As a safe and compliant food additive and ingredient, food-grade calcium carbonate is widely used in a variety of fields, including food, medicine, and health supplements, thanks to its stable chemical properties and rich calcium content. Specific applications are as follows:
1. Food Processing: Improving Quality and Functionality
Flour and Noodle Products: As a flour treatment agent, it can adjust the pH of flour, improve the gluten and stability of dough, and make products like noodles and steamed buns chewier. It can also increase the calcium content of foods, achieving “nutrition fortification.”
Dairy and Soy Products: It can be added as a calcium supplement to products such as milk, yogurt, cheese, tofu, and dried tofu, increasing the calcium content and meeting consumer demand for calcium without significantly affecting the flavor and texture of the products.
Snacks and Baked Goods: It can be used as a filler or stabilizer in snacks such as biscuits, potato chips, and cakes, improving the taste (for example, making biscuits crispier), adjusting the color and shape of foods, and extending their shelf life. Adding it to chocolate can also improve its moldability and firmness.
Beverage Industry: It can be used as a stabilizer or pH adjuster in carbonated beverages and plant-based protein beverages (such as soy milk and walnut milk) to prevent separation and sedimentation, maintaining a uniform taste. Some calcium-fortified beverages also use it as a calcium source.
2. Pharmaceutical Industry: Auxiliary Therapy and Formulation
Calcium Supplements/Health Products: It is a core ingredient in calcium tablets, chewable calcium tablets, and effervescent calcium tablets. It can supplement calcium for children, the elderly, pregnant women, and lactating women, preventing or treating calcium deficiency-related diseases such as osteoporosis and rickets. It also has a high absorption rate and meets pharmaceutical safety standards.
Pharmaceutical Excipients: It can be used as a filler, diluent, or disintegrant in solid pharmaceuticals such as tablets and capsules. For example, in tablet production, it can increase the weight and volume of the tablet, making it more uniform. It also helps the tablet disintegrate quickly after entering the body, promoting the release and absorption of the drug ingredients.
3. Other Specialty Industries
Feed Industry (Extended Applications of Food Grade): Although its core positioning is “food grade,” some high-purity food-grade calcium carbonate can also be used in high-end feed production to supplement calcium for poultry, livestock, and aquatic animals, promoting bone development (for example, adding it to laying hen feed can increase eggshell hardness). Due to its high purity and low impurities, it does not impact animal health or subsequent food safety.
Toothpaste and Other Daily Chemicals: In toothpaste, food-grade calcium carbonate can be used as an abrasive to gently remove plaque and food debris from tooth surfaces. Its safety properties ensure that even small amounts accidentally ingested are harmless, making it suitable for all types of people.