Calcium stearoyl-2-lactylate (calcium stearoyl lactylate or CSL) is a versatile, FDA approved food additive

Food additive

Food additives are substances added to food to preserve flavor or enhance its taste and appearance.Some additives have been used for centuries; for example, preserving food by pickling , salting, as with bacon, preserving sweets or using sulfur dioxide as in some wines...

. CSL is non-toxic

Toxicity

Toxicity is the degree to which a substance can damage a living or non-living organisms. Toxicity can refer to the effect on a whole organism, such as an animal, bacterium, or plant, as well as the effect on a substructure of the organism, such as a cell or an organ , such as the liver...

, biodegradable

Biodegradation

Biodegradation or biotic degradation or biotic decomposition is the chemical dissolution of materials by bacteria or other biological means...

, and typically manufactured using biorenewable

Renewable resource

A renewable resource is a natural resource with the ability of being replaced through biological or other natural processes and replenished with the passage of time...

  feedstocks

Raw material

A raw material or feedstock is the basic material from which a product is manufactured or made, frequently used with an extended meaning. For example, the term is used to denote material that came from nature and is in an unprocessed or minimally processed state. Latex, iron ore, logs, and crude...

. Because CSL is a safe and highly effective food additive, it is used in a wide variety of products from baked goods

Baking

Baking is the technique of prolonged cooking of food by dry heat acting by convection, and not by radiation, normally in an oven, but also in hot ashes, or on hot stones. It is primarily used for the preparation of bread, cakes, pastries and pies, tarts, quiches, cookies and crackers. Such items...

 and desserts

Dessert

In cultures around the world, dessert is a course that typically comes at the end of a meal, usually consisting of sweet food. The word comes from the French language as dessert and this from Old French desservir, "to clear the table" and "to serve." Common Western desserts include cakes, biscuits,...

 to packaging.

As described by the Food Chemical Codex

United States Pharmacopeia

The United States Pharmacopeia is the official pharmacopeia of the United States, published dually with the National Formulary as the USP-NF. The United States Pharmacopeial Convention is the nonprofit organization that owns the trademark and copyright to the USP-NF and publishes it every year...

 7th edition, CSL is a cream-colored powder. CSL is currently manufactured by the esterification of stearic acid and lactic acid with partial neutralization using food-grade hydrated lime (calcium hydroxide

Calcium hydroxide

Calcium hydroxide, traditionally called slaked lime, is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula Ca2. It is a colourless crystal or white powder and is obtained when calcium oxide is mixed, or "slaked" with water. It has many names including hydrated lime, builders lime, slack lime, cal, or...

). Commercial grade CSL is a mixture of calcium salts of stearoyl lactic acid, with minor proportions of other salts of related acids. The HLB

Hydrophilic-lipophilic balance

The Hydrophilic-lipophilic balance of a surfactant is a measure of the degree to which it is hydrophilic or lipophilic, determined by calculating values for the different regions of the molecule, as described by Griffin in 1949 and 1954...

 for CSL is 5.1. It is slightly soluble in hot water. The pH

PH

In chemistry, pH is a measure of the acidity or basicity of an aqueous solution. Pure water is said to be neutral, with a pH close to 7.0 at . Solutions with a pH less than 7 are said to be acidic and solutions with a pH greater than 7 are basic or alkaline...

 of a 2% aqueous suspension is approximately 4.7.<

Food labeling requirements

To be labeled as CSL for sale within the United States, the product must conform to the specifications detailed in 21 CFR 172.844. In the EU, the product must conform to the specifications detailed in Regulation (EC) No 96/77. Tests for these specifications can be found in the Food Chemical Codex,. Acceptance criteria for these two regions are as follows:

Specific Test	Acceptance Criterion (FCC)	Acceptance Criterion (EU)
Acid Value	50 - 86	50 - 130
Calcium Content	4.2% - 5.2%	1% - 5.2%
Ester Value	125 - 164	125 - 190
Total Recoverable Lactic Acid	32.0% - 38.0%	15% - 40%

To be labeled as CSL for sale in other regions, the product must conform to the specifications detailed in that region's codex.

Food applications and maximum use levels

CSL finds widespread application in baked goods

Baking

Baking is the technique of prolonged cooking of food by dry heat acting by convection, and not by radiation, normally in an oven, but also in hot ashes, or on hot stones. It is primarily used for the preparation of bread, cakes, pastries and pies, tarts, quiches, cookies and crackers. Such items...

, cereals

Cereal

Cereals are grasses cultivated for the edible components of their grain , composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran...

, pastas, instant rice

Instant rice

Instant rice, also known as minute rice, is rice that has been precooked and dehydrated so that it cooks more rapidly. Regular rice requires 20-60 minutes to cook while instant rice needs anywhere between five and 10 minutes...

, desserts

Dessert

In cultures around the world, dessert is a course that typically comes at the end of a meal, usually consisting of sweet food. The word comes from the French language as dessert and this from Old French desservir, "to clear the table" and "to serve." Common Western desserts include cakes, biscuits,...

, icings

Icing (food)

Icing, also called frosting in the United States, is a sweet often creamy glaze made of sugar with a liquid such as water or milk, that is often enriched with ingredients such as butter, egg whites, cream cheese, or flavorings and is used to cover or decorate baked goods, such as cakes or cookies...

, fillings, puddings

Pudding

Pudding most often refers to a dessert, but it can also be a savory dish.In the United States, pudding characteristically denotes a sweet milk-based dessert similar in consistency to egg-based custards, though it may also refer to other types such as bread and rice pudding.In the United Kingdom and...

, toppings, sugar confectionaries

Confectionery

Confectionery is the set of food items that are rich in sugar, any one or type of which is called a confection. Modern usage may include substances rich in artificial sweeteners as well...

, powdered beverage mixes, creamers

Non-dairy creamer

Non-dairy creamers are liquid or granular substances intended to substitute for milk or cream as an additive to coffee or other beverages. They do not contain lactose and therefore are commonly described as not being dairy products...

, cream liqueurs

Cream liqueur

A cream liqueur is a liqueur that includes dairy cream among its ingredients. Examples include Baileys Irish Cream and Saint Brendan's, which use Irish whiskey; Heather Cream from Scotland using Scotch whisky; Creme de la Creme Maple Cream from Canada using maple syrup and cream; Cruzan Rum Cream...

, dehydrated potatoes, snack dips

Dip (food)

A dip or dipping sauce is a common condiment for many types of food. Dips are used to add flavor and/or texture to a food, such as pita bread, dumplings, crackers, cut-up raw vegetables, seafood, cubed pieces of meat and cheese, potato chips, tortilla chips, and falafel...

, sauces

Sauce

In cooking, a sauce is liquid, creaming or semi-solid food served on or used in preparing other foods. Sauces are not normally consumed by themselves; they add flavor, moisture, and visual appeal to another dish. Sauce is a French word taken from the Latin salsus, meaning salted...

, gravies

Gravy

Gravy is a sauce made often from the juices that run naturally from meat or vegetables during cooking. In North America the term can refer to a wider variety of sauces and gravy is often thicker than in Britain...

, chewing gum

Chewing gum

Chewing gum is a type of gum traditionally made of chicle, a natural latex product, or synthetic rubber known as polyisobutylene. For economical and quality reasons, many modern chewing gums use rubber instead of chicle...

, dietetic foods

Diet food

Diet food refers to any food or drink whose recipe has been altered in some way to make it part of a body modification diet...

, minced and diced canned meats

Potted meat

Before the days of refrigeration, potted meat was developed as a way to preserve meat. After animals were slaughtered, especially in domestic settings, the result was more meat than could be immediately used...

, and mostarda di frutta

Mostarda

Mostarda is an Italian condiment made of candied fruit and a mustard flavoured syrup. Commercially the essential oil of mustard is employed, which has the advantage of transparency; in home cooking mustard powder heated in white wine may be used.Traditionally mostarda was served with boiled meats,...

. In the United States, approved uses and use levels are described in 21 CFR 172.844, 21 CFR 176.170 and 21 CFR 177.120. while the corresponding regulations in the EU are listed in Regulation (EC) No 95/2.

United States		European Union
Application	Maximum Use Level	Application	Maximum Use Level	Application	Maximum Use Level	Application	Maximum Use Level
Yeast leavened bakery products	0.5% of flour	Fine baked goods	5 g/kg	Bread	3 g/kg	Breakfast cereals	5 g/kg
Liquid and frozen egg whites	0.05%	Fat Emulsions	10 g/kg	Desserts	5 g/kg	Sugar confectionary	5 g/kg
Dried egg whites	0.5%	Beverage whiteners	3 g/kg	Hot powder beverage mixes	2 g/L	Dietetic foods	2 g/L
Whipped vegetable oil topping	0.3%	Quick cook rice	4 g/kg	Minced and diced canned meats	4 g/kg	Mostarda di frutta	2 g/kg
Dehydrated potatoes	0.5%	Cereal-based snacks	2 g/kg	Cereal- and potato-based snacks	5 g/kg	Chewing gum	2 g/kg
Paper Paper Paper is a thin material mainly used for writing upon, printing upon, drawing or for packaging. It is produced by pressing together moist fibers, typically cellulose pulp derived from wood, rags or grasses, and drying them into flexible sheets....  and paperboard Paperboard Paperboard is a thick paper based material. While there is no rigid differentiation between paper and paperboard, paperboard is generally thicker than paper. According to ISO standards, paperboard is a paper with a basis weight above 224 g/m2, but there are exceptions. Paperboard can be single...  packaging component	Not Limited	Emulsified Liqueur	8 g/L	Spirits <15% alcohol	8 g/L
Cellophane Cellophane Cellophane is a thin, transparent sheet made of regenerated cellulose. Its low permeability to air, oils, greases, bacteria and water makes it useful for food packaging...	0.5% weight of cellophane

The largest application of CSL is in yeast leavened bakery products. Although CSL was introduced to the market first, most applications utilize SSL. The main reason for the preference of SSL over CSL is that CSL has less crumb softening effects than SSL. However, CSL is still preferred in some applications, such as lean hearth bread type formulations. In these applications, CSL is preferred because CSL performs better than SSL as a dough strengthener, while the finished product does not require a soft crumb or a perfectly symmetrical loaf shape.