5 Most Common Flavor Enhancers and What They Do

Flavors make mundane foods great. Food ingredient supplier Bell Chem’s extensive inventory of flavor enhancers can give any meal the panache of a gourmet affair. We have compiled a list of 5 of our most common flavor enhancers so your meals can bring a smile to every customer’s face.

Monosodium glutamate

Created over 100 years ago, monosodium glutamate was almost lost to history after chemist Kikunae Ikeda determined kelp held a flavor often associated with “savory.” The chemical was L-glutamate, and when combined with sodium, it formed what the Japanese refer to as umai, or “delicious.” Anglicized, this becomes umami, the latest recognized taste our tongue’s sensors can perceive: savory. We no longer rely on kelp, but instead simple starches, to create MSG. When MSG is sprinkled on foods, consumers tend to use it much more sparingly than salt. This leads to a threefold decrease in the amount of sodium ingested along with a satisfying flavor. How can you beat a flavor known as “delicious”? 

Honey

When it comes to flavor, honey has a bunch – literally. When bees collect nectar from certain flowers, their honey takes on the specific flavor profile of that nectar. Much like a fine wine, discriminating gourmets can detect specific bouquets within a serving of honey. Honey is sweeter than table sugar and can generally be used in a 2:1 ratio, or for every 2 cups of sugar, add 1 cup of honey instead. Even with less product in recipes, honey not only adds a distinct flavor; it enhances the flavors of other ingredients. As it flavors foods, honey can also extend shelf life and stabilize liquid products, such as salad dressings, with its increased viscosity.

Citric acid 

Citric acid’s flavor is tart, refreshing, and acidic, although most people simply recognize it as “citrus.” Originally derived from lemon peels, citric acid does more than add flavor – it adds to the existing flavors of a food or beverage. Many chefs and manufacturers add citric acid to beverages to offset the sweet ingredients.

Corn syrup

As opposed to high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup is not quite as sweet as table sugar since the level of fructose has not been mechanically elevated. Corn syrup is often used as a liquid sweetener in candies, jams, and cakes. Corn syrup is pure glucose with no other saccharides present. Marshmallows, pecan pie, and peanut brittle would not be the same without the addition of corn syrup, which gives texture and a complex mouthfeel to products.

Salt (Sodium Chloride)

Another of our tongue’s specific tastes is salty. It has been proven sodium chloride stimulates the taste buds more than other salts, such as potassium chloride. Our bodies are designed for salt. In small concentrations, salt stimulates other tastes and flavors, such as sweet, by suppressing bitter tastes. A little salt is added to most cookie or cake recipes for this reason. However, more robust flavors, such as umami, require larger doses of salt to alter their taste profiles, which is why manufacturers often add more salt to savory foods as opposed to sweet foods. Salt balances and concentrates the flavors of foods and beverages.

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

Chemicals Used in Wastewater Treatment

Treating wastewater seems an easy enough enterprise, considering 99.9% of the runoff material from homes and businesses is pure water with only the remaining 0.1% needing treatment. However that elusive 0.1% can contain components that are either not safe, such as bodily wastes, or contaminated, such as with heavy metals. Industrial chemical supplier Bell Chem has compiled a list of the major chemicals used to treat water and bring it back to safe and/or potable standards.

Treating wastewater occurs in stages, including a mechanical, biological, chemical, and filtration phase. This article will focus solely on the chemicals associated with wastewater treatment along with the roles they play.

Cleaners and antiscalants

Before wastewater is treated, cleaners and antiscalants such as chlorine dioxide, muriatic acid, soda ash, sodium bicarbonate, and chlorine are added to deter mineral salts from clogging filtration membranes.

Precipitates

Toxic metals necessarily need to be removed from any wastewater, and precipitates contain dissolved metals into a larger particulate form, allowing the heavier compilation of waste to sink to the bottom of the tank to be eradicated via filtration. Look to sodium hydroxide or calcium hydroxide for the creation of solid metal hydroxides. 

Precipitates primarily focus on a specific metal, which means several precipitates may be necessary to sequester all metals present, such as the addition of anions to precipitate as aluminum, calcium, or iron salts. 

Coagulants

Aluminum or iron-based coagulants lock smaller particles together similar to precipitates, except their focus is on non-metals. As particles are gathered through a chemical reaction where the negatively charged waste material is attracted to the positively charged coagulants, the combined weight of the flocculated material causes it to slowly sink to the bottom of the tank to be filtered. An organic anionic flocculant expedites the process by sequestering the agglomerated material, and it can also reduce the overall charge in the water as the process is completed.

Oxidizers

An oxidizer, such as sodium bisulfite, sodium hydrosulfite, and ferrous sulfate, moves electrons to the wastewater’s pollutants, which causes the waste material to modify its structure and become less destructive. 

Potable water is also treated via oxidation in the form of hydrogen peroxide and ozone for the removal of pesticides and chlorinated hydrocarbons. A specialty application of oxidation includes the degradation of antibiotics and other drugs as well as the transformation of heavy metal ions into sulfides. 

Ion exchangers

Extreme hard water does not properly clean clothing and often leaves a less-than-pleasing gray discoloration to cloth. Ion exchangers such as positively charged sodium soften water replete with excess calcium and magnesium. Generally ion exchangers are added as dissolved salts.

pH adjusters

Wastewater influent is seldom at the desired stable pH of 7 and must either have added acids to decrease wastewater pH or alkalis to increase the pH. 

Stabilizers

Very similar to oxidation, sludge is treated primarily with chlorine or hydrogen peroxide to impede growth of microbes responsible for odors and poor water quality.

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 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.

5 Essential Ingredients for Skin Care Products in 2023

New year – new you can be this year’s skin health buzz phrase with these 5 amazing personal care ingredients that will send your products flying off the shelves. Bell Chem shares these ingredients along with their abilities to help you decide which you want in your personal care products.

Alpha-hydroxy acids (AHAs)

Lactic acid, tartaric acid, and citric acid are all AHAs responsible for aiding in the reduction of fine lines and pigmented areas such as freckles or age spots. As AHAs work, they also moisturize. The alpha-hydroxy acid lactic acid in particular is often used as an exfoliate. 

Ascorbic acid

Sometimes the best skin care ingredients are the most renowned. Ascorbic acid is the ultimate vitamin C ingredient, and the only derivative of vitamin C useful for skin care, according to Dr. Wilma Bergfeld, a dermatologist at the Cleveland Clinic. Ascorbic acid is a strong antioxidant that actively stimulates collagen production. 

Collagen plays a key role in reducing the appearance of wrinkles since it secures the dermis to the underlying connective tissue. Collagen normally breaks down because of pollution, ultraviolet exposure, and age. Hyaluronic acid produces similar results since it is a component of connective tissue and is often an ingredient added alongside vitamin C.

Green tea extract

Concentrated green tea contains the antioxidant epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), which reduces inflammation, protects against ultraviolet damage, and eases away fine lines. Similar to other antioxidants, EGCG also has the propensity to protect cells against free radical damage.

Niacinamide 

This form of vitamin B3 rebuilds keratin, which is an important protein that works to keep your skin firm and looking healthy. Niacinamide holds moisture within the skin and also helps with the redness and swelling of flushed skin, such as with rosacea. Fine lines and wrinkles are likewise no match for niacinamide.

Salicylic acid

Derived from willow bark, this beta hydroxy acid breaks apart dead epidermal cells. These cells on the skin’s surface often block oily pores; as they are removed by salicylic acid, the pores are cleared and acne is less likely to occur. Along with acne care, salicylic acid is also an ingredient in dandruff and psoriasis over-the-counter and prescription medications. As it reduces inflammation, it smooths skin and improves its color. 

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

Types of CSAN™ Sanitation Products Offered by Bell Chem

Bell Chem’s extensive list of CSANTM sanitation products fills the needs of almost every business requiring chemicals, from a small bakery to an industrial warehouse. CSAN covers it all in cleanliness, and Bell Chem ensures your business has the ultimate chemical for the job, including cleaners, detergents, and sanitizers. For factories, warehouses, and other industrial settings, CSAN also has conveyor and chain lubricants. 

First, let’s discuss the differences among cleaners, detergents, and sanitizers.

General purpose cleaners

A general purpose cleaner is effective anywhere and removes grease, stains, and debris. However, if the area you are cleaning has small nooks and crannies or the surface is close to vertical, a general purpose cleaner may not be as effective as another type of CSAN cleaner.

Foaming cleaners

Flat surfaces sprayed with a general purpose cleaner can be wiped clean after a few minutes. Spraying any surface affected by gravity, though, causes the cleaner to slowly bleed downward. Any surface where a general purpose cleaner needs more viscosity appreciates a foaming cleaner instead. With the ability to cling to a convoluted surface and remain in place for more than a few seconds, foaming cleaners stand ahead of the rest.

Alkaline cleaners

Proteins from food sources in a factory or any bodily fluids in a hospital are better handled with an alkaline cleaner. Formulated to quickly break apart fats, oils, and proteins so they can be whisked away, alkaline cleaners are a must for many settings.

Chlorinated detergents

Detergents are designed to eradicate pathogens, from bacteria to viruses. With the added power of chlorine, the pH creates an environment where biologic life cannot survive. Chlorine also has the advantage of bleaching surfaces to a bright, crisp white. 

These cleaners have the added power of a surfactant to break down large drops of oil into smaller, more manageable droplets. They are a good solution for soft surfaces where a harsher chemical may stain or mar the material. 

Acid detergents

Acids are negatively charged molecules that naturally attract the positively charged particles often considered “dirt.” As the two opposing forces combine, the large particle breaks apart chemically and the detergent is able to penetrate even deeper into the debris to remove all particles layer by layer. Acid detergents are often used in wastewater treatment facilities to remove scaling and other inorganic deposits. Flooring such as vinyl, tile, and carpet are cleaned and disinfected with acid detergents.  

Sanitizers

While a detergent is good at removing pathogens, a sanitizer is excellent. Most microbes encountering a sanitizer are reduced by 99.9%, making a sanitizer a necessity for food work surfaces, restaurants, hospitals, and high-touch areas. Sanitizers are the icing on the cake, utilized after a surface is cleaned and a detergent is applied. 

Many sanitizers are considered “generally regarded as safe” (GRAS) and are often sprayed directly on foods. Carefully read the MSD sheets for sanitizers because they are specifically formulated to eradicate a specific type of microorganisms; choose the sanitizer best suited for your use.

The correct procedure for prepping or shutting down an area is to clear it of large particulate matter, clean it thoroughly with a cleaner, rinse with water, apply a detergent, rinse with hot water, spray on a sanitizer, and allow the surface to air dry.

Conveyor and chain lubricants

The machinery in your building should be properly maintained to last longer with few problems. Conveyor and chain lubricants play a key role in this endeavor, saving time and money by decreasing the amount of friction between the metal joints of your equipment. 

When equipment runs smoothly, your employees are working rather than waiting on equipment to be repaired, which saves a huge amount of time and money. Conveyor and chain lubricants can be specifically formulated to meet the needs of your business, whether you require high heat formulations or a blend for high humidity or moisture, for instance. 

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 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.

Understanding the Benefits of Tricalcium Phosphate in Food Manufacturing

Calcium has long been recognized as beneficial to one’s health when used as a supplement in food manufacturing. Its close ties to the human body for the formation and protection to bones benefits people in every age of development. Why would it be paired with phosphate, though? Does that give it greater benefit? Bell Chem, your food ingredient supplier, is here to answer those questions and many more about how beneficial tricalcium phosphate is for you and why it is listed as an ingredient on so many packages. 

Chemically, calcium is a metal bonded to the phosphate ion, which creates a polyatomic nonmetal. Together the two form a strong ionic bond as Ca3(PO4)2. The two micronutrients are crucial in the formation of hydroxyapatite, which strengthens bone’s mechanical resistance and skeletal mineralization. Separately, 99% of the body’s calcium is stored in bones and is a strong indicator of bone health. Phosphorus is present in cellular membranes and nucleic acids and promotes neuromuscular function, signaling between cells, and energy production. Since these vital micronutrients are easily bonded, it’s no wonder they are present in so many food products.

Prevents caking

As a fine white powder with virtually no flavor, tricalcium phosphate prevents caking and clumping in mixes because it acts as a humectant, absorbing up to 10% of its capacity in water. These mixes can include dry pudding mixes, table salt, sugar, pancake mixes, candy mixes, et cetera. 

Fortifies foods

Obviously an extremely prevalent role for tricalcium phosphate is in fortification. Any fruit juices, cereals or other breakfast foods with “Fortified with calcium!” on the label likely contain tricalcium phosphate. Even milk must be fortified with calcium and phosphorus because so many of its nutrients are lost during pasteurization and other forms of manufacturing. Along with milk, any product derived from milk – whipped cream, yogurt, buttermilk, cream cheese – also contain tricalcium phosphate. 

Provides opacity to plant milks

Because it is cloudy and white when added to a liquid, tricalcium phosphate gives the opacity of milk when added to products such as soymilk or almond milk. Tricalcium phosphate is also an emulsifier, stabilizing the appearance of these beverages and reducing separation.

Solidifies food

In fats used in frying, yogurt, and pudding, tricalcium phosphate binds with gelling agents to solidify the structure of foods.

Lengthens shelf life

Because phosphate is acidic, tricalcium phosphate changes the pH in foods and beverages and can lengthen the overall shelf life. 

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 tricalcium phosphate. 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.

Guar Gum in the Dairy Industry

It may be surprising that guar gum is widely used in the dairy industry, but almost any dairy product removed from a grocery store’s refrigerated or frozen section contains this important ingredient. Let Bell Chem, your food ingredient supplier, tell you about the varied uses of guar gum in many dairy products.

How it works

Guar gum is an inexpensive hydrocolloid polysaccharide with a short hydration time, making it ideal for frozen treats. Closely related to string beans, this legume seems an odd ingredient in dairy foods, but its varied uses give it top billing in many manufactured treats.

Ice cream

Guar gum prevents the formation of ice crystals in ice cream, slows melting, and stabilizes the texture even after it is repeatedly frozen and thawed. It also creates a better mouthfeel because of its rheological behavior. Milkshakes without guar gum would quickly separate into distinct layers and show a much weaker viscosity. 

Dietary products

Because guar gum is a fiber, it is often added to milk-based dietary products to give a feeling of satiation to the consumer.

Yogurt

As yogurt is produced, whey rises to the top for easy separation. However, a small amount of the watery whey remains locked in the yogurt until the weight of the solid forces the liquid whey to the surface once more. To prevent this syneresis, which changes the overall texture of the yogurt, manufacturers add guar gum. Low-fat yogurt maintains its characteristic richness and body when guar gum both replaces fat and adds fiber.

Cheeses and cheese spreads

Much like yogurt, cheeses and cheese spreads contain guar gum as a stabilizer via water-phase management to give a better texture and body as it counters whey from forming on the exterior (weeping). It is also used as a fat replacement for low-fat and fat-free yogurt.

Puddings and mousses

In puddings, guar gum acts as a thickener and increases a pudding’s viscosity. Mousses and other aerated desserts form a firmer stabilized foam gel with the addition of guar gum, lifting whipped mousses to a new level.

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 guar gum. 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.

Medical Uses of Monoethanolamine

Monoethanolamine, also known as ethanolamine, C2H7NO, MEA, or ETA, is an organic, colorless, viscous, hygroscopic amino alcohol compound with an odor resembling that of ammonia. Primarily used by chemists and manufacturers as a feedstock material, it is also used in the production of chemical processes, corrosion inhibitors, detergents, emulsifiers, polishes and pharmaceuticals. USP ingredient supplier Bell Chem wants its customers to know more about this last category, pharmaceuticals, and specifically the medical uses of monoethanolamine. 

As a factor within lecithin, monoethanolamine is sequestered in most living tissue where it removes carbon dioxide from gas. This role categorizes monoethanolamine as a useful chemical for pharmaceutical uses.

Acting as a sclerosing agent

The most prominent role of monoethanolamine in medical use is as a mild sclerosing agent. When injected as ethanolamine oleate into a vein, this pharmaceutical drug treats esophageal varices, or dilated blood vessels, within esophageal tissue and/or the lining of the cardiac portion of the stomach. Esophageal varices are a symptom of liver disease and can cause severe bleeding that either exits the body through the throat or through the anus. Ethanolamine oleate works on the inflamed tissues, laying down a thin layer of scar tissue much like a scab on the skin to reduce or eliminate blood from emanating through the dilated blood vessels. Untreated esophageal varices are often fatal; the venous injection of monoethanolamine saves the lives of patients with recent or ongoing episodes of esophageal varices when dosed several times over a 6-month timeframe. 

Helping with histamine sensitivity

Derivatives of monoethanolamine are considered H1 antagonists; they block the body’s H1 receptors on the surface of cells. When these receptors are blocked, they are unable to release histamine from a white blood cell called a mast cell. Histamines regulate the secretion of gastric acid, inflammation, and the constriction and dilation of blood vessels, but many people have a hypersensitivity to histamines, causing them to overcompensate and cause excess gastric acid to flood the stomach creating ulcers or erosion of the esophagus and stomach lining; hyperinflammation leading to redness, soreness, or itching on the skin’s surface; or excessive blood vessel disorders which may lead to hyper- or hypotension. Adding monoethanolamine derivatives to the body assuages this superabundant activity.

Aiding in sleep

Insomnia plagues many individuals, and much research postulates histamines acting through H1 regulate the body’s sleep/wake cycle. Because monoethanolamine derivatives are H1 antagonists, they return the body to a more somnolent state as they cross the blood/brain barrier and produce anticholinergic reactions. One of these reactions is sedation.

Most people are not familiar with histamines, but are extremely well versed in the role of antihistamines, which are taken in response to allergic rhinitis or another immune response. The process of “blocking histamines” is, more realistically, the process of not allowing histamines to coagulate an area, or for existing histamines to be released from the area in question. Monoethanolamine has the ability to do both.

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 monoethanolamine. 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 Using Heptane

If you could anthropomorphize heptane, it would be your favorite employee – the one who waves an excited hand in the air and shouts, “I can do that!” when any project is mentioned. Industrial chemical supplier Bell Chem stocks versatile heptane. Learn why your business will benefit from this wonder chemical.

Heptane (C7H16) is a straight-chain alkane hydrocarbon derived from petroleum. It is colorless and smells like gasoline. With a boiling point of 98.42C, heptane heats and boils rapidly. Its evaporation rate, on the other hand, is extremely slow. The low density of heptane causes water to sink when it is combined with liquid heptane. This feature is also responsible for heptane’s almost complete insolubility. Many other chemicals structurally similar to heptane are much more toxic.

What makes heptane so popular? It can be manipulated to meet your exact specifications. You have an application? Heptane can be manufactured to meet that need. 

As a solvent

In a laboratory setting, heptane is a useful non-polar solvent and a reagent for organic synthesis.

Printing processes find heptane mixed with dye creates the market-perfect ink. Used worldwide in printers, stamp pads, and ball-point pens, heptane keeps the world in print. Even more impressive, heptane is used by law enforcement agencies as a solvent for processing latent fingerprints.
The main choice of a solvent or thinner for rubber cement is heptane. As unvulcanized rubber is compounded, heptane is added. Differing percentages of heptane will create varied grades of rubber cement.

As an aromatic hydrocarbon, heptane works well as a solvent in paint coating. Heptane dissolves pigments and binding agents prior to use. 

As an extractor

To extract oils from vegetables, using a machine press is environmentally harsh. Using heptane is much easier on the earth.

Heptane’s amazing volatility

Heptane is a good outdoor liquid fuel because of its volatility. Its ability to expel heat energy quickly and reliably during hydrocarbon combustion feeds the fire of outdoor grills.

The volatility of heptane has another striking use: anesthesia. A volatile substance such as heptane has the ability to temporarily desensitize the body and produce lack of consciousness. 

Heptane’s role in octane ratings

Heptane’s main claim is its link to gasoline and octane ratings. Crude oil is extracted from the ground, and heptane, gasoline, and hexane are extruded. Gasoline ratings are based on a scale known as the octane rating. On the octane scale, heptane rates 0%. As the scale escalates from, say, 87% octane to 93%, the amount of heptane decreases. Gassing up your car with a low octane rating may cause undue engine pinging and wear down engine parts more quickly than lower octane fuel.

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

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.