I just bought some Americolor gels from Amazon, and I wanted to make some flowers in their Mauve 116 color.  I mixed a good squirt into the fondant and it turned the fondant a horrible brownish-gray color.   I thought maybe it was reacting with the fondant so I just mixed some gel with vodka and painted it on the fondant, and I still got this ugly brown color.

Has anyone seen this before? Is it just my eyes playing tricks on me?

Thanks, Carol

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That's bad food coloring...That mauve color is a browny pink, but it shouldn't look like that.

yeah bad -- pink is the first color to dissipate so it might be old

or maybe mislabelled 

Thanks, I'm going to email Americolor and see if they can tell me how old the bottle is or if it is mislabeled.  I also had trouble with the Burgundy color that came in the set.  It turned the fondant purple.  I ended up using the Dusty Rose - that one looked fine.

So two lessons learned today 1) on Amazon only buy directly from Americolor's storefront and not Amazon fulfilled for third party seller I don't know, 2) always test on a small bit of fondant first cause you never know what color you are going to get in the end.

it could be centuries old -- yeah pink is the first to go -- sounds like it's from the first batch they ever made? coulda been kept in a sunny or hot location -- no es bueno

Duh... I checked the bottle and it has an expiration date of 6-2017.

wow something's screwed up here -- wonder if there's a recall? who knows -- put it this way -- those can't be the only bottles like that and it should be recalled --

you gonna call 'em? -- oh yeah you said email -- let me/us know what happens!

I got something like that with Americolor fuschia. It's an ugly brownish purple.

Sorry, I forgot to give you guys an updated.  I got an email back from Americolor and they said what is causing the "off" color in the #116 Mauve is a reaction between the Carma fondant which has a very low pH and the Red Dye #3 used in the AmeriColor Mauve.  The low pH dampens the Red Dye #3 and causes it to fade.  To get the Red Dye #3 component of the color to reappear you need to add baking soda to the fondant which will raise the pH of the fondant.  I did a test and sure enough it worked.  But I wouldn't want to add baking soda to fondant I'm going to put on a cake because it makes the fondant taste really bad.

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At least the mystery is solved...
Maybe you can do it with just decorative pieces at least and just let them know not to eat those?

Didn't someone do an experiment with purple dye and baking soda once?

does lemon juice or something with a complimentary flavor raise the ph also? 

Lemon juice is acidic... it will lower the pH...

To raise the pH you will need an alkaline (base)... baking soda is a common one...

So are products like tums and pepto bismol... (not suggesting use in food)

aatkt -- what would be good in fondant that will raise it?

or what's in regular fondant that is not in the carma that we could add back in -- like i'm really gonna go to all that trouble but this is weird isn't it?

Well I don't know the difference between the two fondant formulas... Can't help there...

As for alkaline foods... Many fruits and vegetables are, but their natural juices may change the color of the fondant...

You can check your preferred brand of coconut oil and use that instead of shortening when working your fondant... but the warmth of your hands will make it melt easier than shortening does...

Some mineral waters are alkaline...

Most things that I know of that are alkaline are chemicals used to clean with... but baking soda is edible...

this is just weird -- why make a product you know isn't going to hold food color properly -- if you do you should put a warning on it -- did you try it on some other brand of fondant? it's brown on the paper towel or that cardboard thing -- i think americolor make a booboo color

@-K8memphis ‍,  The Carma Messa is made in Switzerland and I guess it was not tested on or formulated to work with the red dyes that are approved by the US FDA for food consumption.  Again this is only a guess, but I suspect that the food colors they use are EU approved but not US FDA approved so that is why they can only sell the white in the USA and not their colored fondants. 

As for testing on other fondants -- I  don’t have any other fondants on hand beside the Carma, but I did try the Americolor Mauve on some Wilton Gum Paste; and while the final color wasn’t exactly like what was shown on the bottle cap,  I would still call it Mauve-ish”.    I have some Dream and Fat Daddio’s fondant coming in next week, so I will try the Mauve on those two and report back. 

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that does make it sound a little better --

so I think then that it's the fault of the red dye more than the fondant -- and americolor should own this

what do you think?

Not just Americolor, I recently tested a few Wilton colors with the Carma and the Wilton Reds did the same thing.  I think it is just an issue with the very low pH of the Carma fondant not being compatible with the Red Dye #3.  Maybe the EU has banned Red #3 so Carma never tested their fondant with that particular color??  Don't know.  But before the Carma I was using Via Roma Bakery fondant which is from Italy and I never noticed and problems with coloring that fondant with the reds/pinks. 

Honestly I'm just surprised that people rave about the Carma when it has such an issue with coloring.

sorry typo.. should be "never noticed any problems"

red food color is constantly being reformulated because it is not good eats shall we call it -- so this particular batch must really suck --

I wonder if milk or milk powder would help? it helps hold color in American bc