What You Don’t Know about Isopropyl Alcohol

Isopropyl alcohol is a colorless chemical compound with a strong musty odor. This chemical compound is usually produced by combining water and propylene in a hydration reaction, but it also can be synthesized from acetone. Much of the isopropyl alcohol produced is used in the manufacture of acetone. However, it is also used as a solvent for oils, perfumes, synthetic resins, and gums. Isopropyl alcohol is used to dissolve other substances in the cosmetics and personal care products industries. It is also used to decrease the thickness of liquids and to reduce the tendency of finished products to generate foam when shaken. In addition, the FDA has determined that isopropyl alcohol can be used safely and effectively as an antiseptic Over-The-Counter drug ingredient.

The more common name of isopropyl alcohol is rubbing alcohol, which many are familiar with because it is commonly found in first aid kits and bathroom cabinets. Rubbing alcohol is used primarily for medical and cosmetic purposes such as sterilizing medical devices and cleaning wounds. It is also found in many topical skin care products like facial cleansers and astringents, nail polish remover, and lotions. Where did the term “rubbing” alcohol come from? The chemical is used by massage therapists and athletic trainers to treat skin and muscle groups by rubbing it directly on the skin.

As a top-of-the-line chemical supply company in Orlando, Bell Chem offers fast delivery of any of our hundreds of chemical products. With an abundance of world-class seaports within a few short hours, our Florida chemical supply company is positioned as the “go to” supplier on a national, as well as international level. Isopropyl alcohol is just one of the many chemical compounds we offer. Give us a call today at 407-339-BELL (2355) to place an order!

The Advantages and Uses of Citric Acid

Citric acid is a natural component that can be found in the human body, as well as in many fruits and vegetables. When present in the body, this chemical goes through the process of being metabolized, degraded, and eliminated. Although it is an acid, it also works as an acidity regulator, and has the ability to actually decrease the level of acidity in body fluids. Additionally, citric acid is one of the main ingredients found in the food and beverage industry because it is healthy, cheap, adds flavor, and can easily be obtained in large quantities. What Citric Acid is Used For:

Preservative: It has been used most frequently, and for hundreds of years, as a preservative for meat. It increases the acidity of the bacterial environment that may develop, making it difficult for the bacteria to survive. Marination: Citric acid breaks down proteins found in meats and makes meat tender and soft. Health: It's good for skin care, skin color, mineral absorption, throat infections, and kidneys. Insecticides: Because citric acid destroys bacteria, fungus, mold, and viruses, it is used in insecticides, fungicides, and disinfectants. Flavoring: Citric acid adds flavor to many foods, drinks and medicines. Alcohol: When citric acid is used in wines, it eliminates low acidity and improves taste. When used in beers, it reduces sugar loss and helps the process of turning sugar into beer.

What Citric Acid Prevents:

Kidney Stones: It prevents the formation of kidney stones and allows the kidneys to function properly. Anti-oxidant: It neutralizes the negative effects of unstable compounds that can build up in the body and lead to cancerous cells. Skin Care: Citric acid helps the regeneration of skin tissue, helps the skin appear more youthful, and keeps skin clear of breakouts. Skin Color: Citric acid prevents the discoloration of skin. Sore Throat: Gargling a combination of citric acid and water will clear infections from the throat and kill bacteria.

At Bell Chem, we serve a wide range of industries by providing them with key ingredients and chemicals essential to their business. Some of the industries we serve include: food and beverage, nutritional, pharmaceutical, water treatments, citrus, and more. Bell Chem and our business partner, Safe Chem, Inc., offers a full line of C-san Sanitation products to the Citrus Processing Industries. Give us a call at 407-339-BELL (2355) to learn more about our chemical products including citric acid.

Sugar (Extra Fine Food Grade)

There are many different types of sugar, with each crystal size and processing manner providing unique functional characteristics that make the sugar appropriate for specific needs. According to the Sugar Association, the food industry defines "regular" sugar as "extra fine" or "fine" because small crystals are ideal for bulk handling and not susceptible to caking. This type of sugar is the most commonly used sugar for these reasons. Extra fine granulated sugar, a food grade product, is made by crystallizing purified and filtered juice syrup that has been removed from sugar beets or sugar cane. This thick syrup is then dried to produce the most popular sugar grades. Extra fine granulated sugar is white in color and has at least 99.85% sucrose content.

Because of the valuable qualities inherent in extra fine food grade sugar, this product has applications in a wide variety of industries. It is used in pharmaceuticals, jams/jellies, meats, chewing gum, candies, dairy products, bakery products, cereals, condiments, pickles, powdered drink mixes, liquid sugar, powdered sugar, table top sugar, and much more.

From our headquarters in Longwood, Florida, Bell Chem offers prompt delivery of hundreds of stock chemical products on our own fleet of trucks. Our Florida chemical supply company offers food/reagent grade chemicals, USP ingredients, sanitation products, custom compounds, and even hard to find botanical ingredients. Our vision is to offer high-quality chemical products with a “just-in-time” inventory approach to provide customers with the very best service in the industry. Give us a call at 407-339-2355 today to order chemical products today!

Crystalline Fructose – A Valuable Sweetener

According to the Calorie Control Council, over 180 million people in the United States consume low calorie, sugar-free foods and beverages on a daily basis. Meanwhile, these people are requiring more natural sweeteners in the food and beverages they consume. Therefore, food companies are using crystalline fructose to meet these demands. Crystalline fructose is a processed sweetener derived from corn, similar to high fructose corn syrup. Extra processing steps result in this crystalline product, which is very close to 100% pure fructose. In fact, federal standards define crystalline fructose to be at least 98% pure fructose with the remaining 2% being water and trace minerals.

Crystalline fructose is used in many drinks including carbonated beverages, sports drinks, flavored waters, and energy drinks, as well as in foods like nutritional bars, reduced-calorie foods, and canned fruits. This chemical product can even be found in baked goods, breakfast cereals, and other confectionery foods.

Since crystalline fructose is sweeter than both high fructose corn syrup and table sugar, it is a valuable sweetener for low calorie, sugar-free foods and beverages because less must be used to achieve the same level of desired sweetness. In addition, crystalline fructose can be combined with other sweeteners (and starches) to not only boost sweetness, but also to improve cake height in baked goods, as well as improve the texture and taste of food products.

On top of a full line of food/reagent grade chemicals and nutritional products like crystalline fructose, Bell Chem offers a diverse blend of sanitation products, pharmaceutical chemicals, USP ingredients, and personal care raw materials. From our headquarters in Longwood, Florida, we have the ability to ship large volumes of bulk chemicals from our location, as well as from our suppliers’ terminals. To learn more, call our Florida chemical supply company at 407-339-2355 today.

Bell Chem Sponsors Florida IFT Suppliers’ Night

Florida IFT Suppliers' Night

Orlando, FL (March 4, 2013) – Bell Chem, a full-line, independent chemical distributor in Orlando, is pleased to announce that they sponsored and participated in the 2013 Florida IFT Suppliers’ Night on February 27th and 28th at the DoubleTree Hotel and Conference Center across from Universal Studios in Orlando. The Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) is a community of food science professionals with a common purpose - to advance the science of food. Florida Section IFT Suppliers’ Night is an annual event that gives companies in the food industry the opportunity to showcase their products, as well as network with food purchasers and product developers throughout Florida.

“We are proud to sponsor the Florida IFT Suppliers’ Night,” said John Cervo, President of Bell Chem. “We feel this is a valuable networking opportunity where IFT Florida members can connect with other food industry professionals in the region to develop new partnerships and share industry expertise.”

Companies that attended the event were from every segment of the food industry including beverage, dairy, seafood, baking, confectionary, fruit and vegetables, meat and poultry, retail foods, food service, processing/laboratory equipment, sanitation, and analytical testing.

To learn more about Bell Chem and the chemical products they offer, please visit http://www.bellchem.com/ or call 407-339-2355.

About Bell Chem Founded in 1992, Bell Chem is an independent chemical distributor located in Longwood, Florida. On top of a full-line of industrial and water treatment chemicals, Bell Chem offers a diverse blend of food, pharmaceutical, and personal care raw materials, as well as technical grade chemicals, sanitation chemicals, and custom compounds. Bell Chem’s vision is to provide high-quality chemical products with a “just-in-time” inventory approach to provide customers with the very best service in the industry.

*This press release can also be viewed online here http://www.prlog.org/12090467-bell-chem-sponsors-florida-ift-suppliers-night.html and http://www.1888pressrelease.com/bell-chem-sponsors-florida-ift-suppliers-night-pr-458412.html.

Paraffin Wax

Paraffin wax is a white/colorless, odorless soft solid from a chemical family of alkane hydrocarbons. In its purest and rawest form, paraffin wax is considered a heavy alkane hydrocarbon because it contains between 20 and 40 atoms of carbon and between 42 to 82 atoms of hydrogen. Paraffin wax is said to be originally developed when chemists discovered a way to remove the naturally-occurring waxy substance from petroleum during refining. Paraffin wax is used in a wide variety of industries. The candle industry is likely the largest user of paraffin wax due to the burning properties of this raw material. It’s also used as a carrier for active ingredients in the production of rodent baits, and to coat gun powder and dynamite cartridges to protect them from moisture.

If paraffin wax is combined with ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA), it becomes more elastic and adhesive. When paraffin wax is in this state, it can be used to produce products like crayons and hot glue sticks. Crayola crayons are known to contain a lot of paraffin wax. In fact, paraffin wax is made especially for Crayola by companies who extract it from products like wood and coal.

As a top-of-the-line chemical supplier in Orlando, Bell Chem offers an extensive list of raw materials and other chemical products such as USP ingredients, reagent-grade chemicals, custom compounds, botanicals, and more. Bell Chem offers fast delivery of any of our hundreds of chemicals. Call us at 407-339-BELL (2355) for a full list of our chemical products and to place an order!

Do You Know What “USP” Means in the Term “USP Ingredient”?

You may have heard the term USP Ingredient, but do you know what “USP” stands for? USP stands for United States Pharmacopoeia. A pharmacopoeia is a book containing a compilation of pharmaceutical products with their chemical formulas and methods of preparation. This word derives from Ancient Greek and literally means “drug making”. The United States Pharmacopeia is the official pharmacopoeia of the US and is published dually with the National Formulary as the USP-NF. The USP establishes written standards for medicines, food ingredients, other ingredients, and dietary supplement products. Manufacturers, as well as regulatory agencies, use the USP to ensure products have the appropriate identity, quality, purity, strength, consistency, etc. These standards help limit the introduction of potential adulterants and other problems at the ingredient level.

When you see the letters “USP” on a product label, this means that the manufacturer is claiming to adhere to the USP standards. In addition to this, the United States Pharmacopoeia Convention conducts testing and audit programs for dietary supplement products and ingredients. Products that meet the requirements of the program can display the “USP Verified Dietary Supplement Mark” on their labels, which is different from simply having “USP” on a product’s label.

With an abundance of world-class seaports within a few short hours, our Florida chemical supply company is positioned as the “go to” supplier for companies needing USP ingredients. Check out our USP ingredients page for a list of the USP ingredients, as well as other chemical products we offer. Give us a call today at 407-339-BELL (2355) to place an order!

Aloe Vera – From Plant to Personal Care Raw Material

Aloe Vera, a succulent green plant with thick, fleshy leaves can commonly be found in Florida – but did you know that this plant is cited as being used in herbal medicine dating all the way back to before the first century AD? The earliest documented use of Aloe Vera comes from the ancient Egyptians, but it was also grown and used by King Solomon. Even back then, people discovered the rejuvenating, healing, moisturizing, and soothing properties of this species of plant. Aloe Vera is a rich source of many chemical compounds. In fact, the plant contains more than 200 different biologically active substances such as vitamins, minerals, lignin, enzymes, sugars, sterols, amino acids, and salicylic acid. This plant also contains seven essential amino acids including Lysine, Threonine, Leucine, Isoleucine, Valine, Phenylalanine, and Methionine.

Extracts from Aloe Vera are widely used in the cosmetics and alternative medicine industries because of its “rejuvenating” properties. Aloe Vera gel is used as an ingredient in commercially available lotions, body wash, shampoos, sunscreens, and more. In addition, Aloe Vera gel is used in the production of many food products such as yogurt, beverages, and even some desserts - although at high doses, it has toxic properties when ingested. Also, Aloe Vera is used world-wide in traditional herbal medicines.

At our Orlando chemical supply company, Aloe Vera raw material is just one of the many personal care raw materials that we supply. We also stock many hard to find tech-grade chemicals, custom compounds, USP ingredients, botanical ingredients, and more. Call us at 407-339-BELL (2355) for a full list of our chemical products.

The Importance of the Chemical Supply Industry

Did you know that chemical industry shipments in the United States total about $450 billion a year?! The chemical industry is one of the principal manufacturing industries in the US, serving both a substantial domestic market and an expanding global market. Making up 19% of total world-wide production, the United States is the world’s leading chemicals producer and the world’s second largest exporter of chemicals. The chemical supply industry is the chief provider of raw materials for a plethora of essential US industries including manufacturing, exports, and defense. In fact, many industries use chemicals as their main raw materials to make end products including consumer products, electronics, food, home furnishings, textiles, paper, and more. For example, aspartame is used as a sugar substitute in foods and beverages and acetone is often used as the primary agent in nail polish remover.

At Bell Chem, we offer prompt delivery of hundreds of industrial chemical products. We have the ability to ship large volumes of chemicals from our own location in Orlando, as well as from our suppliers’ terminals throughout the US. We are positioned as the “go to” industrial chemical supplier both nationally and internationally.

This year, Bell Chem celebrated the 20th anniversary of our company and we are proud to say that we continue to provide our customers with the best service in the industry. On top of a full line of industrial and water treatment chemicals, Bell Chem offers a diverse blend of food, pharmaceutical and personal care raw materials, as well as hard to find technical grade chemicals and custom compounds. Give us a call at 407-339-BELL to learn more about our Florida chemical supply company and the industrial chemical products we offer!

Gelatin (Reagent-Grade)

Gelatin, or gelatine, is a heterogeneous mixture of water-soluble proteins of high average molecular masses, present in collagen from various animal byproducts. In other words, gelatin is an irreversibly hydrolysed form of collagen. This reagent-grade chemical is colorless to light yellow and brittle when dry. The worldwide production of gelatin amounts to roughly 300,000 tons per year. That’s about 600 million pounds! Commercially, gelatin is made from byproducts of the meat, leather, and fish industry. These raw materials are prepared through different curing, acid, and alkali processes in order to extract the dried collagen hydrolysate.

Most recognized as a gelling agent in cooking, gelatin is used as a stabilizer, thickener, and texturizer in foods, as well as in the production of rubber substitutes, adhesives, printing inks, matches, artificial silk, cements, photographic plates and films, plastic compounds, and light filters for mercury lamps. In the pharmaceutical industry, gelatin is used as an encapsulating agent, suspending agent, and tablet binder. For example, gelatin is used to create the shells of pharmaceutical capsules so that they are easier for patients to swallow.

As a top-of-the-line chemical supply company in Orlando, Bell Chem offers fast delivery of any of our hundreds of chemical products. With an abundance of world-class seaports within a few short hours, our Florida chemical supply company is positioned as the “go to” supplier on a national, as well as international level. Gelatin (reagent-grade) is just one of the many industrial chemicals we offer for purchase. Check out our Chemical Products page to discover more of the chemicals we supply. Give us a call today at 407-339-BELL (2355) to place an order!