Calcium Alginate is the calcium salt of Alginic acid manufactured through chemical synthesis, available as white to yellowish brown filamentous, grainy, powder. It’s widely used as food thickener in food and beverage for its ability of increasing liquid viscosity.
Yes. Calcium Alginate is gluten free and widely used in gluten free food to provide stronger texture to salad dressing and fast food.
To answer this question, we need to clarify another question: what is gluten. Gluten is protein composite found in wheat and related grains, including barley and rye. (Wikipedia) First, gluten is a protein. Second, gluten is mainly found in wheat and related grains. As we mentioned before, Calcium Alginateis an alginate salt which is significantly different from protein. Raw materials used in manufacturing of Calcium Alginate are alginic acid derived from kelp and calcium salt; Calcium Alginate barely includes gluten impurity. So, Calcium Alginate is gluten free.
Calcium Alginate is widely used in food and beverage to provide stronger texture to salad dressing and fast food. Calcium Alginate is usually used in processed food rather than daily recipe.
Celiac disease: Celiac disease is an autoimmune disease that attacks the small intestine due to the presence of gluten, for which a gluten-free diet is the only medically-accepted treatment. In 2009 research showed between 0.5 and 1.0 percent of people in the US and UK are sensitive to gluten due to celiac disease. So people with Celiac disease have to stick to gluten free diet to avoid unexpected side effect caused by consumption of gluten.
Non-celiac gluten sensitivity: Some people may be sensitive to gluten but do not have celiac disease and feel better on a diet with less gluten. However, there are no specific symptoms confirmed. Non-celiac gluten sensitivity also drives more people to gluten free diet when people believe that they feel better when eating gluten free.
As a top supplier of food ingredients, Foodchem has been supplying gluten free Calcium Alginate for over 10 years. Feel free to contact us if you need gluten free Calcium Alginate. Email: inquiry@foodchem.cn. Tel: +86-21-2206-3075.