News
A Closer Look at a Common Additive: Caffeine
Caffeine occurs naturally in many foods, such as chocolate and coffee. Manufacturers have added caffeine to energy drinks and foods, such as protein bars, pudding, and breakfast cereals to help consumers maintain a high level of mental and physical acuity. But how does caffeine work? The food and reagent product supplier, Bell Chem, wants their customers to understand this chemical and the advantages it can bring as an additive.
Your body naturally produces a chemical called adenosine throughout the day which blocks the neurotransmitters that excite the brain. When caffeine enters your system, your body is tricked into thinking it is adenosine because it binds to the same neurotransmitters, but has the opposite reaction. This effect causes consumers to feel energized and alert, which is why a morning cup of coffee is a necessary component for busy schedules.
The liver breaks down caffeine in an effort release stored fat that increases muscle performance, as well as to rush nutrients and oxygen to the brain for more focus and quicker reactions, and to stimulate the heart rate and force of contraction for a larger blood supply to the muscles. This excess energy and brain acuity lasts four to six hours from a single 100 mg serving – approximately one cup of coffee.
Similar to other products, caffeine is beneficial in small amounts. The average adult can safely consume 400 mg of caffeine per day and teenagers can take in 200-300 mg with no side effects. Metabolic rates vary for every individual, and caffeine affects people differently. In other words, don’t start your day with a double espresso if you have not consumed any caffeine for a while!
Healthcare professionals have prescribed caffeinated products for dietary reasons, reduce patient fatigue as well as decrease the risk of type 2 diabetes, some cancers, and Alzheimer’s disease.
The preferred food and reagent product supplier, Bell Chem, has caffeine readily available. Contact Bell Chem today at 407-339-BELL (2355) to ask about adding caffeine your products. Check out our blog to learn more about food and reagent products.
Surprising Ways Hydrogen Peroxide is Used
We all have that ubiquitous brown bottle of hydrogen peroxide stored in our cabinets. Many consumers find hydrogen peroxide useful for oral rinse, removing stains and whitening, and applying to wounds because of its germicidal properties. However, hydrogen peroxide has dozens of industrial uses, and the household industrial and institutional product suppliers at Bell Chem are here review a list of ways any industry could incorporate it.
Protein Removal
Food stains on a restaurant’s tablecloth can be immediately doused with hydrogen peroxide, and white linens can be cleaned safely with hydrogen peroxide added to the washing machine.
Natural SanitizerHydrogen peroxide is approved for use on food preparation surfaces. Sanitize porous surfaces, such as wood, solid metal, or glass without leaving streaks.
Septic Systems
These systems incorporate hydrogen peroxide in order to disinfect equipment without damaging it – a benefit bleach cannot promise.
Chlorine Alternative
Hydrogen peroxide offers the antimicrobial properties of chlorine without the health and environmental risks for water treatment systems. The initial cost of hydrogen peroxide exceeds that of chlorine, but it works faster and uses less product.
Damage Repair
Water damage to walls, machinery, floors, ceilings, and most other surfaces can be decontaminated with hydrogen peroxide, even if mold is present.
Food Safety
In the food industry, vegetables and fruits soaked in a water/hydrogen peroxide blend neutralize the chemical residue, kills bacteria, and prolongs shelf life.
Stain Removal
Stubborn stains on porous surfaces can be cleaned with a 3:1 mixture of baking soda to hydrogen peroxide.
After reviewing just some of the surprising ways hydrogen peroxide can be used, it is no wonder so many are adding to their inventory. Don’t wait, give the preferred household industrial and institutional product supplier, Bell Chem, a call at 407-339-BELL (2355) to learn about our line of industrial products and chemicals. Our blogs contain in-depth information on many of the products we stock.
A Closer Look at a Common Additive: Caffeine
Caffeine occurs naturally in many foods, such as chocolate and coffee. Manufacturers have added caffeine to energy drinks and foods, such as protein bars, pudding, and breakfast cereals to help consumers maintain a high level of mental and physical acuity. But how does caffeine work? The food and reagent product supplier, Bell Chem, wants their customers to understand this chemical and the advantages it can bring as an additive.
Your body naturally produces a chemical called adenosine throughout the day which blocks the neurotransmitters that excite the brain. When caffeine enters your system, your body is tricked into thinking it is adenosine because it binds to the same neurotransmitters, but has the opposite reaction. This effect causes consumers to feel energized and alert, which is why a morning cup of coffee is a necessary component for busy schedules.
The liver breaks down caffeine in an effort release stored fat that increases muscle performance, as well as to rush nutrients and oxygen to the brain for more focus and quicker reactions, and to stimulate the heart rate and force of contraction for a larger blood supply to the muscles. This excess energy and brain acuity lasts four to six hours from a single 100 mg serving – approximately one cup of coffee.
Similar to other products, caffeine is beneficial in small amounts. The average adult can safely consume 400 mg of caffeine per day and teenagers can take in 200-300 mg with no side effects. Metabolic rates vary for every individual, and caffeine affects people differently. In other words, don’t start your day with a double espresso if you have not consumed any caffeine for a while!
Healthcare professionals have prescribed caffeinated products for dietary reasons, reduce patient fatigue as well as decrease the risk of type 2 diabetes, some cancers, and Alzheimer’s disease.
The preferred food and reagent product supplier, Bell Chem, has caffeine readily available. Contact Bell Chem today at 407-339-BELL (2355) to ask about adding caffeine your products. Check out our blog to learn more about food and reagent products.
Water Treatment Solutions for Industrial and Municipalities
Written history dating from 2000 B.C. includes information on water treatment to give water a better taste. Ancient Greek and Sanskrit scrolls tell about gravel filtration, straining, and boiling water. Their goal was not for clean, pure water, but for it to simply tasted better than water from a stagnant pond. Egyptians began flocculating water after 1500 B.C. with alum, which joined and settled particles to the bottom of containers. Hippocrates’ bag filter and Archimedes water screw appeared within 250 years of each other, followed quickly by the first Roman aqueducts. Water filters for domestic use in the 18th century were wool, charcoal, and sponge. The first municipal water treatment plant was built in Scotland in 1804. The cholera epidemic led to water disinfection by chlorine in 1854.
Today, many of the principles begun thousands of years ago are still applied to water treatment plants, although the chemicals and methods may have changed as technology improved. Bell Chem is your water treatment chemical supplier, carrying a vast array of cleansers, flocculants, sanitizers, coagulants, and chemicals to keep your water supply healthy and your equipment performing at its peak.
Water treatment involves many components to give consumers the freshest, safest water possible. To meet this need, a variety of chemical families aid in the transformation of water into a portable form.
Silicones, such as T-Guard, T-Sil 10 CST, TA-10X, TE-600, TA-D, and T-Sil 1000CS are defoamers.
Oxidizing bleaching agents include sodium hypochlorite (bleach), and peroxides – hydrogen peroxide and sodium percarbonate, for example – that also disinfect and stabilize pH.
Sodium hydroxide (caustic soda) is a decomposing agent for proteins.
Aluminum sulfate acts as a coagulant.
pH increasers include calcium carbonate, sodium carbonate, and sodium hydroxide, which have the added advantage of not causing water hardness.
Water softeners used in water treatment systems include lime and potassium chloride.
Citric acid acts as a filtration cleaner.
Water quality is of vital importance and the water treatment chemical supplier of Florida, Bell Chem, strives to keep the most reliable products in stock for its customers. Read our blogs or call Bell Chem at 407-339-2355 (BELL) or visit www.bellchem.com to learn how our products can help your industrial or municipal water treatment facility.
A Glance Into the Janitorial Sanitation Industry
When you clean your house, you typically use general purpose cleaners and deodorizers to make your house look great. However, would you trust your kitchen surfaces to food preparation using those chemicals? Are they actually food safe? Are you sure no bacteria or viruses are lurking in your kitchen where you prepare food? These are the questions put forth almost half a century ago when commercial cleaning first began in the United States. The ability to utilize the right chemicals on surfaces to clean areas dedicated to food preparation, industrial building, computer component manufacturing, or any other service is better left to those who understand the difference between a cleaner and a disinfectant. Bell Chem, the janitorial and sanitation product supplier, has products and chemicals to meet the cleaning needs of almost any organization, and its knowledgeable staff can recommend which products will work for your business.
Sanitation was first recorded at the time of Hippocrates, who created a branch of medicine focused on the “art of health”, which he called hygiene. In Ancient China’s Yellow Emperor’s Treatise on Internal Medicine, it was noted that “It is more important to prevent illness than to cure the illness when it has arisen.” To this end, water began to be filtered, and the bodies of humans and animals were buried rather than thrown into waterways. Fast forward 1000 years to New York City when garbage and “filth” were routinely tossed into the street as they were in Ancient Rome. Children were often paid to sweep a path through up to 3 feet of muck to help pedestrians cross the street. This scene was replayed across the United States, sparking the Great Sanitary Awakening and the rudiments of our public health infrastructure.
Nowadays the link between public health and sanitation is well known and janitorial and sanitation experts turn to Bell Chem to supply them with the products they find will enhance public health with the use of antibacterial and antiseptic chemicals. A sampling of the products in Bell Chem’s prolific inventory includes:
Quaternary ammonium compounds to reduce Staphylococcus aureus
Sodium hypochlorite (bleach) with myriad uses as a disinfectant, pH reducer, sanitizer, bleach, and oxidizer
Trisodium Phosphate renowned for sanitizing stainless steel
Sodium meta silicate as a detergent, emulsifier, and suspending agent
Ethyl alcohol for cleaning surfaces, especially in microbiology labs
Bell Chem has its exclusive CsanTM product line of caustic cleaners, foaming cleaners, alkaline cleaners, general purpose cleaners, chlorinated detergents, acid detergents, sanitizers, and conveyor and chain lubricants. Each ensures every portion of your business is clean and sanitized. Give Bell Chem a call at 407-339-2355 (BELL) to ask about any of the products from your Florida janitorial and sanitation product supplier. To learn more about our products, read more at www.bellchem.com.
Household Industrial and Institutional Product Manufacturing Industry Summary
Chemicals have been combined to create products for more than 9,000 years. However, the chemical industry did not find its niche until the industrial revolution with the advent of sulfuric acid and soda plants across Asia, followed closely by artificial fertilizer plants. Shortly after that, textile mills across Europe formed synthetic dyes from coal, mass produced sulfuric acid, and used electricity and salt to create chlorine and caustic soda. Organic chemistry’s industrial beginnings in the 19th century formed plastics and fibers from petrochemicals, and polymer science joined with chemical engineering to drive the industrial and institutional chemical market forward. Plastics, paints, adhesives, and resins were engineered, and the end of World War II ushered in a change from organic chemicals to petrochemicals. As the industry advances, the household industrial and institutional product supplier, Bell Chem, changes with it.
Approximately three-fourths of the chemicals produced in the world emanates from France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, and the United States. In 2008, the United States’ chemical output garnered 18.6% of the market worldwide, bringing in $689 million. Many of the products generated by the United States are available through Bell Chem’s Florida warehouse. The following CsanTM Sanitation Products can be in stock: alkaline, foaming, and general purpose cleaners; chlorinated detergents; acid degreasers; sanitizers; and conveyor and chain lubricants along with other chemicals and ingredients.
Many other multi-purpose products in Bell Chem’s extensive inventory are ideal for industrial use, including:
Acids: Acetic acid, ascorbic acid, citric acid, coconut fatty acid, gluconic acid, glycolic acid, hydrochloric acid, nitric acid, oxalic acid, oleic acid, phosphoric acid, and sulfuric acid all decrease the pH of products, disinfect, and refine products
Surfactants: NP-9 (nonylphenol ethoxylate), N-60 and lauryl dimethylamine cause the production of foam
Oxidizing agents: hydrogen peroxide, calcium chloride, sodium sulfite, and sulfonic acid eliminate odors and disinfect
Many of the chemicals in Bell Chem’s inventory have multiple purposes, such as:
Tetrasodium pyrophosphate, which acts as a buffer, detergent, emulsifier, and a thickening agent
Zinc sulfate, an electrolyte used as an astringent and emetic, dye fixative, leather preservative, in zinc plating and as an ingredient in fluorescent lights, luminous paints, and x-ray screens
Sodium hypochlorite (bleach) is a common chemical that disinfects, removes stains, and increases pH
Potassium hydroxide is also known as caustic potash and has a wide variety of applications, including the production of detergents, liquid fertilizers, potassium carbonate, potassium phosphates, and soap
The household industrial and institutional product supplier, Bell Chem, has the household industrial and institutional product manufacturing industry covered with its products designed to degrease, oxidize, clean, deodorize, sanitize, and lubricate. Give Bell Chem a call at 407-339-2355 (BELL) or visit www.bellchem.com to learn about our CsanTM sanitation products and how they can keep your business running smoothly.
Pharmaceutical Industry Summary
The pharmaceutical industry has very humble beginnings with folk remedies and treatments that were more miss than hit. As both doctors and medicine improved with the 17th-century scientific revolution, guesswork was replaced with scientific experimentation and rationalism. By the 18th-century, the industrial revolution made goods readily available to the general public, and the pharmaceutical industry leaped forward. Many of the formulas developed at that time are still in use and inventoried by the pharmaceutical product supplier Bell Chem.
The first pharmaceutical giant in the United States, Pfizer, was founded in 1849. Pfizer became highly successful during the Civil War with a sharp increase in the demand for antiseptic products and pain relief medicines. Aspirin, created from the bark of a willow tree, hit the market in the 1900s, although “pharmaceuticals” also tended to include soft drink additives, hair gel, and cod liver oil. Today’s pharmaceutical industry includes millions of lifesaving drugs, and Bell Chem can supply its customers with additives and chemicals to formulate the purest pharmaceuticals with the most precise doses possible.
Bell Chem’s inventory of chemicals and additives for the pharmaceutical industry is extensive. From antibacterials such as alcohols, chlorine, and aldehydes to keep your machinery and work spaces sanitized to stocking the ingredients for your end product, Bell Chem can fulfill your supply needs. We understand the various necessities of the pharmaceutical industry, and stock items to keep your business running smoothly and we have listed a few examples of our products below.
Emollients: Hyaluronic acid and glycerol for moisturizers and other skin care products
Thickeners and Stabilizers: Guar gum and pectin to add bulk and homogenize products
Antifungal agents: Green tea and grapeseed extract keep products from spoiling
Sweeteners: crystalline fructose, sucralose, and sugar for flavor
Vitamins: Vitamins are used by the body for various functions, including as antioxidants (Vitamin C and E), in the formation of red blood cells (Vitamins B6 and E), for metabolism (various types of Vitamin B), and absorption (Vitamins C and D). Vitamin A plays a major role in vision, mitosis, and immune function.
Antioxidants: acetyl-l-carnitine, Vitamin C and its derivatives, and lutein deter cellular breakdown
The role of pharmaceutical products is far-ranging and vastly important to maintain good overall health. Bell Chem sells the purest forms of pharmaceutical products to its customers, ensuring their end products are of the highest quality. Contact the pharmaceutical product supplier Bell Chem at 407-339-2355 (BELL) to order any of our pharmaceutical products, and read our past blogs to learn about many of our products marketed not only for the pharmaceutical industry, but for personal care, food, reagent, sanitation, and more.
Personal Care Industry Summary
Personal care products include those manufactured for personal hygiene as well as those for beautification. Beauty care products are marketed to attract our senses of smell, taste, and sight; many consumers are drawn to products with fragrant aromas or enticing colors. Personal hygiene products, on the other hand, generally serve a purpose and consumers expect them to reduce odor, clean or disinfect, or gently abrade.The personal care product supplier Bell Chem has an extensive inventory of cosmetic ingredients for the personal care industry, such as emulsifiers, cleansers, conditioners, and active ingredients.
Personal care products have been around for almost as long as humans have roamed Earth. Ancient Egyptian men and women used kohl to darken their eyelids. Chinese men and women stained their fingernails as far back as 3000 B.C. as a means to announce their social standing. Lastly, early Greek women lightened their skin with poisonous lead carbonate. Indigenous tribes have used ground rocks, clay, and minerals to create body paints in designs ranging from simple to elaborate throughout their histories.
Today, billions of dollars are spent worldwide to create, manufacture, and purchase personal care products. While past marketing promotions were aimed primarily at women, today’s men have a much greater market share, and the number of goods for the aging population of Baby Boomers has increased sharply.
While personal care products contain many of the same basic ingredients – water, emulsifiers, thickeners, emollients, pH stabilizers, fragrances, and preservatives – a smattering of esoteric ingredients can chemically alter a product, changing it from shampoo to a tube of toothpaste. In fact, approximately 12,500 chemical ingredients are marketed in the United States specifically to manufacture personal care products. Most of these products contain 15-50 ingredients in varied combinations. Since consumers use from 9-15 personal care products daily, this leads to 135-750 separate elements being applied daily per person. Many ingredients may be found naturally occurring; however, it is more cost effective to use manufactured products.
The common additives used in the personal care industry include the following:
Emulsifiers: To keep products homogenized, emulsifiers such as polysorbates, soy lecithin, magnesium stearate, and glycerol monostearate are used to break water bonds and mix products evenly.
Thickeners: Many common foods are more palatable when thickened; therefore, guar, locust, trag, CMC, and xanthan gum; corn starch; and collagen can transform a liquid into a more viscous form.
Emollients: Moisture quickly dissipates from the surface of the skin, even when protective lotions are applied. Emollients such as white mineral oil, lanolin, paraffin wax, zinc oxide, and a variety of plant oils including olive, coconut, canola, almond, oat, and peppermint act to retain water and preserve softer, smoother skin.
pH stabilizers: Skin has a normal pH of around 4.7, which is acidic. Many products work because they differ from the skin’s pH; if the product’s pH were neutralized, the product would not function as efficiently. Therefore, pH stabilizers such as citric acid, oleic acid, and phosphoric acid keep the pH at a more effective level.
Fragrances: Most consumers purchase personal care products by reading the label, then smelling the product. The product with the preferred odor in their category is purchased. Fragrances such as botanical extracts, citric acid, lemon oil, peppermint oil, and eucalyptus enhance product appeal.
Preservatives: Shelf life is crucial for a product. Preservatives such as citric acid, sodium benzoate, potassium sorbate, and Vitamin E prevent spoilage and elongate the opportunity to sell the product.
Call Bell Chem today at 407-339-2355 (BELL) to ask about any of our line of personal care industry products. From sun care to fragrances and oils, Bell Chem can provide your business with the chemicals and products necessary to create the perfect product. Your personal care product supplier in Florida, Bell Chem, can ship products quickly and economically. Read our blogs to learn about many of our personal care products and more. If you do not see the grade or form of a product you desire, contact us.
Nutritional Industry Summary
As the overall population of citizens in the United States ages, the volume of nutritional supplements has escalated sharply. Bell Chem, your nutritional product supplier, has taken note of this rise in product use and stocks hundreds of supplements and chemicals for the nutritional industry.
Many of the additives utilized by the nutritional industry cross over into pharmaceuticals. The distinction lies in the labeling: a dietary supplement cannot claim to “cure, treat, or prevent a disease,” according to the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA). However, these products, including herbs have been used with success for many consumers for centuries. Tablets dating back to 4000 B.C. discovered the Mideast listed the uses of thyme, licorice, mustard, and poppies. Although China has a 3,000-year history of herbal remedies, recorded use of herbs in the United States only began a few centuries ago – and herbs were considered alternate forms of medicine. It was not until a few decades ago that nutritional supplements and herbs infiltrated the markets by offering preventive measures to many of the diseases taxing Americans.
Dietary supplement use escalated after 1994 when the DSHEA was passed, limiting the Food and Drug Administration’s hold on nutritional supplements. Supplements must contain a vitamin, mineral, herb or botanical product, amino acid, or organ tissue in the form of a whole product, concentrate, or extract. Bell Chem stocks several products in most of these categories.
Vitamins: Vitamin A, B Vitamins (thiamin, riboflavin, pyridoxine), Vitamin C and ascorbic acid, Vitamin D, and Vitamin E
Minerals: Calcium chloride, calcium sulfate, magnesium chloride, magnesium glycerophosphate, magnesium sulfate, manganese sulfate, potassium iodide, potassium chloride, potassium phosphate, sodium selenate 2%, and zinc oxide
Herbs and botanicals: garlic oil, aloe vera, gingko biloba 24/6, honey, sesame oil, karaya gum, grapeseed extract, sweet almond oil, and several botanical extracts
Amino and nucleic acids: Ribonucleic acid (RNA), calcium amino acid chelate, copper amino acid complex 20%, magnesium amino acid complex 20%, manganese amino acid chelate 20%, and potassium amino acid chelate 20%
As market demands for nutritional supplements increase, Bell Chem will stock more and more of the products you need. Read our blogs or call the nutritional product supplier Bell Chem at 407-339-2355 (BELL) for information on our vast array of nutritional supplements for your company.
Beverage & Brewery Industry Summary
For as long as humans have been farming, they have been creating beverages. One of the very first human-made beverages was beer. Wine followed by 4000 B.C. When it was determined beverages could be created using either grains or fruits, the possibilities opened vastly, and cider and ales developed. By the 16th century, industrialization had caused overcrowding in many towns, and water supplies became severely contaminated. Children drank milk, and their elders consumed beer to keep from drinking the water. Coffee, cocoa, and tea entered Europe in the 17th century. While coffee was available to commoners, only the elite could afford tea until the price of tea plummeted in the 18th century. Carbon dioxide was added to drinks in 1772. Mass production of beverages began in the 19th century with the advent of the Industrial Revolution. With this sudden burgeoning of products, manufacturers needed a standard method of safe storage without spoilage. Many of the additives used then are still popular today while others have been replaced with better varieties. Bell Chem takes its role as food & reagent product supplier seriously and strives to stock the best products available for the beverage and brewery industry.
Bell Chem stocks food-grade sanitation chemicals such as Jeffcool P200 and CSAN sanitation and cleaning products to clean equipment, countertops, and storage facilities for any beverage. The beverage and brewery industries rely on several chemicals stocked by Bell Chem that extend shelf life, such as sodium metabisulfite, potassium benzoate, and malic acid. The brewery industry finds their needs differ slightly due to the fermentation process of its products. Therefore, breweries require propylene glycol USP in their chiller systems and lactic acid 88% as a pH balancer to keep their businesses running smoothly. Flavoring is another venue where additives are in high demand, and Bell Chem can meet the need for its line of additives to enhance drink flavor – sucralose, xylitol, corn syrup, and phosphoric acid 85%.
The beverage and brewery industry uses products stocked by Bell Chem for each stage of the process of creating soda, tea, coffee, ale, wine, and other products. From cleaning the equipment to stocking neighborhood stores with products with extended shelf lives, the food & reagent product supplier Bell Chem can advance your business’ customer base. Read our blogs or call Bell Chem at 407-339-2355 (BELL) to learn about our nutritional, sanitation, industrial, and food ingredients for your company.