Commonly Used Preservatives in Orange Juice

The orange juice you drink may have “fresh squeezed” on the container, but it contains more than just oranges. Surprisingly, true freshly-squeezed orange juice has a shelf life of only a few hours. In order to maintain its stability, orange juice contains preservatives, and your food ingredient supplier, Bell Chem, gives you an idea of what to expect on your orange juice container, and the role of each preservative.

First, let’s discuss pasteurization. Many pundits argue that pasteurization is more economical and safer than adding chemicals. However, in the case of orange juice, pasteurization destroys most of the nutrients within orange juice, rendering it only slightly better than fruit-flavored juice. When manufacturers do choose to pasteurize to kill bacteria, they often have to add nutritive substances back into the juice.

Ascorbic acid

Vitamin C’s source is ascorbic acid, which usually presents as a powder in orange juice. As the name implies, ascorbic acid is an acidulant as well as an antioxidant. Its claim to fame is its ability to keep orange juice from tinting brown. Use ascorbic acid in conjunction with another strong acid for better results. Since it is the forerunner to Vitamin C, many orange juices proudly display its addition in the ingredients list, and tout their “High in Vitamin C” claim on the label.

Benzoic acid

This antimicrobial preservative works wonders at pH levels between 2.5 and 4.0. With orange juice clocking in at pH 3.9, benzoic acid successfully inhibits the growth of bacteria and yeasts. The addition of benzoic acid greatly increases the shelf life of orange juice.

Citric acid

The white crystalline form of citric acid monohydrate balances the pH of orange juice as an acidulant and knocks out microbial growth as an antioxidant. As a bonus, citric acid is how consumers judge the taste of orange juice, passing along its tart flavor.

Sodium benzoate

This white crystalline powder stops bacterial, fungal, and microbial growth and has a higher rate of inhibition than other preservatives. The food industry has relied on sodium benzoate for more than 100 years.

Sodium carboxymethylcellulose (CMC)

As a white, fine powder, CMC thickens juices and improves mouthfeel. As an emulsifier, CMC suspends pulp within the juice matrix. This nifty trick retains the color people recognize as fresh juice.

Sorbic acid

A natural organic compound, sorbic acid preserves all forms of juice except frozen concentrated orange juice. Not much sorbic acid is required to deter the growth of bacteria, molds, and yeast. 

Sulfur dioxide

Working as a preservative and antioxidant, sulfur dioxide increases shelf life as it kills microorganisms.

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 many orange juice preservatives. 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.

Rice Flour in Food Manufacturing

For anyone with celiac disease or an aversion to gluten, finding a good substitute for wheat flour is difficult. Rice flour’s promise of eased digestion is bringing it to the forefront for food manufacturers, and your food ingredient supplier, Bell Chem, presents the following examples of how rice flour is taking the cooking and baking worlds by storm. 

Cereal

Breakfast cereals have long relied on rice flour as a prime ingredient since its tremendous amount of amylose: the higher the amylose content, the more starch is contained in the rice flour and the stiffer the gel can be produced. This gel gives the crisp crunch to cereals since rice flour is not as prone to absorb water…or milk. As cereals containing rice flour cool after baking, the porous texture has the ability to be more tightly regulated which also leads to a crisper cereal.

Snack Foods

When applied to the outer coating of snack foods, rice flour has two tasks: it aids in the coating’s adhesion to the snack and gives a satisfying crunch to the snack’s exterior. Artisan loaves also use this feature when dusting the exterior of the loaves before baking.

Food in Restaurants

Restaurants have learned to rely more heavily on rice flour for frying since it produces a crisper, lighter texture to foods. Even the ubiquitous French fry is crunchier when rice flour coats the fries prior to entering the fryer. In sauces and sauce mixes, rice flour plumps up the volume, giving a more pleasant mouthfeel. 

Baby Foods

Rice flour is a key ingredient in many baby foods, and is often one of the first foods introduced to infants in the form of rice cereal. It is easily digestible and contributes to few allergic reactions. Studies have proven the amino acid profile of rice flour is quite similar to the amino acid profile of breast milk. Additionally, rice flour contains a high starch content, lipids (including unsaturated fatty acids), and necessary fiber. 

Food for the Elderly

On the other side of the human lifespan, rice flour is being touted as an impressive contender for nutritional food of the year for our aging population. Compared to other cereal grains, rice flour is more nutritious, and it contains more protein than yogurt. 

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 rice flour. 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.

Magnesium Stearate in Medicine and Beyond

Tablets and pills, vitamins and powders. These all owe their consistency – the amount of active ingredient per serving – to products such as magnesium stearate. This long-chain saturated fat acts as a flow agent allowing ingredients to properly separate into tiny capsules without clogging machinery or adhering to the sides of capsules. As a USP ingredient supplier, Bell Chem ensures its magnesium stearate meets all medical levels of purity. This ingredient is utilized in more than the pharmaceutical industry, though. Read below for the many areas where magnesium stearate is the best choice for your company.

Magnesium Stearate

Usually processed with a salt (magnesium), stearic acid is derived from many animal or plant sources, including chicken, beef, palm oil, eggs, salmon, coconut oil, and dairy products. Magnesium ions bond with stearate molecules to form an acid/base reaction creating a salt: magnesium stearate. At room temperature, magnesium stearate is a solid, white powder. 

Scientists have confirmed stearic acid is the sole long-chain saturated fat that does not raise levels of cholesterol. 

Pharmaceutical uses

Magnesium stearate is an inactive ingredient that keeps active ingredients flowing freely. Medications are often coated with magnesium stearate, and the flavor is rather distinct. As a saturated fat, it also acts as a lubricant for many medications.

Inside the body, magnesium stearate breaks down slowly, allowing medication to pass through the stomach before being broken down in the small intestine where the medication is absorbed rather than destroyed in the extremely acidic conditions of the stomach.

Cosmetics

As with medications, magnesium stearate adds bulk to active ingredients, helps separate the ingredients to give the same amount of ingredient with every use, and it also acts as a handy colorant for products that would normally be transparent or clear. 

Many cosmetics, such as foundations, eyeliner, deodorants, blushes, lipstick, face powder, and hair care products rely on magnesium stearate for its thickening, lubricating, and binding properties.

For products with an oily base, magnesium stearate deters separation of oils from liquids.

Food industry

Magnesium stearate is an emulsifier, binder, and thickener in processed foods. Spices and baking ingredients enjoy its anti-caking abilities, it acts as an emulsifier in chewing gum and confections, and magnesium stearate thickens dietary supplements. 

Bell Chem is a USP ingredient supplier based in Longwood, Florida, (just north of Orlando) with hundreds of products stocked in their 50,000+ square-foot warehouse, including magnesium stearate. 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.

Dextrose Uses in Food and Medicine

Dextrose, like the other simple monosaccharides fructose, galactose, and glucose, is often an ingredient in foods and medicines as an artificial sweetener. Unlike other sweeteners, dextrose is derived from the starch of corn. As a food and ingredient supplier, Bell Chem ensures its pure dextrose is food and pharmaceutical grade for your growing business. 

Medical industry

Glucose is manufactured within the human body. When internal mechanisms fail and the body is not able to produce adequate amounts of blood glucose, the body negatively reacts by altering brain functionality and metabolic processes. Physicians often intervene with intravenous dextrose. Dextrose is chemically identical to glucose, so the body is able to utilize it in the same methods it would with glucose and raise low blood sugar levels rapidly. Dextrose tablets or gels are often prescribed for patients prone to episodes of low blood sugar.

When the body’s ready stores of water are depleted, it becomes dehydrated. Most of the time drinking water alleviates dehydration, but sometimes medical intervention is necessary if a patient is not able to take in water orally. Dextrose is added to a saline solution given intravenously in the form of a rehydration drip.

Patients who are unable to take in food on a regular basis rely on dextrose, amino acids, and other nutrients to boost their caloric and nutritional intake and remove the risk of malnourishment. Dextrose is the carbohydrate component of the body’s main 3 nutritional components of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. Amino acids are the building blocks of protein, and fats may be given in many forms. Together these make up total parenteral nutrition (TPN) for patients unable to regularly consume liquids or solids.

Hyperkalemia is a medical condition where potassium levels are elevated. Dextrose followed by insulin is often administered since cells taking in dextrose are also taking in potassium, thereby lowering the potassium levels of the blood.

Alcohol intoxication is also treated with dextrose. In alcohol intoxication, the liver is no longer able to remove all the alcohol from the blood quickly enough and body systems begin to relax, including the respiratory and cardiovascular systems. Intravenous fluid with 50% dextrose cleanses the blood of alcohol as it feeds the liver much-needed energy to repair and work properly.

Foods and beverages

Dextrose is dried or crystallized from corn or wheat starch, then added as a liquid or powder ingredient in foods and beverages. Not surprisingly, high fructose corn syrup contains dextrose. This product is used frequently in beverages and cereals, baked goods and packaged foods.

When foods are overly spicy or salty, dextrose is able to stabilize the flavors since it is only 80% as sweet as sucrose, thereby not overpowering the other flavors.

Some foodstuffs, such as jams, experience a longer shelf life with the addition of dextrose since it acts as a preservative.

Bodybuilders and other extreme athletes rapidly deplete energy stores when working out on a punishing schedule. Dextrose replenishes glycogen stored in the liver. Quickly restoring glycogen allows muscles to retain strength and add bulk.

Bell Chem is a food and 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.

The Many Uses of Sodium Hypochlorite a.k.a. Liquid Bleach

Sodium hypochlorite is renowned for disinfecting and decontaminating surfaces. Its uses range from hospital rooms to waste disposal plants. Industrial chemical supplier Bell Chem’s 10%-11% sodium hypochlorite is technical grade. It’s significantly stronger than traditional box-store bleach, which makes it applicable for industrial settings since this percentage readily disinfects. What industries use sodium hypochlorite? Read below to learn about how this inexpensive, effective chemical is used across industries.

Commercial laundry services

The first use of sodium hypochlorite was in France where it was created and readily adapted to bleach cotton. From those humble beginnings, liquid bleach has taken on hundreds of uses. Still, fabric care is one of its most ubiquitous challenges. Commercial laundries rely on the stain-eradicating power of sodium hypochlorite. Clothes laundered in bleach appear whiter and significantly cleaner to consumers. Even better, since it works at room temperature, it is significantly more efficient than introducing high temperatures and less effective chemicals.

Laboratories and chemical factories

Chemical processes demand clean, sanitized surfaces to deter any errors in reactions. Sodium hypochlorite has assumed this role for more than half a century. When added to biological materials, sodium hypochlorite easily inactivates mycobacterium, viruses, fungi, and bacteria for simpler interactions. When lab personnel interact with biological agents, the disposal of those transactions is greatly simplified with sodium hypochlorite. Since liquid bleach easily kills microorganisms, the disposal of used experimental agents is a quick process.

Pool services

Algae growth is a common threat to public and private swimming pools. Liquid bleach rapidly amends pH imbalances (the standard pH of 11% sodium hypochlorite is 13) and kills organisms present in the water through oxidation and disinfection. Slow-acting sodium hypochlorite maintains clear water and deters the buildup of biofilm by keeping botanical growth at bay. Microorganisms are unable to build any defense against sodium hypochlorite, so its continued use will not be bound by biological resistance.

Public water treatment

As water is being treated, sodium hypochlorite neutralizes the odors created by sulfur hydrogen gas and ammonia. Without the addition of chlorine oxidizing the water, most water would not be considered safe to consume. Water treatment professionals and analysts have used a variety of chemicals in countless combinations to bring water to its purest standards. Through their efforts it has been determined sodium hypochlorite embodies the ultimate blend of effectiveness, safety, price, and ease of use.  

Bell Chem is an industrial chemical supplier based in Longwood, Florida, (just north of Orlando) with hundreds of products stocked in their 50,000+ square-foot warehouse, including sodium hypochlorite. 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 White Mineral Oil is Used Across Industries

White mineral oil is most notably the by-product of the process of refining crude oil. It is generally light, colorless, and odorless, which gives rise to its many uses across industries. Industrial chemical supplier Bell Chem supplies many of its customers with its pure mineral oil and wants our customers to know how white mineral oil can be used across industries.

Names of White Mineral Oil

On packages you might note white mineral oil listed as white oil, mineral oil, liquid paraffin, paraffin oil, or liquid petroleum. Along with its many names, white mineral oil has developed from many sources over the centuries. In modern times, it is most readily derived from crude oil processing. 

Two Types of White Mineral Oil

White mineral oil can be processed into food grade as well as medical grade. Both grades use white mineral oil as an application to machinery as a lubricant since all chemicals in close proximity with pharmaceutical or food products must meet higher standards. 

Food Production

White mineral oil is added to rice, barley, wheat, and oats and even sticky candies such as gummi worms since it keeps these foods from adhering to each other. Many spray oils contain white mineral oil for this same reason. Many foods are coated with white mineral oil to maintain freshness since it creates a barrier between the food and chemical reactions associated with oxygen. 

Restaurant Uses

Food grade white mineral oil is slathered on wooden cutting boards to stop liquids and odors from absorbing into the porous surface. Stainless steel utensils and surfaces are easily polished with white mineral oil. Cutlery wiped with white mineral oil after contacting food loses any lingering odor and maintains its cleanliness.

In Medicine

The pharmaceutical industry adds white mineral oil to capsules. Many topical ointments and personal care products contain this oil to reduce loss of fluid from the surface of the skin, soften skin, and lubricate. If you have ever used baby oil, you know what white mineral oil is since baby oil is white mineral oil plus a fragrance. Animals are not exempt from white mineral oil’s varied uses; in vaccines administered to many animal breeds, white mineral oil is an ingredient.

Personal Care

Personal care products including sunscreens, cold creams, lotions, and many cosmetics list white mineral oil on their labels because it is non comedogenic. Also, as a stable, inert product, consumers with sensitive skin generally have no reaction to white mineral oil.

Uses in Plastics

Plastics find white mineral oil is superior in PVC and polystyrene lubricants since it softens the beginning rubber products and enhances the melt flow rate of the end product. Plastic food packaging and utensils, children’s toys, and many other plastics also rely on white mineral oil. 

Bell Chem is a sanitation chemical supplier based in Longwood, FL (just north of Orlando) with hundreds of products stocked in their 50,000+ square-foot warehouse, including white mineral oil. 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.

Malic Acid and its Potential Benefits

Malic acid may be, as the name applies, acidic as well as sour, but these properties add to its charm. With benefits ranging from skin care to dry mouth assistance, your USP ingredient supplier Bell Chem knows this ingredient should be a staple in your business. 

Cosmetics

Malic acid works wonders on your complexion as it sloughs away dead skin cells on the surface of the epidermis by breaking the bonds between cells. This makes it ideal for many individuals who suffer with acne or older folks who wish to revitalize their skin. Your cells are built and maintained by the protein collagen, which gives skin more support and flexibility. As we age, collagen is not as abundant, which causes wrinkles and loss of elasticity. Malic acid stimulates collagen production. 

It has also shown to help those with skin disorders. Melasma is a disorder characterized by areas of more darkly pigmented skin. A 2013 study determined repeated applications of vitamin C and malic acid lightened areas of melasma as long as the regimen lasted. However, the benefits go beyond anti-aging and skin healing properties. Malic acid is often an ingredient in shampoos, nail treatments, and lotions since it acts as a humectant by keeping skin, nails, and hair hydrated and supple.

Medicine 

Medical professionals often prescribe malic acid as a spray or lozenge since its pungent flavor activates taste buds, causing salivation in those patients who suffer from dry mouth. For patients with a propensity to kidney stones, malic acid is often prescribed since it is the precursor to citrate, which may prevent the formation and growth of kidney stones as it increases the pH of urine. Malic acid also catalyzes important minerals, such as calcium and magnesium. When the mineral and malic acid are attached, the mineral is more easily absorbed.

Energy levels may also be improved with the addition of malic acid in the diet, since it is a key component in the Krebs cycle, a body process that creates energy. Athletes likewise benefit from malic acid as they train since it increases energy endurance levels. Creatine, long associated with elite athletic training, is more quickly absorbed by the body’s tissues when taken with malic acid. A 2015 study noted sprinters taking the malic acid/creatine supplements had increased peak power, body composition, growth hormone levels, and total work while long distance runners increased overall distance run. 

Foods and Beverages

The tangy kick of malic acid is frequently used as a food flavoring, especially in extremely sour candies. As an acid, malic acid prevents the oxidation of foods, maintaining their fresh appearance longer. Malic acid’s acidity also proves to be antimicrobial. Both these factors increase the shelf life of products. 

The secret ingredient in low-calorie beverages is malic acid since the intense fruity flavor stimulates the brain into believing the drink is sweeter than it truly is. In fact, 51% of all malic acid used industry wide is in beverages.

Bell Chem is a sanitation chemical supplier based in Longwood, FL (just north of Orlando) with hundreds of products stocked in their 50,000+ square-foot warehouse, including malic 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.

Hydrated Lime in Food Production

The only type of lime most of us recognize when we talk about food is the fruit. However, the chemical combination of calcium oxide and water into hydrated lime is quite different. Learn about the importance of food ingredient supplier Bell Chem’s hydrated lime in food production.

Baking powder

Monocalcium phosphate, known colloquially as baking powder, is the reaction of pure phosphoric acid with hydrated lime. 

Corn products

Central American natives found hydrated lime a key asset in processing corn thousands of years ago. When they soaked raw corn kernels in water mixed with hydrated lime (milk of lime), the kernels softened and the hulls were more quickly removed. More modern technology has determined this process also releases niacin and other minerals for rapid use in the digestive system. Most authentic corn products, including tamales and tortillas and even very Americanized corn chips, contain hydrated lime.

Cream of tartar

Hydrated lime reacts with grape leaves to precipitate calcium tartrate, which is converted to tartaric acid. The powdered form of tartaric acid is the same cream of tartar used in the baking industry.

Dairy

Whole milk naturally has cream floating on its surface. When this is skimmed to make butter, the butter is often acidic. Adding hydrated lime balances the pH before the cream is pasteurized and beaten into butter.

Fruit juices

The role of hydrated lime in fruit juices is simple: it adds to its nutritional value. Hydrated lime is calcium hydroxide by another name, and the calcium fortification it provides is abundant. 

Gelatin

In animal processing, waste material and slurried hydrated lime are mixed. The collagen within the waste material increases in volume, causing hydrolysis. Following this process, the remaining material is cleaned and dried to form gelatin.

Sugar sources

Sugarcane and sugar beets undergo carbonation during refining. When the plant material is processed with water to form a juice, the juice’s pH is acidic and replete with impurities. Adding hydrated lime adjusts the pH and flocculates the impurities for removal. This mixing of raw sugar with calcium hydroxide stabilizes the end product and may be repeated as many times as necessary to further refine the sugar. Smaller sources of commercial sugar, such as maple or sorghum, also benefit from refining with hydrated lime. 

Storage of fruits and vegetables

In storage areas, semi-permeable bags of hydrated lime are added throughout racks of open fruit and vegetable containers. The hydrated lime absorbs carbon dioxide emanating from the produce as it ripens. The addition of hydrated lime to the storage areas increases the ratio of oxygen to carbon dioxide, which keeps produce fresher for an extended period of time. 

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 hydrated lime. 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 Lactic Acid is Used in Beauty Products

Lactic acid has long been touted as a beneficial ingredient in beauty products. Industrial chemical supplier Bell Chem has information on this alpha hydroxy acid that promises supple skin with fewer wrinkles. Read below to learn more facts about lactic acid. You probably recognize lactic acid as the fermented form of the carbohydrate lactose in milk. Looking back in history, lactic acid (in the form of sour milk) has been used as a skin softener since Ancient Egyptian times. But what exactly can lactic acid do for your skin? Why might it be an ingredient in other beauty products?

The best alpha hydroxy acid

Most alpha hydroxy acids (AHAs) work well on skin, evening out irregular coloration and lessening fine lines. Of all the water-soluble AHAs, though, lactic acid alone hydrates the skin. And lactic acid is mild enough it can be used even on areas of sensitive skin.

Increases cell renewal

Skin cells form tight bonds to one another, leading to the continuous outer layer of our epidermis. When one skin cell dies, the ones around it may still be alive. If this occurs with frequency, the surface of the skin may contain thousands upon thousands of dead skin cells. Lactic acid breaks the chemical bonds between dead cells and their neighbors, allowing the old cells to be sloughed away. Because new, healthier skin cells remain, the skin seems to glow with health.

Improves skin texture

When the pores of the skin are large, the face appears pocked. Lactic acid tends to reduce pore size. Working below the skin’s outermost epidermal layer, lactic acid stimulates collagen growth. The protein collagen is a connective tissue binding the epidermis to the dermis. When these two layers are tightly bound, the skin is tighter.

Reduces age spots and fine wrinkles

Often, as the skin ages, specific areas become more heavily imbued with melanin. This hyperpigmentation ranges from mild to severe and gives the skin an uneven appearance. Lactic acid exfoliates these overly pigmented areas, leaving skin looking significantly more youthful.

Different concentrations of lactic acid give varying results. At 12% by volume, lactic acid causes the epidermal layer to grow thicker and firmer. This leads to less of an appearance of wrinkles and fine lines. This concentration is able to seep below the outermost layer of the epidermis to positively affect the underlying granular and spinous layers. 

Anti-acne medication

Lactic acid chemical peels are mild enough to use even when patients are sensitive to other exfoliants. When coupled with antibiotic treatments, many patients have shown a reduction of almost 90% of inflammatory lesions.

Antimicrobial

When used on the skin’s surface, lactic acid stops microbial growth. This gentle cleansing counters the bacteria and other germs that cause acne and even types of eczema, rosacea, and psoriasis.

Keratosis pilaris treatment

The skin directly over the tricep muscles at the back of the arm tends to form small bumps from the buildup of skin cells around hair follicles. Treating the area with lactic acid dissolves these odd cellular rafts. 

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 lactic 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.

Bell Chem Celebrates its 30th Anniversary

Thirty years ago, John Cervo and Charles Williams embarked on a business venture and founded Bell Chem in Longwood, Florida. Together, the owners have grown their business to a single source distributor of chemicals and ingredients for customers across Florida, the United States, and the entire globe. 

While many things have changed over the last 30 years, the main goal of Bell Chem remains simple: provide their clients the best service and products possible. To that end, they work industriously to go above and beyond, providing next-day delivery service to many major Florida cities and to Florida ports for delivery worldwide. 

Celebrating 30 Years in Business

Founded in 1992, Bell Chem offers a wide array of chemicals and ingredients for food and reagents including the citrus industry, food and bakery industries, and beverage and brewery industries; USP ingredients for nutritional, pharmaceutical, and personal care products; water treatment chemicals for both industrial and municipal system use; and technical grade chemicals for sanitation and janitorial companies. 

While stocking these various items has helped our company compete, our personal customer service is what has truly helped us thrive. Several employees have worked for Bell Chem for 20 or more years, and one employee aside from the owners has been with the company since it was founded. We owe our longevity in a large part to these dedicated members of our team, as well as our ability to adapt to market needs.

Supporting Florida’s Citrus Industry

As time went by, our business moved increasingly into the food industry. Florida’s booming citrus industry relies on Bell Chem’s expedient delivery schedule and superior product line to help maintain their businesses as they grow the world’s best citrus products. Working hand-in-hand with Safe Chem, their longtime business partner, Bell Chem offers C-sanTM Sanitation products for citrus production and food/beverage processing. 

Keeping Up with Best Practices

With 30 years of experience, Bell Chem remains invested in progress. Quality control is a tremendous part of daily business, and every aspect of Bell Chem’s business is regulated by the FDA, DEA, EPA, and/or OSHA. They also ensure business practices and products are verified compliant via D. L. Newslow and Associates, Inc.. Their Food Safety Audit assures Bell Chem’s customers they are purchasing from a company meeting or exceeding Good Manufacturing Practices defined by the FDA, and related HACCP and PRP requirements. 

To our loyal employees and customers who helped build what we are today, THANK YOU. We remain committed to not only being the best company to work for but offering the highest quality products and service for our customers.