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Potassium Citrate in Food Production
Many food preservatives also perform the role of a flavor enhancer, but not many can also claim to be a dietary supplement. To that end, food ingredient supplier Bell Chem introduces potassium citrate, which fills all three roles and more simultaneously.
Potassium citrate — or, more specifically, tripotassium citrate — is added to foods and beverages as either a white granulated powder or in clear crystal form. Created from the union of potassium salt and citric acid, potassium citrate is alkaline and odorless with a tangy citrus flavor.
Flavor Enhancer
The pungent flavor associated with citrus fruits marks potassium citrate’s enhancement when added to carbonated beverages or powders. Diet beverages often require a buffer to offset the tart flavor associated with sugar substitutes. In drinks containing sucrose or high fructose corn syrup, the tartness is overcome with a sweet taste. Since low- or no-calorie beverages do not contain these products, the metallic artificial flavor must be balanced with another flavor. This is where potassium citrate shines.
Dietary Supplement
Unlike sodium, which is another mineral paired with citrate, potassium has been proven to be favorable to renal performance. Because potassium is a cation, it affects the heart and other muscles. Many sports drinks contain potassium for this reason, and the addition of potassium citrate not only improves flavor; it also adds vitamin C.
pH adjuster
Foods or beverages in the acidic range become more stabilized with the addition of alkaline potassium citrate. When potassium citrate is added to a product with a neutral pH, its normal alkalinity prevents microbial growth, thereby extending product shelf life.
Emulsifier
Many foods, such as cheese or dressings, contain combinations of oil and water. Potassium citrate delivers consistent mouthfeel to every bite by distributing oil throughout the products in which they are added.
Chelator and Sequestrant
Potassium citrate binds heavy metals, which prevents fat oxidation. When fat is not able to oxidize, food stabilizes and shelf life is extended.
Bell Chem is a food ingredient supplier based in Longwood, FL (just north of Orlando) with hundreds of products stocked in their 50,000+ square-foot warehouse, including CSANTM sanitation products. You can expect the highest quality products, expedited shipping options for maximum efficiency, and unrivaled personalized customer service. Let our knowledgeable and friendly customer service representatives and accounting staff personalize all your needs by either calling 407-339-BELL (2355) or by sending us an online message.
Salicylic Acid in Personal Care Products
Salicylic acid has a millennia-long pharmaceutical history as a pain reliever. First discovered in the bark of the willow tree, salicylic acid was used to alleviate pain, but it has been determined to have an abundance of applications in personal care products and cosmetics as well. USP ingredient supplier Bell Chem’s inventory has included salicylic acid for quite a while since its applications span across industries, most notably in pharmaceuticals and personal care products.
Common Uses
The low pH level of salicylic acid sloughs off old skin cells (known as a keratolytic agent), giving the appearance of a younger, more radiant complexion. Salicylic acid is often used in conjunction with sodium benzoate in hair care and skin products. Products commonly containing salicylic acid are anti-dandruff shampoos and conditioners, wart removers, acne medications, and exfoliants. Other positive aspects of salicylic acid include its antiseptic property and its ability to prevent the growth of microorganisms.
Acne Remedy
Some researchers and manufacturers have found salicylic acid is gentler on the skin than glycolic acid and recommend its usage as a chemical peel for clogged pores, to reduce the appearance of acute inflammation and skin blemishes, and in cases of extreme acne. In fact, studies have shown that adults are relying on products containing salicylic acid for acne prevention and relief more frequently than the traditionally targeted demographic of teenaged users.
Consumer Demand
Manufacturers that wish to offer organic products are able to add salicylic acid to the label; in fact, salicylic acid is one of only a handful of preservatives allowed on organic labels. The increased demand of salicylic acid in personal care products has been bolstered by consumer demand, and manufacturers are answering the call by creating products containing salicylic acid for its many positive qualities.
Bell Chem is a USP ingredient supplier based in Longwood, FL (just north of Orlando) with hundreds of products stocked in their 50,000+ square-foot warehouse, including salicylic acid. You can expect the highest quality products, expedited shipping options for maximum efficiency, and unrivaled personalized customer service. Let our knowledgeable and friendly customer service representatives and accounting staff personalize all your needs by either calling 407-339-BELL (2355) or by sending us an online message.
Tri San Acid Sanitizer in the Food and Brewing Industries
As an industrial chemical supplier, Bell Chem understands the importance of sanitizing food and brewing equipment, as well as work surfaces, to ensure inactivation or elimination of unwanted microorganisms. Our inventory relies on quality chemicals such as Tri SanTM Acid Sanitizer, a unique product combining the power of different acids in a low-foaming concentration that reduces phosphate levels. Learn how this powerful sanitizer can ease your food or brewing industry’s workload.
Removing Microorganisms
As a sanitizer, Tri San Acid Sanitizer reduces microorganisms known as public health threats by approximately 99.999% within 30 seconds. Tri San also has the advantage of no rinsing after application. One step on a cleaned surface, and you’re finished.
Low concentrations of Tri San™ Acid Sanitizer effectively remove an abundance of microorganisms, including both gram-positive and gram-negative families of bacteria, including Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella enterica, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and other dangerous bacteria and fungi.
Acidic Properties
Because it is an acid, Tri San actively removes mineral stone and scale deposits, which are especially problematic in brewing. Scale encrusts standard potable water sources used in the brewing process and is present in beer. Tri San quickly cleans fermenters, kegs, bottles, and lines throughout the brewing machinery.
Tri San combines the cleaning power of several acids to clean as it sanitizes. Scale, milkstone (hard deposits of accumulated milk residue that may alter milk flavor and introduce bacteria) and mineral stone buildup are removed with the help of Tri San Acid Sanitizer. Tri San is a low-phosphate, low-foam sanitizer for clean-in-place (CIP) and clean-out-of-place (COP) hard, non-porous food-contact surfaces, such as stainless steel. As an acid, Tri San also extends the working life of stainless steel.
Removing Buildup
Tri San has been approved by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for use in poultry and meat processing plants. In the food industry, the buildup of iron is an extreme problem. The application of Tri San Acid Sanitizer removes iron buildup and the possibility of rust.
Bell Chem is an industrial chemical supplier based in Longwood, FL (just north of Orlando) with hundreds of products stocked in their 50,000+ square-foot warehouse, including Tri San acid sanitizer. You can expect the highest quality products, expedited shipping options for maximum efficiency, and unrivaled personalized customer service. Let our knowledgeable and friendly customer service representatives and accounting staff personalize all your needs by either calling 407-339-BELL (2355) or by sending us an online message.
How Calcium Lactate is Used in Food Production
Food ingredient supplier Bell Chem is proud to stock calcium lactate (pentahydrate powder) in its extensive inventory. With its low-methoxyl pectin, this marvelous ingredient is ideal for canned foods as well as fresh fruits. With the power to preserve the freshness of cut fruits and vegetables and the ability to add calcium to products, calcium lactate is a great choice under many circumstances!
As a Supplement
Supplementing foods with calcium has been the norm for decades, but many of the substances utilized leave an odd taste or aftertaste. Calcium lactate is virtually neutral in its flavor, leaving your customers with only the intended taste of your product. The ability to fortify foods with calcium lactate aids in bone strength. With its 14% mineral content, calcium lactate also remineralizes tooth enamel, preventing tooth decay and tartar production.
Physical Properties
Calcium lactate dissolves quickly when added, even at low temperatures. In fact, calcium lactate is renowned for its expedient calcium reactivity due to high product solubility. Another important factor is color: calcium lactate is virtually transparent, which is important when added to fresh foods to maintain their original coloration.
Acidic Flexibility
As an acid, calcium lactate is able to stabilize or decrease pH levels, which leads to unfavorable conditions for microbial growth. This property generally lengthens product shelf life significantly. In cheesemaking, however, calcium lactate can decrease acid content, generally when it is applied on the exterior of the cheese.
Coagulation Benefits
Calcium lactate stimulates syneresis; syneresis is the coagulation of a product into a gel as fluid is separated. This property gives calcium lactate many uses in fortifying foods and beverages, especially in the canning industry. Calcium lactate creates calcium bonds to coagulate liquid jelly rather than relying on the intricate balance of sugar, pectin, and acid. In fact, calcium lactate does not require sugar or acid to form a gel.
Bell Chem is your food ingredient supplier based in Longwood, FL (just north of Orlando) with hundreds of products stocked in their 50,000+ square-foot warehouse, including calcium lactate. You can expect the highest quality products, expedited shipping options for maximum efficiency, and unrivaled personalized customer service. Let our knowledgeable and friendly customer service representatives and accounting staff personalize all your needs by either calling 407-339-BELL (2355) or by sending us an online message.
Boric Acid in Manufacturing
Boric acid (hydrogen borate, boracic acid, orthoboric acid, acidum boricum, BH3O3, H3BO3, or B(OH)3 are its other identifiers) is a weak acid that may be found as a colorless crystal or a white powder. Industrial chemical supplier Bell Chem ensures boric acid is part of its inventory because of its wide-ranging uses. Read below for a few uses of this important chemical.
Glass Manufacturing
The glass industry relies heavily on boric acid to create several varieties of glass. First developed in the latter portion of the 19th century, borates gained notoriety in its positive impact on glass, which escalated in 1915 with the production of Pyrex, a borosilicate glass product. In the late 20th century the normally clear boric acid glass was infused with color.
When added to a silica base, boric acid creates a much stronger product that withstands the stresses of thermal expansion, lowers the melting temperature and viscosity of glass, and inhibits devitrification (crystallization) of glass. It also creates more transparent and brighter glass, resists moisture more readily, and acts as a remarkable flux in the glassmaking process.
Boric acid is used for specialty glass (optical, laboratory, and technical glass) and borosilicate tubes; display glass, textile and insulation fiberglass, lightbulbs, LCD television screens and microfiber glass. Borosilicate glass has even traveled in space as insulation tiles on the space shuttles!
Healthcare Products
Boric acid is a natural antiseptic and antibacterial chemical commonly used for minor skin abrasions or burns. It also is used to curb acne breakouts, conjunctivitis, yeast infections, and athlete’s foot. Many eye care products, such as eye drops and saline solution, contain boric acid.
Textiles
Boric acid as a flux (soldering compound) prevents oxygenation when used in metallurgy. This unwanted oxygenation, known as fire scale, is repelled with a coating of 60% boric acid and 40% denatured alcohol. When combined with water, boric acid acts as a flow flux.
In the tanning industry, the four steps in converting hides to leather are liming and hair removal, deliming, pickling, and tanning. The second step, deliming, utilizes boric acid and buffering salts to remove the lime traces from the initial step and lower the pH for the succeeding steps.
Bell Chem is an industrial chemical supplier based in Longwood, FL (just north of Orlando) with hundreds of products stocked in their 50,000+ square-foot warehouse, including boric acid. You can expect the highest quality products, expedited shipping options for maximum efficiency, and unrivaled personalized customer service. Let our knowledgeable and friendly customer service representatives and accounting staff personalize all your needs by either calling 407-339-BELL (2355) or by sending us an online message.
Benefits of CSAN Cleaners for Food Manufacturing Equipment
Whether you’re looking at a convoluted piece of industrial equipment or a slick surface to be considered safe for the creation or distribution of foods and beverages, it must meet stringent guidelines. Bell Chem, your industrial chemical supplier, proudly carries CSAN® cleaning supplies to exceed those guidelines.
Cleaners
In order to properly disinfect a surface from contaminants, it must first be cleaned. Bell Chem has 3 categories of CSAN cleaners: general purpose, foaming, and alkaline. While all are very effective, they have different properties to give them the ultimate cleaning power depending on the circumstances. All-purpose cleaners are ready to work on any surface. They are formulated to be gentle to most surfaces while maintaining enough strength to remove grease, debris (both micro- and macroscopic), and stains.
Many particulate products within the food industry are eradicated from surfaces with alkaline cleaners. These include fats and oils as well as proteins. It is vitally necessary to clear all material encrusted on any surface to ensure disinfectants work properly. Sometimes, though, the surface to be cleaned is not a sheet of metal, but an intricate piece of machinery with nooks and crannies, protrusions and sharp points. Foaming CSAN cleaners fill this niche with their ability to cling as they clean, breaking down buildup to be quickly washed away.
Detergents
Many cleaners contain detergents as a one-two punch as they clean and sanitize an area. Detergents are biocides, killing bacteria, viruses, spores, and other microbial life, and they are also surfactants, breaking the surface tension of liquids to allow the cleaning or sanitizing properties of the product to work efficiently CSAN acid detergents decrease the pH of surfaces, which creates an inhospitable environment for the majority of biologic life. CSAN chlorinated detergent is a form of an acid detergent and is often the choice for food prep areas.
Sanitizers
Once a surface is free of buildup, a sanitizer ensures bacteria on the surface are reduced by 99.9%. Therefore, many sanitizers are used after detergents and cleaners are applied. Most food prep areas are thoroughly sanitized before any product comes in contact with the surface. Both cleaners and sanitizers may be formulated to be applied directly on some foods to reduce the amount of microorganisms in or on the foods. Not all sanitizers are created equally: while one sanitizer may be designed to eradicate one type of organism, a second may destroy another.
To effectively clean and sanitize, it is recommended to clean an area first by removing large particulate matter, then applying a cleaner to remove any foreign material. After this step, rinse the area and apply a detergent. Rinse off the detergent with hot water and apply a sanitizer. To complete the process, allow the surface or equipment to air dry.
Bell Chem is an industrial chemical supplier based in Longwood, FL (just north of Orlando) with hundreds of products stocked in their 50,000+ square-foot warehouse, including CSAN® cleaning products. You can expect the highest quality products, expedited shipping options for maximum efficiency, and unrivaled personalized customer service. Let our knowledgeable and friendly customer service representatives and accounting staff personalize all your needs by either calling 407-339-BELL (2355) or by sending us an online message.
Benefits of Sucralose in Food Production
Zero-calorie Sucralose developed when scientists substituted oxygen atoms for chlorine atoms in the chemical formula for sucrose. This small change created a product 600 times sweeter than sucrose without the caloric burden. Food ingredient supplier Bell Chem stocks Sucralose and anticipates the market for this sweetener will continue to grow.
Sucralose has become ubiquitous on supermarket shelves, with more than 4,000 foods and beverages listing Sucralose or its brand name as an ingredient. Because it is significantly sweeter than other sugars and sugar substitutes, a tiny amount is all that is necessary to enhance beverages, breakfast bars, breads and the other products in which it is an ingredient.
Health Benefits
Many health-minded consumers looking for a natural alternative to sugar appreciate that Sucralose is derived from sucrose. Patients suffering with cardiovascular disease or diabetes mellitus find foods with Sucralose do not cause a rise in obesity or long- or short-term blood glucose levels since the body does not recognize Sucralose as a simple sugar or carbohydrate because of its chemical manipulation. The chemical change from sucrose also makes it unappealing to oral bacteria that cause tooth decay.
Heat Stability
Confectioners praise Sucralose’s stability in a variety of temperature extremes. Heat stability gives Sucralose the ability to act like table sugar when added to baked goods as well as during canning and pasteurization- it will not break down and cause an abnormal distribution of flavor when the temperature fluctuates.
Storage Benefits
Manufacturers and retailers enjoy Sucralose’s ability to withstand a number of the conditions relative to processing, including adapting to a vast range of food pH values. This ability extends to another factor all parties associated with Sucralose appreciate: the lengthy shelf life it attains since it does not break down over time. Foods including dried fruits and vegetables, frozen desserts, and salad dressings contain Sucralose for this reason.
Other Uses for Sucralose
Along with foods and beverages for human consumption, Sucralose is also an ingredient in animal feed, pharmaceuticals, and health and beauty products. When dissolved in water or certain alcohols, Sucralose shields astringent or bitter flavors in medicines. This gives it a role in supplements, vitamins, oral care products and local oral anesthetics, cough and cold syrups, and veterinary drugs.
Bell Chem is a food ingredient supplier based in Longwood, FL (just north of Orlando) with hundreds of products stocked in their 50,000+ square-foot warehouse, including Sucralose. You can expect the highest quality products, expedited shipping options for maximum efficiency, and unrivaled personalized customer service. Let our knowledgeable and friendly customer service representatives and accounting staff personalize all your needs by either calling 407-339-BELL (2355) or by sending us an online message.
Why You Should Use Whey Protein in Health Products
While many products are touted for their nutritional value, whey protein stands head and shoulders above other proteins with its very high nutritional value and subsequent health benefits. Bell Chem, your food ingredient supplier, would like to share how much its food and beverage, health, and medical businesses can bolster their products’ health benefits with the addition of whey protein.
How Whey is Made
When Little Miss Muffet eats her curds and whey, she actually consumes separated milk products. Under specific heat and in the presence of a catalyst, milk separates into whey and curds (a loose cheese). In the past, whey was discarded as a by-product of the cheese- or yogurt-making process. Today, nutritionists understand the value of whey and incorporate this generally tasteless and odorless product into a range of foods and supplements.
Whey Protein in Food Products
Whey protein is added to many health foods, such as shakes, meal replacement bars, and protein bars. The most popular flavors added to whey protein are chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla. Infant formulas and healthy geriatric beverages also tout whey protein as an important nutritional supplement. Dairy foods promoted as reduced fat or fat-free may replace fat with whey protein since it has a similar consistency and mouthfeel.
Contains Amino Acids
Many proteins contain essential amino acids, or those amino acids the body is unable to produce and must utilize from outside sources. Whey protein is a rare example of a liquid containing all known essential amino acids. Amino acids are the building blocks of protein, and since whey protein contains all essential amino acids — including isoleucine, valine, and leucine, the ultimate branched-chain anabolic amino acid — it promotes muscle growth more readily than other proteins.
May Moderate Blood Sugar
For patients with type 2 diabetes, studies have shown whey protein may moderate blood sugar better than other forms of protein. This effect is more evident when a whey protein supplement is ingested before a meal high in carbohydrates.
Contains Antioxidants
The antioxidant glutathione is produced in the body from stored amino acids, such as cysteine. Cysteine is often not greatly produced in the body, but is abundant in whey protein. By supplementing the body with whey protein, the body’s natural defenses can increase.
Improves Workouts
Compared to other protein sources, whey protein suppresses appetite and increases the body’s metabolic rate more readily, which leads to the potential for weight loss. After intense activity or exercise, supplementing with whey protein expedites muscle recovery and soreness.
Bell Chem is a food ingredient supplier based in Longwood, FL (just north of Orlando) with hundreds of products stocked in their 50,000+ square-foot warehouse, including whey protein. You can expect the highest quality products, expedited shipping options for maximum efficiency, and unrivaled personalized customer service. Let our knowledgeable and friendly customer service representatives and accounting staff personalize all your needs by either calling 407-339-BELL (2355) or by sending us an online message.
Caffeine as a Skincare Ingredient
Most consumers of coffee understand its potency; it jolts you out of sleep in the morning and keeps you going during the day. The drug in coffee responsible for this phenomenon is caffeine, a central nervous system stimulant. As such, it is able to direct the brain and spinal cord to quickly react to internal and external stimuli by activating specific neurons. Food ingredient supplier Bell Chem stocks high-quality caffeine for its customers, including those in the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries where caffeine has become a key ingredient.
Reduces Inflammation
Caffeine is an effective vasoconstrictor. It shrinks the circumference of blood vessels, which alleviates inflammation in the outer layer of skin, the epidermis. For this reason, caffeine is often added to exfoliants to reduce inflammation after the skin is lightly abraded during treatment. Products touting skin hydration often contain caffeine since dehydrated skin is generally stressed, which leads to inflammation, which caffeine is able to control under certain conditions.
Improves Circulation
Dermatologist Dr. Rachel Nazarian of Schweiger Dermatology Group reports caffeine is effective in reducing puffiness around the eyes by improving circulation, especially in aging skin. She noted with a bit of awed surprise that this circulation boost caused her patients’ skin to take on a healthy glow.
Converts Fat
Dr. Raymond Schep, the Chief Chemist for Colonial Dames Company and member of the CA Association of Toxicologists, focused on caffeine’s effect on cellulite below the skin. Caffeine actively degrades fat by converting it to fatty acids (a process known as lipolysis), which are easily circulated through the blood and metabolized. A small study reported a cream containing caffeine was applied to the upper arms and thighs of 15 participants over 6 weeks. Of those participants, 4/5 noted a decrease in the circumference of both arms and legs (approximately .75 cm) at the end of the study.
Removes Free Radicals
The natural antioxidant properties of caffeine destroy free radicals in the body, which break down collagen and cause wrinkles, hyperpigmentation, sun spots, sunburn, and redness. Susie Wang is the founder and skincare chemist at 100% PURE. Her company adds caffeine to many of its products to stimulate healing from sun exposure. Caffeine contains chlorogenic acid that soothes while it heals not only sunburn but skin affected by acne. The antibacterial properties of caffeine assist in acne skincare as well. A study on lab mice reported the apoptosis (cell death) of cancerous cells caused by UVB radiation.
Bell Chem is a food ingredient supplier based in Longwood, FL (just north of Orlando) with hundreds of products stocked in their 50,000+ square-foot warehouse, including caffeine. You can expect the highest quality products, expedited shipping options for maximum efficiency, and unrivaled personalized customer service. Let our knowledgeable and friendly customer service representatives and accounting staff personalize all your needs by either calling 407-339-BELL (2355) or by sending us an online message.
What is Copper Carbonate?
Copper carbonate (Cu2CO3(OH)2) is a water insoluble chemical created when copper loses the electrons in its outermost shell. Also known as copper (II) carbonate, carbonic acid, and copper monocarbonate, copper carbonate converts quickly to copper salts. USP ingredient supplier Bell Chem’s customers use copper carbonate in jewelry metallurgy, wood preservation, pesticides, and more.
Agriculture
Copper carbonate is used frequently in fertilizer as well as in fungicides, insecticides, pesticides — where it acts as an anti-pathogenic — and in aquaculture where it controls unwanted foliage. Rather than adding copper carbonate to fertilizer, manufacturers may add this important nutrient to the seeds as they are packaged. The cost of copper carbonate at this point is significantly lower than adding it to soil, reducing overall expenses. Animal feed, specifically poultry and ruminant feed, often has added copper carbonate since these animals rely on copper as a supplemental nutrient.
Woodworking and Ceramics
Micronized copper wood treatment consists of tiny copper carbonate particles suspended in a final treatment solution (often containing ammonia) for preserving wood and timber. Copper carbonate also helps with ceramic products. Before ceramics are fired, a glaze is often added to retain color and give a finished look to the product. Adding copper carbonate to the glaze creates a seafoam sheen to the ceramic. Applying copper carbonate plus an alkaline generates a bluer hue.
Other Uses of Copper Carbonate
Copper carbonate helps with the creation of many products, as well as helping along the scientific process. Here are a few more examples of its range of uses:
Laboratories: Copper carbonate catalyzes copper chromite, which breaks down fatty methyl esters in the production of fatty alcohols.
Paints: In artist’s palettes, copper carbonate creates the sought-after colors verditer and mountain green.
Petroleum: Adding nitric acid to copper carbonate produces copper chloride, important in the process of “oil sweetening”, or purifying oil of its sulfur components.
Pyrotechnics: Companies manufacturing fireworks use copper carbonate for a stellar blue sparkle to pyrotechnic displays.
Bell Chem is a USP ingredient supplier based in Longwood, FL (just north of Orlando) with hundreds of products stocked in their 50,000+ square-foot warehouse, including copper carbonate. You can expect the highest quality products, expedited shipping options for maximum efficiency, and unrivaled personalized customer service. Let our knowledgeable and friendly customer service representatives and accounting staff personalize all your needs by either calling 407-339-BELL (2355) or by sending us an online message.