Be Cautious of Dangerous Iftar Snacks – How to Distinguish Natural and Synthetic Dyes

Jakarta – A variety of market snacks and colourful fresh beverages during the iftar period often tempt consumers. However, be cautious of the use of synthetic dyes and dangerous preservatives in food products.

Erwin Setiawan, a Quality Assurance Specialist in the food and beverage industry and food education content creator, stated that it is important for the public to possess basic capability in distinguishing the physical characteristics of safe food for consumption.

“Actually, to the naked eye, there are many ways to tell the difference,” said the owner of the TikTok account @anakpanganindonesia during a media interview session titled “#FunOnTikTok: Tips for Celebrating Ramadan More Healthily and Balancedly with TikTok Creators” in South Jakarta on Thursday (26 February 2026).

Natural dyes from sources such as fruits tend not to dissolve completely into clear liquid. Beverages using actual fruit as colouring will inevitably leave some fibre residue at the bottom of the container. This differs markedly from beverages using chemical dyes, which typically appear crystal clear.

“If the red colour is natural, say from strawberries, there will definitely be sediment at the bottom,” said Erwin.

Conversely, consumers should be suspicious if they encounter beverages with very striking colour but appearing transparent without any fibre residue whatsoever.

“If a beverage is bright red in colour but very clear, it most likely uses synthetic dye. Like textile dyes and so forth, which can cause various diseases,” he added.

The use of borax is frequently practised by some traders to circumvent high beef prices whilst still obtaining large profits. “The meatballs become rather hard, the texture is hard, and if thrown it bounces, it is certain to have very high elasticity,” explained Erwin.

“The elasticity that can retain water and is very chewy – one of the most commonly used substances is borax. Because it can retain water in expensive beef, traders only need to use borax,” he said.

Conspicuous differences can also be felt when chewing meatballs. Healthy meatballs should have a texture still showing actual meat fibres, rather than simply being chewy like rubber.

“What is the difference in the chewiness of real meatballs? Real meatball chewiness, when bitten, goes ‘crack’ because it still has fibres. But if when bitten, we need effort to chew, it means the flour content is high, the water content is high, and the elasticity is also much,” said Erwin.