A simple and portable multi-colour light emitting diode based photocolourimeter for the analysis of mixtures of five common food dyes

► An LED-based photometer was devised and applied for determination of food colourants. ► The device is easy to construct and operate and the cost is considerably low. ► A simple approach was developed for resolving the binary and ternary mixtures. ► The method is based on the difference of the absorptivity ratios. ► The method is appropriate to limit data obtained by the LED based devices.