the references as they are to each other.

Checked against a Hach DR3900 and a Macherey-Nagel Nanocolor VIS across 35 samples (0.06–2.71 A420) — which don't fully agree with each other either.

0.008 A420

1.5% — how much the two reference instruments differ from each other

0.014 A420

2.8% — how much IC-COLOR™ differs from the reference mean, no systematic bias, R² > 0.999

34 of 35 samples fell within the ±0.05 A420 / ±3% datasheet spec; one caramel sample deviated by 0.063 A420.

— Extended range

Beyond where conventional instruments saturate.

Conventional transmission instruments saturate near 3.5–4.5 A420. Across dilution series of non-turbid syrups, IC-COLOR™ follows the expected Beer–Lambert response beyond 20 A420 — validating readings the references can no longer confirm directly.

0.3–50 A420

Specified measurement range

135 A420

Actual reading, darkest undiluted molasses

~3.5–4.5 A420

Typical limit of conventional transmission instruments

— Instant Clarity™

Separating scattering from true color.

Microcrystals, bagasse fibres and microbubbles scatter light and inflate a raw color reading. Characterized with calibrated microspheres up to 78% scattering share, uncorrected extinction over-estimated true absorption by 46% on average — over 300% at the worst case — while the corrected value tracked true absorption closely.

78%

Scattering share of raw signal, worst case tested

1.5%

Corrected MAE on held-out validation

~4.3%

Corrected vs. filtered reference, real process syrups

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— Field campaign

Repeatability, measured on-site.

Six process syrups, each measured 6–12 times, cuvette manually rotated 90° between measurements to characterize orientation effects.

0.49–0.86%

RSD, fixed-cuvette orientation (inline-relevant)

1.01–1.58%

RSD, full series across all orientations (manual at-line)

— ICUMSA-equivalent color

From corrected absorbance to IUeq.

Converted via a Brix- and pH-corrected model, validated against laboratory ICUMSA references for 49 process syrups spanning 500–200,000 IU, pH 4.6–11.1 and Brix 27–80.

≈4–9%

Mean relative error, configured syrup type, below 50,000 IUeq

≈7.2%

Diverse, uncharacterized syrups — with bias calibration

≈8.8%

Diverse, uncharacterized syrups — as shipped

GS1-7 is itself standardized only for ~250–16,000 IU; values outside that band are an ICUMSA-equivalent extrapolation. Dark molasses (≥50,000 IUeq) shows higher error from refractometer limitations at very high color.

IC-COLOR™ measures undiluted, unfiltered syrup — from pale amber to 135 A420 molasses — to within the same order of agreement the reference instruments show with each other.

Product route

IC-COLOR™ →

At-line/lab ICUMSA-equivalent sugar color measurement, available in benchtop and inline-probe configurations — the platform used for this validation.

— Also see

See what your syrup measures.

Send syrup samples for evaluation and we'll assess ICUMSA-equivalent color measurement on your specific product.

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