CMC in Food Industry

Carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) is based on fiber (cotton linter,wood pulp, etc.), sodium hydroxide, a chloroacetic acid as raw material synthesis. CMC has three specifications according to different uses: pure food grade purity ≥99.5%, industrial purity 70-80%, crude purity 50-60%. Sodium carboxymethyl cellulose CMC uses in food industry has excellent properties of thickening, suspension, bonding, stabilization, emulsification and dispersion in food, it is the main food thickening stabilizer for milk drinks, ice cream products, jam, jelly, fruit juice, flavoring agent, wine and all kinds of canned food.

1.CMC Applications in food industry

1.1.CMC can make jam, jelly, juice, flavoring agent, mayonnaise and all kinds of canned with appropriate thixotropy, can increase their viscosity. In canned meat, CMC can prevent oil and water from delamination and play the role of turbidity agent. It is an ideal foam stabilizer and clarifier for beer. The amount added is about 5%. Adding CMC in pastry food can prevent oil from oozing out of pastry food, so that the pastry food will not be dried in long-term storage, and make the pastry surface smooth and taste delicate.

1.2. In ice cream products – CMC has better solubility in ice cream than other thickeners such as sodium alginate, which can make milk protein completely stable. Due to the good water retention of CMC, it can control the growth of ice crystals, so that the ice cream has a bulging and lubricating organization, and there is no ice residue when chewing, so the taste is particularly good. The amount added is 0.1-0.3%.

1.3.CMC is the stabilizer of milk drinks – when juice is added to milk or fermented milk, it can cause milk protein to coagulate into suspension state and precipitate out of milk, making milk drinks very poor stability and easy to deteriorate. Especially to the long-term storage of milk drinks is very unfavorable. If the CMC is added to juice milk or milk drinks, adding 10-12% of the protein, it can maintain uniform stability, prevent milk protein condensation, not precipitation, so as to improve the quality of milk drinks, can be long-term stable storage without deterioration.

1.4. Powdery food – When oil, juice and pigment need powdery, they can be mixed with CMC and easily become powdery by spray drying or vacuum concentration. They are easily soluble in water when used, and the amount added is 2-5%.

1.5. Food preservation, such as meat products, fruits, vegetables, etc., can form a very thin film on the food surface after spraying with CMC aqueous solution, which can store food for a long time and keep food fresh, tender and taste unchanged. And when eating, rinse with water, very convenient. In addition, food grade CMC is harmless to human body, so it can be used in medicine. It can be used for CMC paper medicine, emulsifying agent for injection, thickening agent for medicine pulp, paste material and so on.

2. CMC Advantages in food industry

Compared with other similar products, CMC has bellow advantages in food industry : fast dissolution rate, good fluidity of dissolved solution, uniform distribution of molecules, large volume proportion, high acid resistance, high salt resistance, high transparency, less free cellulose, less gel. Generally, the recommended dosage is 0.3-1.0%.

3.Function of CMC in food production

3.1, thickening: high viscosity at low concentration. It can control the viscosity in food processing and give food a sense of lubrication.

3.2, water retention: reduce the dehydration contraction of food, prolong the shelf life of food.

3.3, dispersion stability: to maintain the stability of food quality, prevent oil and water stratification (emulsification), control the size of crystals in frozen food (reduce ice crystals).

3.4, film forming: in fried food to form a layer of film, prevent excessive absorption of oil.

3.5. Chemical stability: it is stable to chemicals, heat and light, and has certain mildew resistance.

3.6, metabolic inertia: as a food additive, will not be metabolized, in the food does not provide calories.

3.7, odorless, non-toxic, tasteless.