Custard Powder More to it than the yellow colour

“Youeat,indreams,thecustardoftheday.” ~AlexanderPope

Before anything, let us be clear that custard powder is not actually custard that has been dried into a powder. It is mostly a starch that has been coloured yellow, sweetened, and flavoured. So now, you just combine it with milk and cook it for it to thicken, to get the colour, taste, and aroma of custard. While thickeners give the custard its texture (cornstarch is usually the biggest component, since it is great for thickening liquids and dissolves easily), yellow colouring gives it just enough colour to look as though there are plenty of eggs in it (most basic custards are thickened with eggs instead of powder). For flavouring, vanilla is the one you are most likely to find in a regular custard powder. There are several brands of custard powder, and stores may sell their own brands as well. The question then is: do the regular custard powder have synthetic colour? Are they microbiologically safe? Are we consuming lead and ash along with the custard? The following report checks six brands along these and other parameters.