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.