Carboxymethyl Cellulose is an anionic, water-soluble cellulose ether. It can greatly change the viscosity of most commonly used aqueous solutions. In food industry, sodium salt has the most practical value, so we usually use CMC to refer to Sodium Carboxymethyl Cellulose.
CMC, used as an additive in food industry, has many functions such as thickening, suspension, emulsification, stability, conformal, film-forming, bulge, antiseptic and fresh-keeping, acid resistance and health care. It can replace Gelatin, Agar, Sodium Alginate and Pectin in food production.
Applied Characters of Food Grade CMC:
- Thickening: High viscosity can be obtained at low concentrations. It can control viscosity during food processing and give food a sense of lubrication.
- Water Retention: Reduce syneresis of food, prolong the shelf life.
- Dispersion Stability: Maintain the stability of the food, prevent oil and water delamination (emulsification), control the crystal size in frozen food (reduce ice crystal).
- Film-formation: It can help to form a film in fried food to prevent excessive absorption of oil.
- Chemical Stability: It’s stable to chemicals, heat and light, and it has certain anti-mildew properties.
- Metabolism of Inert: CMC as a food additive will not be metabolized and does not provide calories in food.
- Scentless, Non-toxic and Tasteless.
SINOCMC Team