Beverages
Material selection for beverages
Acidulants, buffer salts, preservatives, sweeteners and stabilisers for soft drinks, juice drinks, syrups, sports drinks and powdered beverages. A beverage formulation is defined by its pH, sweetness, clarity and preservation system, and every ingredient choice interacts with the others.
What the application needs. Citric acid (E330) is the most widely used beverage acidulant, giving a clean, fruity sourness, lowering pH and chelating trace metals that would otherwise catalyse flavour and colour changes. Sodium citrate (E331) buffers the acid, rounds off sharpness and stabilises pH during storage. Most still and carbonated soft drinks sit between about pH 2.5 and 3.8, a range in which sodium benzoate (E211) and potassium benzoate (E212) work well against yeasts and moulds, alone or blended with sorbates. Sweetness can come from glucose syrup, high-fructose corn syrup and dextrose, or, in reduced-sugar drinks, from intense sweeteners such as aspartame (E951) and neohesperidin dihydrochalcone (E959), often combined with bulk sweeteners such as erythritol (E968). Xanthan gum suspends pulp and cloud and adds body to reduced-sugar drinks, and dipotassium phosphate (E340) buffers dairy-style and protein drinks.
Key specification parameters. For citric acid, agree the form (anhydrous or monohydrate), assay, particle size for dry mixes, and conformity with the E330 purity criteria. For benzoates, agree assay and physical form. For syrups, agree dry solids, the saccharide profile or DE, colour and microbiological limits. For intense sweeteners, agree assay, particle size and the purity criteria for the relevant E-number. At finished-product level, set targets for Brix, pH and titratable acidity, usually expressed as anhydrous citric acid. Permitted additives and maximum levels for drinks are set in Annex II of Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 and the UK retained equivalent, and several categories set combined limits for benzoates and sorbates, so check the current annex rather than relying on a recipe from another market.
Recommended product types. A typical carbonated soft drink uses citric acid with a small amount of sodium citrate, a benzoate or benzoate-sorbate preservative system, and the chosen sweetener blend. Reduced-sugar drinks add xanthan gum or another hydrocolloid for mouthfeel. Powdered drink mixes use anhydrous citric acid, which has a much lower moisture content than the monohydrate, together with dextrose or maltodextrin as carriers.
Handling notes. Where a drink contains both benzoate and ascorbic acid, trace benzene can form under heat, light and in the presence of metal ions, so manufacturers control formulation, packaging and storage to minimise it and test finished products. Aspartame must be labelled with a phenylalanine statement, and drinks with added intense sweeteners carry specific labelling. Dissolve powders in the order your process has validated: acids and preservatives dissolve readily, while hydrocolloids need high-shear dispersion or pre-blending with sugar. Store acids and sweeteners dry to prevent caking. Ask for the specification, certificate of analysis, allergen and GMO statements for each ingredient, and request the certificate scope with your quotation if you need halal, kosher or food-safety certification.
Products for Beverages
Citric Acid
Citric acid (E330, CAS 77-92-9) is the most widely used food acidulant in the world. Produced by fermenting sugar with Aspergillus niger, it provides a clean sour taste, controls pH and sequesters metal ions that would otherwise spoil flavour and colour.
Sodium Citrate
Sodium citrate (E331, CAS 68-04-2) is the sodium salt of citric acid, used as a buffer, sequestrant and emulsifying salt. It is the ingredient that makes a smooth, non-splitting cheese sauce possible from ordinary hard cheese.
Sodium Benzoate
Sodium benzoate (E211, CAS 532-32-1) is the most widely used soft drink preservative in the world. It is far more soluble than benzoic acid, which is why it is the practical choice in water-based products, but it still only works below about pH 4.5.
Potassium Benzoate
Potassium benzoate (E212, CAS 582-25-2) is the potassium salt of benzoic acid, used where the same preservation is wanted without added sodium. Like all benzoates it is only effective below about pH 4.5.
Sorbitol
Sorbitol liquid (E420ii, CAS 50-70-4) is a 70 percent solution of the six-carbon sugar alcohol. Strongly hygroscopic, it is used less as a sweetener than as a humectant, holding moisture in confectionery, baked goods and toothpaste.
Glucose
Glucose, also called dextrose (CAS 50-99-7), is the simple sugar obtained by fully hydrolysing starch. It is about 70 percent as sweet as sucrose, browns readily in baking, and lowers freezing point more than sucrose at equal weight.
Xanthan Gum
Xanthan gum (E415, CAS 11138-66-2) is a polysaccharide produced by fermenting sugar with Xanthomonas campestris. It is strongly shear-thinning, so a sauce thickened with it pours easily yet holds solids in suspension at rest.
Dipotassium Hydrogen Phosphate (DKP)
Dipotassium hydrogen phosphate (E340ii, CAS 7758-11-4) is an alkaline buffering salt. Its best-known job is stopping non-dairy creamer from feathering when it hits hot coffee, by holding the pH above the point where the proteins curdle.
Guar Gum Food Grade
Food-grade guar gum powder (E412) for viscosity control, stabilisation and water binding in bakery, dairy, beverages, sauces, confectionery, frozen foods and noodles.
Glucose Syrup
Glucose syrup (CAS 8029-43-4) is hydrolysed starch supplied across a range of dextrose equivalent values. DE is the single specification that governs sweetness, viscosity and how the syrup controls crystallisation.
High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS)
High fructose corn syrup is glucose syrup in which enzymes have converted part of the glucose to fructose. HFCS-42 and HFCS-55 are the standard grades, the numbers giving the percentage of fructose in the sugar solids.
Dextrose
Dextrose is glucose in crystalline form, supplied as the monohydrate (CAS 5996-10-1) or anhydrous (CAS 50-99-7). Its negative heat of solution is what gives confectionery a cooling mouthfeel.
Aspartame
Aspartame (E951, CAS 22839-47-0) is a dipeptide sweetener roughly 200 times sweeter than sucrose. It contributes almost no calories at use level, but it degrades under heat and prolonged acidity, and products containing it must declare phenylalanine.
Neohesperidin Dihydrochalcone (NHDC, E959)
Neohesperidin dihydrochalcone (NHDC, E959, CAS 20702-77-6) at 98%, a high-intensity sweetener around 1,500 times sweeter than sugar at threshold, used mainly at low levels to mask bitterness and round out other sweeteners.
Erythritol
Erythritol (E968, CAS 149-32-6) is a four-carbon sugar alcohol produced by fermenting glucose. It carries about 70 percent of the sweetness of sugar at roughly 0.2 calories per gram, and unlike other polyols it rarely causes digestive upset.
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- Finished food, target function and process conditions
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Food-grade identity alone does not establish permission for every food or country. Confirm permitted use, limits and labelling requirements for the intended market. Certification availability must be checked for the nominated product and manufacturing site.
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