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How Your Company Can Hop On Functional Food Trends
The idea of functional foods began in Japan in the 1980s when producers focused on manufacturing foods with a role beyond basic nutrition; these foods affected consumers positively. The idea crept across Europe before catching root in the United States. Nowadays, “functional foods” is a buzzword that nutritional ingredient supplier Bell Chem knows you want to learn more about. With its vast array of nutritional ingredients, Bell Chem has the correct products to make your existing foods and beverages more, well, functional.
The 2024 Global Trend Study by HealthFocus International noted that almost 75% of consumers are aware of the role of functional foods, and nearly 50% will purchase more functional foods in the near future, increasing the $320 billion spent on healthy foods and beverages annually.
With so many consumers focused on healthy eating, high prices are a major barrier to lower-income households. Adding small amounts of supplements, such as caffeine, protein, or fiber, in products can open a different market share for your products without seriously increasing the product price.
Different bodies, different diets
Over half of adults in the United States reported they joined a diet program within the past 12 months. Of those individuals, 20% of the diets focused on high-protein foods. These foods are typically fresh meat or beans, but the advent of packaged foods for most meals means noodles or cereal bars with milk powder, peanut flour, or sweet whey meet these dietary needs in a quick, reliable packaged food. Eating on the run is no longer a quick snack; it has become the primary choice of approximately 75% of consumers. Knowing the majority of consumers want portable, healthy foods means manufacturers can easily benefit by supplementing their existing food supply chain.
Drink yourself healthy
Bottled water is no longer simply water. Instead, energy water with a boost of caffeine stimulates the mind and body to work better and longer. Energy drinks have long included calcium, magnesium, potassium, and sodium, but now these supplements are available in water. With a burst of flavor, citric acid in water can give vitamin water a distinct flavor with health benefits. Choose Vitamin A, any of the B-complex vitamins, Vitamin C, Vitamin D, or any others. Vitamins boost the body’s immune system, and this water trend generates more revenue than any other health trend. Adding a small amount of sugar, honey, or sugar substitute allows your water to compete against soda.
Bell Chem is your nutritional ingredient supplier based in Longwood, FL (just north of Orlando) with hundreds of products stocked in their 50,000+ square-foot warehouse, including functional food ingredients. 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.
Zinc Oxide: The Natural Solution to Effective UV Protection
Sunscreens can be categorized into 2 broad groups: chemical sunscreens and physical sunscreens. Most consumer-recognized sun protection on the market is based on a combination of chemicals that either deters or alleviates ultraviolet rays—a chemical sunscreen. USP ingredient supplier Bell Chem has an ace up its sleeve on countering the increasingly harsh UV light produced by our nearest star: zinc oxide, a physical sunscreen. Read below for information on how your customers can utilize this physical sunscreen in their health and beauty care products.
What is a physical sunscreen?
Like wearing a long-sleeved shirt, zinc oxide blocks ultraviolet rays from being absorbed in the body’s epidermis. UVA and UVB rays simply reflect off the surface of the zinc oxide, scattering passively as they go and never fully absorbing into the skin.
UVA and UVB, defined
Ultraviolet A (UVA) rays have a longer wavelength than ultraviolet B (UVB) and penetrate more deeply into the skin, causing greater damage than UVB rays. Most evidence of aging and skin damage is caused by UVA rays.
Ultraviolet B rays are shorter and generally penetrate just the surface of the skin. We recognize UVB damage as a sunburn.
When a sun care product deters both UVA and UVB rays, it is considered a broad-spectrum application. Zinc oxide falls into the broad-spectrum sunscreen category.
Zinc oxide for sensitive skin
The chemicals used in many sunscreens can cause adverse reactions in those with sensitive skin. Because zinc oxide is topical and does not penetrate as deeply as chemical ingredients, the skin is not negatively affected as it might be with chemical sunscreens.
The ultimate sunscreen
When looking for a quality sunscreen, the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) recommends a water-resistant broad-spectrum sunscreen with SPF (sun protection factor) of 30 or greater. Zinc oxide literally has you covered in all these requirements.
According to the AAD, sunscreen is for everyone, regardless of skin tone. When you consider that 20% of all Americans will develop skin cancer, you can confidently tell your customers to reach for the zinc oxide before venturing outside.
Bell Chem is your USP ingredient supplier based in Longwood, FL (just north of Orlando) with hundreds of products stocked in their 50,000+ square-foot warehouse, including zinc oxide. 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 Versatility of Sodium Hypochlorite in Industrial Cleaning
The average consumer’s household bleach contains approximately 5.25% sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl). Industrial cleaning necessitates a more powerful punch for its uses, and with industrial chemical supplier Bell Chem’s 12.5% sodium hypochlorite, you can expect clean and disinfected surfaces quickly and inexpensively. But sodium hypochlorite does more than just surface cleaning. Read below for an idea of how invaluable sodium hypochlorite is to your industry.
Hospitals, Clinics, and Healthcare Environments
With so many diseases carried in by sick patients, healthcare facilities must maintain an extremely high level of infection control. Sodium hypochlorite sterilizes medical equipment and quickly disinfects floors, walls, gurneys, and other hard surfaces.
Water Treatment
The supply of drinking water is vital to citizens of all cities. Sodium hypochlorite oxidizes microorganisms within water treatment plants for these cities, keeping the water supply safe for consumption.
Aside from working in water treatment plants, sodium hypochlorite is also the chemical of choice for treating water-damaged materials, such as in industrial plants after a catastrophic flood, since it oxidizes molds and mildews, bleaches stains, and sanitizes polluted and waterlogged items.
Food and Beverage Industry
Sodium hypochlorite sanitizes so many surfaces in the food and beverage industry, from the industrial processing equipment to the food surfaces used for cutting bread or icing cakes. Raw fruits and vegetables are regularly sprayed with sodium hypochlorite to kill disease-causing microorganisms.
Janitorial
Wiping down a bathroom will make it look great, but it does not ensure the surfaces are disinfected. Sodium hypochlorite disinfects bathrooms, floors, kitchens, and other high-traffic areas efficiently and effectively.
Pressure Washing
Commercial pressure washers work much more rapidly when they clean homes, driveways, and commercial businesses using sodium hypochlorite combined with water. Algae, mildew, mold, and caked-on soil are quickly eliminated with sodium hypochlorite.
Bell Chem is your industrial chemical supplier based in Longwood, FL (just north of Orlando) with hundreds of products stocked in their 50,000+ square-foot warehouse, including nutritious ingredients for your functional sweets. 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 Role of EDTA in the Food and Beverage Industry
While most consumers may not have been aware of the food additive EDTA (ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid), it has undoubtedly been an integral part of almost everyone’s diets. To learn how this polycarboxylic acid affects the food and beverage industry, your food additive supplier, Bell Chem, has compiled the following information.
EDTA is available in many commercial grades; food-grade EDTA may be present in foods, beverages, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical products. Depending on the product, EDTA may have one or more of the following roles.
Food Preservation
As an acid, EDTA creates an inhospitable environment for microorganisms. Many condiments and flavorings contain EDTA because of this feature.
A surprising role of EDTA’s preservation power is its ability to maintain a constant flavor and color to many products, both in dried and canned forms. For instance, canned and bagged kidney beans are both as flavorful on day 200 as they are on day 1 after they are processed with EDTA.
Supplemental Boosts
Ferric EDTA increases the amount of usable iron in many food products, such as fortified cereals. When added to water, EDTA solubilizes the amount of iron in a product, and the body is able to easily utilize it.
Flavor Enhancers
While EDTA has the ability to maintain flavors, it can also supplement available flavors. Many spreadable cheeses and butters, pastas, and packaged salads spring to life with the addition of EDTA.
Turbidity Control
Alcoholic beverages, such as brandy, rum, vodka, and whiskey, are significantly clearer with EDTA.
Chelation
Many alcoholic beverages include trace amounts of metals that negatively impact the flavor of the beverage. Adding EDTA causes these metals to chelate, to be more easily removed during processing. As an added bonus, those metals are responsible for the inordinate heads on beer. EDTA tames this “gushing” effect when cans or bottles are opened.
Metals are present in many foods from close contact with industrial machinery, processing centers, and the cans surrounding those foods. When EDTA chelates these metals, they are no longer able to absorb the artificial colors in foods, giving foods the same appearance for an extended period.
Struvite Eradication
As seafoods are processed, ammonium, magnesium, and phosphate are broken down. These chemicals crystallize rapidly, forming tiny shards that can change the texture and taste of the products from which they arise.
Antioxidant Activity
As an antioxidant, EDTA keeps naturally occurring oxygen from changing the colors of packaged meat from pink to brown, for instance.
Bell Chem is your food additive supplier based in Longwood, FL (just north of Orlando) with hundreds of products stocked in their 50,000+ square-foot warehouse, including EDTA. 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 Role of Calcium Gluconate in Supplements
Calcium is an important mineral used in many of the human body’s most basic functions, acting as an instigator to muscle contraction, whether those muscles are cardiac muscles, smooth muscles, or skeletal muscles. When the body’s calcium supply is low, calcium gluconate is often recommended as a supplement. Learn more about calcium gluconate from USP ingredient supplier Bell Chem.
Why We Need Calcium
Calcium is a positively charged ion that opens the gates to most of the body’s muscular activity. When this vital element is low, the disorder is known as hypocalcemia. Under normal circumstances, the body maintains a serum calcium level of 8.5 to 10.5 mg/dL, which is a narrow range. If a physician notes changes nearing the lower end of that range, he or she might recommend a calcium supplement to maintain a level of homeostasis for this important mineral.
Along with calcium’s starring role as a vital supplement for healthy bones and teeth, it also plays a prominent part in maintaining many of the body’s most integral functions: improving circulation, sharpening neural function, expediting digestion and renal function, and muscle contraction.
Calcium Glucomate in Chemotherapy
When patients undergo chemotherapy, it often disrupts messages traveling from the brain to the muscles that contract. Calcium assists in the propagation of electrical signals as it stimulates synaptic receptors to release neurotransmitters, which, in turn, stimulate the adjoining neurons to propagate a signal to release the next batch of neurotransmitters throughout the brain or into the nerve endings throughout the body. In other words, calcium gluconate alleviates brain fog and stimulates appropriate muscle contraction and relaxation.
Calcium Glucomate in Daily Supplements
Every muscle cell operates by opening and closing ion channels. Calcium gluconate supplements ensure the calcium exchange pumps maintain healthy levels of calcium within each muscle cell, which aids in all forms of muscle contraction, including digestion, cardiovascular health, and skeletal muscle maintenance.
Bell Chem is your USP ingredient supplier based in Longwood, FL (just north of Orlando) with hundreds of products stocked in their 50,000+ square-foot warehouse, including calcium gluconate. 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.
Maintaining a Safe and Healthy Chemical Handling Environment
Working with chemicals can be an extremely safe career if the proper steps are taken for the safety of your employees. Industrial chemical supplier Bell Chem maintains its facilities under strict protocol to ensure the chemicals you receive are maintained and handled in the safest manner possible. Read below to better understand how you and your team can ensure your work and storage areas can maintain the best outcomes for hazard recognition and exposure reduction.
Overall strategies
Your workplace chemical safety plan should include the following measures:
Training: Ensure all employees who come into contact with chemicals know how to handle and dispense them safely by training everyone on standard operating procedures and the correct protocol in the event of spills. All employees must wear the proper personal protection devices determined by their level of contact with chemicals. Levels of care will change depending on whether employees are receiving, storing, processing, or disposing of chemicals.
Receiving: Check that labels fully explain the contents of the package. Never add a chemical to a container with an alternate label.
Storing: Like chemicals should be stored together, such as acids with acids, flammables with flammables, and so on. Corrosive chemicals should contain clear warning labels on their packaging.
Processing: Ventilation is key in handling many chemicals. Know which chemicals require a vent hood to process and turn the vent hood on before opening the chemical. Ensure ventilation systems in factories and large facilities are functioning properly.
Disposing: When a chemical’s usefulness ends, know how to dispose of it. Can it be safely diluted with water and flushed down a drain, or does it need to be buffered with another chemical for safe transport outside your facility?
Reduce chances of misuse
Regular inspections of your chemicals to ensure they have not exceeded their expiration date, they are clearly labeled, they are not leaking due to faulty seals or broken containers, and they are properly shelved is not just good practice, it is essential to meet many governmental standards.
In case of emergency
Clearly mark all eye stations, showers, and first aid centers in your building. Be cognizant of any alarms and treat them as emergencies every time. Carbon monoxide is colorless and odorless, for instance. Remaining in a building while an alarm is blaring because your senses tell you it must be a drill might be highly detrimental. Check the chemical MSDs online or in the packages of each chemical sent to your organization.
The Coalition to Prevent Chemical Disasters reports one chemical-related incident every two days is average in the United States. Sadly, a vast number of these incidents are not reported. Don’t be a statistic. Work smart, read labels, and ensure incidents are reported to supervisors. Governmental oversight agencies for chemical safety such as the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA), the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the World Health Organization (WHO) offer information to keep employees safe.
Bell Chem is your industrial chemical 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.
How Different Chemicals Work in Hair Care Products
The products used in consumers’ hair may be for widespread use for any hair style or texture, or may be specific to one hair type. Knowing the necessary chemicals corresponding with each hair type will allow your company to branch out into specialty products. Personal care raw ingredient supplier Bell Chem leads you through a sampling of our products and how they can enhance consumer satisfaction.
Why does hair need special treatment?
Unlike skin, hair consists of long chains of proteins (filaments) surrounded by a follicle within the dermal layer of the skin. Most of the protein – 65% on average – is keratin. Hair’s innermost layer, the medulla, refracts light and determines the color of hair. The texture is determined by the shape of the hair follicle – oval follicles produce curly hair while round follicles produce straight hair. Another factor in hair texture is disulfide bonds between the amino acids bonded together as protein filaments. If hair has plenty of disulfide bonds, hair is curly. Lack of disulfide bonds produces straight hair.
Science has determined that these disulfide bonds can be broken through the introduction of reducing agents such as sodium hydroxide or calcium hydroxide in shampoos and conditioners. These reducing agents donate electrons, which break disulfide bonds, causing the hair to appear straighter.
Sodium laureth sulfate
Sodium laureth sulfate is a surfactant that cleanses and moisturizes hair. It also removes dirt, oil, and buildup from hair. Sodium laureth sulfate presents as rich, foamy textures in conditioners and shampoos.
Cetyl alcohol and stearyl alcohol
Cetyl alcohol and stearyl alcohol are long-chain fatty acids generally added as emulsifiers to protect the hair’s cuticle, thereby preventing moisture loss. These alcohols often appear in hair gels and hairspray.
Dimethicone and glyceryl stearate
Dimethicone and glyceryl stearate are silicones that behave as moisturizers with the goal of preventing breakage, adding sheen, and enhancing elasticity. Glyceryl stearate has the bonus of reducing static electricity and flattening scales in hair strands’ cuticles. This flattening reduces friction between individual hairs, which can cause damage because the innermost cortex is exposed, leading to water loss and increased frizz.
Coconut oil and jojoba oil
Oils have made a big splash in hair care within the past decade. Coconut oil and jojoba oil in particular penetrate the hair follicle to moisturize from the inner layer to the outer layer.
Emulsifiers
The emulsifier polyethylene glycol maintains moisture levels, and vitamin A (sometimes packaged as retinyl palmitate) increases hair vibrancy and thickness as it reduces evidence of broken hair strands.
Bell Chem is your industrial chemical supplier based in Longwood, FL (just north of Orlando) with hundreds of products stocked in their 50,000+ square-foot warehouse, including hair care chemicals and ingredients. 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 How Sodium Acetate Works as a Heating Agent
Hand warmers seem to work like magic, but science often appears astounding to many people. Industrial chemical supplier Bell Chem pulls back the curtain on this particular feat to reveal the magic at work is a chemical reaction. Read below on the wonders of sodium acetate and how it can almost spontaneously heat.
Sodium acetate is the sodium salt of acetic acid. When it dissolves in water, the sodium ions and acetate ions dissociate. This reaction is the basis of how heating pads and hand warmers work. To better understand the process, let’s think about something we should all be familiar with: water.
Imagine a glass of water in the freezer. As the water begins to freeze, it does not all freeze simultaneously. Instead, certain areas freeze, then the water in contact with those points likewise freezes until the contents of the glass are completely frozen – one chunk of ice – and the temperature, which has hovered at 32° F or 0° C while the water was busy transforming to ice, begins its descent to the temperature within the freezer.
Now imagine if water had a different freezing point, where it became a solid at a higher temperature rather than a lower one. That is how sodium acetate, the starring ingredient in hot packs and heating pads, works.
Sodium acetate can supercool rapidly when given a signal. The signal within a heat pack is generally a metal disk that, when twisted or clicked, forces a few of the sodium acetate molecules to crystallize into a solid state. These molecules cause a chain reaction to the adjoining molecules, which give off heat in the process. This heat can reach 130° F (54° C) very quickly. This is a stable process that eventually will lose some of its energy. Changing a heat pack back to its original temperature is simple: pop the heat pack into boiling water and the molecules move farther apart, transforming from a solid to a liquid state.
As with water, heat packs can be reheated endlessly since the chemical reaction will occur every time. However, the housing around the sodium acetate will eventually wear out, causing tears and holes in the plastic. If this does occur, the chemical sodium acetate, although it seems extreme, is completely nontoxic.
Bell Chem is your industrial chemical supplier based in Longwood, FL (just north of Orlando) with hundreds of products stocked in their 50,000+ square-foot warehouse, including sodium acetate. 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 Quality Control Process at Bell Chem
When you order a product, it is imperative it functions as advertised. This becomes critical when the product is included in the cosmetic, pharmaceutical, or food and beverage industries. Rest assured all products from chemical supplier Bell Chem pass strict quality control processes from development to shipping.
Quality control is more than the methodology of conducting business. It is also a mindset, with every Bell Chem employee representing quality measures in every department. When these vital employees understand their role in assuring a product maintains its level of quality throughout all processes, production, storing, shipping, and handling become more streamlined while the ingredients and chemicals sustain an extreme level of cleanliness and care.
These processes are more than talk. Each Bell Chem department is responsible for documenting their roles in the process. Further, Bell Chem is registered through many regulatory authorities, such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). All regulatory authorities closely examine and certify Bell Chem meets or exceeds all their standards of care.
Third party audits
Bell Chem has worked with D.L. Newslow and Associates for years to ensure proper quality control measures meet the standards of GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices) US FDA Title 21 CFR 117; Codex Alimentarious (Codex CAC/GL 69-2008 Guidlines for the Validation of Food Safety Control Measures); and Related HACCP and PRP requirements as defined in FSSC 22000:2013. These measures ensure the products you purchase from Bell Chem have the documentation to back up the claim that Bell Chem regularly participates in quality control measures.
Bell Chem has been in business for over 30 years. Longevity gives Bell Chem the track record of quality assurance many other companies cannot boast. With three decades of great service and quality control, it makes good sense to work with Bell Chem, a company who can easily back all their claims with a long list of quality checks and balances to ensure your products are the most reliable on the chemical and ingredient market.
Bell Chem is your chemical supplier based in Longwood, FL (just north of Orlando) with hundreds of products stocked in their 50,000+ square-foot warehouse backed by decades of quality control measures. 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.