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What is Citric Acid
Made by Monsanto?
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Short Video
https://x.com/CultivateElevat/status/1937531064412700739?t=b1qEmflOYv_-oO4Bjs4fuw
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What is Citric Acid
Made by Monsanto?
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Short Video
https://x.com/CultivateElevat/status/1937531064412700739?t=b1qEmflOYv_-oO4Bjs4fuw
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The photo above was added only to the website version of this article for our social media sharing. It was not included in the paper copy of the journal sent to members.
The photo was posted on Pfizer’s Facebook page with this description: “From the Pfizer Photo Archives: Citric acid manufactured by fermentation at Pfizer’s Brooklyn plant (1948).” It sounds benign, but read Merinda Teller’s article below to learn why it isn’t!
Every good cook knows that delicious and satisfying food involves both chemistry and artistry. Michael Pollan alludes to both in his foreword to Sandor Katz’s wonderfully encyclopedic 2012 book, The Art of Fermentation, describing the Korean concepts of “tongue taste” versus “hand taste.”
The former refers to “the kind of cheap and easy flavors any food scientist or food corporation can produce,” while “hand taste” is “the far more complex experience of a food that bears the indelible mark—the care and sometimes even the love—of the person who made it.”1“Tongue taste” predominates, of course, on the industrial food scene, where a scary new wave of synthetic foods is now entering the market.2
Many of these newfangled lab concoctions are the result of technologies perfected by the twenty-first-century biopharmaceutical industry,3 but they also build on decades of food science focused on chemical food additives that confer “cheap and easy flavors” and help products stay on shelves longer.
To allay possible consumer concerns, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) touts the “many technological, aesthetic and convenient benefits” of food additives, telling the public not to worry if they see “long, unfamiliar names” and “complex chemical compounds” on food labels.4
The innocuous-sounding “citric acid” is an additive that may fly under the radar of even the most attentive consumer. As researchers observed in Toxicology Reports in 2018, the “average consumer is under the impression that the added citric acid listed in the ingredients of prepared foods, beverages and vitamins is derived from natural sources such as lemons and limes,” but nothing could be further from the truth.5
More accurate labeling, the writers argued, would require using the term “manufactured citric acid” (MCA)—but even “manufactured” doesn’t convey the full picture of an additive derived from industrial-scale microbial fermentation involving degradation of carbohydrate substrates (such as corn byproducts or molasses) by a common black mold called Aspergillus niger. A. niger and its “cousins” A. fumigatus and A. flavus can be harmful to humans, especially in individuals who are mold-allergic or in suboptimal health.5
As of 2022, global production of MCA had reached over 2.8 million tons,6 with 70 percent going to food and beverage applications.
MCA functions as “an acidulant, preservative, emulsifier, flavorant, sequestrant [or] buffering agent”7 and appears in everything from baby food to items like “pre-packaged fruits and veggies, canned or jarred foods, hummus, salsa, chicken stock, some yogurts and cheeses [and] baked goods and desserts,”8 as well as in nutraceuticals and in beverages ranging from juices to soft drinks to wine.
Another 20 percent of the global supply goes to the pharmaceutical industry and to cosmetic and personal care products, which makes MCA available for absorption by the skin.9
“Novel pharmaceutical and biomedical applications” are fueling further “significant growth” of the citric acid market—expected to reach 3.3 million tons by 2028.6 With expansion to sectors such as the “feed, electrical, textile [and] plastics industries,”10 enthusiasts predict that MCA “will become a key chemical in the emerging bioeconomy.”7
This “key chemical” has never undergone any safety studies. In 1958, the FDA adopted a Food Additives Amendment to the 1938 Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, with the amendment specifying that “any substance intentionally added to food is a food additive and is subject to pre-market approval by FDA unless the use of the substance is generally recognized as safe (GRAS)” [emphasis added].11
Manufactured citric acid, which had been in use well before 1958, was among the additives “grandfathered” in as GRAS, which allowed the nation’s lead regulatory agency to dispense with any evaluation of MCA safety “when ingested in substantial amounts and with chronic exposure.”5 GRAS substances, moreover, generally come with “no quantitative restrictions as to use.”12
FROM LEMONS TO MOLD. . . BY WAY OF PFIZER
History credits Muslim alchemist Jābir Ibn Ḥayyān—known as “the father of Arabic chemistry”—with discovering natural citric acid in the eighth century.13 In the late 1700s, Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele was the first to actually isolate citric acid from lemon juice, developing a method soon adopted in other countries for commercial production.14 In the early twentieth century, however, food scientists were interested in lowering the cost of citric acid and turned their attention from citrus fruit to synthetic options.15
Pfizer brags on its website about its pioneering 1919 role in developing a process to mass-produce citric acid through mold fermentation, jubilantly stating that this achievement freed Pfizer “from dependency on European citrus growers.”16 Career Pfizer chemist Joseph G. Lombardino explained the breakthrough in a cheerful paper titled “A Brief History of Pfizer Central Research” published in 2000:
“From 1917 to 1929 James Currie, Pfizer’s first research chemist, developed a process for producing citric acid by fermentation of sugar. Currie came from the Department of Agriculture, where he was trying to produce an American brand of Roquefort cheese by fermentation. He was not successful. He then tried to ferment sugar to produce oxalic acid but again failed.
However, he noticed an interesting byproduct in this fermentation: citric acid. Currie contacted Pfizer, related his finding, was hired, and, with his assistant Jasper Kane, eventually developed a large-scale fermentation process for citric acid.”17
Kane made an additional discovery in 1923, finding that less expensive molasses worked just as well as refined sugar as the substrate for microbial fermentation.
By 1929, Pfizer was making ten million pounds of citric acid, “with the product taking over almost the whole market at that time”17 and also becoming Pfizer’s main product.18 As one enthusi astic group of authors later summed up Pfizer’s success, “Two years after Currie’s discovery, industrial-level production using A. niger began, the biochemical fermentation industry started to flourish, and industrial biotechnology was born”; a century later, citric acid production had become a multibillion dollar industry.19
As of 2017, citric acid was the “single largest chemical obtained via biomass fermentation and the most widely employed organic acid.”7
CARTELS, CONSPIRACIES AND CORN
Among the features of the A. niger mold celebrated by food chemists are its ease of handling, its high yields and its versatility—that is, its ability to “ferment various cheap raw materials,”14 including not just molasses from sugar cane or sugar beets but also other carbohydrate substrates such as those derived from corn.20,21
Corn refining—also called “corn wet milling”—separates the outer bran or hull, the germ and the starch-containing endosperm, yielding “hundreds” of corn products and byproducts, including corn syrup, cornstarch, corn oil and alcohol.22
Although Pfizer and a Bayer subsidiary dominated the American citric acid market through the 1980s as a “duopoly,” both companies had to buy their substrate externally, “a situation that added to their costs of production.”23 In 1990, first Cargill and then Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) took advantage of their status as “corn biotech firms” to enter and build a new type of citric acid market, with their integrated production model providing “economies that reduced costs of production by 5 or 10% over the traditional system.”
Cargill’s plant was “the first to be able to pipe in liquid feedstock directly to its citric acid facility.”23 ADM, for its part, adopted a somewhat different tactic, buying up Pfizer’s “most modern plant” and, with updates and expansion, turning it into the largest citric acid plant in the world. As a result, by December 1990, Bayer was left as America’s only non-integrated citric acid manufacturer and Pfizer was no longer a player.23
As explained in a fascinating 1998 article by agricultural economist John Connor, titled “The Global Citric Acid Conspiracy: Legal- Economic Lessons,” the “complete makeover of the structure of ownership and production in the US citric acid market” that began in 1990 soon encouraged less than savory corporate behavior.23 The U.S. later indicted ADM, Bayer, and two major Swiss citric acid producers (Jungbunzlauer and Roche) for establishing a secret citric acid “cartel” that engaged in price-fixing and set limits on output; although Cargill was not indicted, there is evidence to suggest that it, too, was an influential cartel member, albeit a less visible one.
Citric acid buyers involved in the federal class action eventually received millions in settlements, but the penalties amounted to “pennies on the dollar” and left companies like ADM “at most chastened, [but] not in any sense reformed.”
In 1998 when Connor recounted his story of corporate intrigue and back-room meetings in luxury hotels, he viewed the rise of citric acid production in other countries, and especially China, as a positive trend and potential check against cartel shenanigans.
Fifteen years later, China’s citric acid production has come to represent 70 percent of the world’s total volume and accounts for 60 percent of global trading volume.10 Outside of China, ADM and Cargill—but not Bayer—are still in the picture as well, along with a handful of British, Swiss, Belgian and Israeli companies.6
FALSE COMPLACENCY ABOUT MOLD
Giving the lie to the FDA’s complacency about manufactured citric acid’s GRAS status, researchers outside the FDA orbit—as well as sickened consumers—have reported numerous problems, linking MCA to inflammatory reactions like “acid reflux, nausea, stomach pain, cramps, and. . . hives”9 involving the respiratory, gastrointestinal, neurological and musculoskeletal systems.
As already mentioned, one likely trigger, especially of allergic-type symptoms characteristic of mold reactions, has to do with A. niger itself.
Describing the absolute dearth of research on MCA safety, in 2018 a University of Illinois researcher and her coauthor published what they described as “the first scientific report revealing the potential inflammatory reactions related to ingestion of MCA,” presenting four case reports of individuals prone to experiencing symptoms within two to twelve hours of MCA ingestion via food, beverages or vitamins.5
Noting the concurrent rise of MCA use and the growing epidemic of food allergies, they hypothesized that “the potential presence of impurities or fragments from the Aspergillus niger in MCA is a significant difference [from natural citric acid] that may trigger deleterious effects when ingested.”5
In related research, a study documented occupational asthma as a hazard of an improperly ventilated biotech plant that manufactured citric acid, where A. niger spores averaged one hundred times those found in the outside air.24
In the first of the four case reports, a fifty-two year-old woman who developed “debilitating” symptoms in her late thirties experienced “severe diffuse joint and muscle pain in the upper and lower extremities with associated joint swelling, abdominal bloating with cramping and feeling enervated [exhausted],” all occurring within six to twelve hours of MCA ingestion.
The woman spent years making the rounds of specialists in rheumatology and immunology, undergoing “extensive work-ups for auto-immune disease, rheumatoid arthritis, vitamin deficiencies, as well as adrenal and thyroid imbalance, all of which were negative.” It was only after extensive “trial and error” dietary modifications that she identified the commonality: the presence of citric acid.
Another case described similar symptoms of severe joint and muscle pain and swelling, while the two remaining cases reported fatigue on a par with chronic fatigue syndrome as well as shortness of breath (in a man with pre-existing asthma) and swelling of a prosthetic knee.5
In all four case reports, a dose-response relationship was evident, as described in case number one:
“The extent of her joint pain, abdominal discomfort and enervation was directly correlated with the amount of MCA ingested at a given time. If she consumed a meal in which a food item contained MCA and consumed a drink in which MCA was one of the leading ingredients, her symptoms were worse and lasted longer than if she consumed a single food item in which MCA was listed as a more minor ingredient. Even pre-prepared organic foods that were free of all additives except MCA would elicit her symptoms.”
Arguing that “the ubiquitous presence of MCA and repetitive exposure to it through ingesting common foods and beverages” entails the repeat introduction “of A. niger proteins or byproducts. . . repeatedly eliciting an insidious low grade immune response,” the two authors hypothesized that MCA-induced inflammatory reactions might be playing a “causative role” in musculoskeletal conditions like allergic asthma, fibromyalgia, juvenile idiopathic arthritis and chronic fatigue syndrome as well as gastrointestinal conditions like irritable bowel syndrome.5
OTHER HIDDEN RISKS
To increase MCA production, A. niger has undergone “significant genetic modifications. . . resulting in genetically modified mutant variants of this mold.”5 Some believe that this places the mold squarely in the category of a genetically modified organism (GMO).15
The fact that corn has become a dominant substrate for the production of citric acid also raises GMO-related issues. The corn in industrial use is likely to be GMO, but a loophole in federal regulations for “nonagricultural substances”25 allows products labeled as “organic” or “made with organic ingredients” to include GMO-derived citric acid without disclosure (§205.605).26
Interestingly, the Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI), a nonprofit organization that “supports organic integrity,” shares the government’s convoluted logic on this point.
To comply with OMRI’s evaluation criteria for genetic engineering (GE) material used in organic food processing, OMRI requires citric acid producers to use a non-GE strain of the fungus (A. niger), but the substrate can consist of GE ingredients; according to OMRI, “the final citric acid product would be allowed as a non-GE ingredient” because the fungus “biologically transforms GE protein in the substrate.”27
It is unclear whether OMRI has taken into account the massive genetic tinkering that has turned all strains of A. niger into GMOs.
Some citric acid skeptics have pointed out that the omnipresent additive is also a hidden source of monosodium glutamate (MSG), which acts as an excitotoxin.28 One website explains the MSG connection, adding that companies can include citric acid in products labeled as “no MSG”:
“[C]orn is soaked in water with sulfur dioxide in order to remove the corn kernel and the remaining liquor is what is used to make the citric acid. However, during this process, the corn protein gets completely degraded, and manufacturers don’t remove this remaining protein, which leads to the protein becoming hydrolyzed, which means there is now free glutamic acid, aka MSG in the citric acid.
Citric acid also has the capability to react with other proteins it comes in contact with (in processed foods), thus freeing up even more glutamic acid. Because this manufactured citric acid contains MSG, it is now considered an excitotoxin.”9
In January 2019, a writer for The Atlantic described “What life is like when corn is off the table,” outlining the considerable challenges that one corn-allergic individual faced when trying to eliminate corn derivatives such as citric acid from her diet:
“[S]he tried to put salt on her tomatoes. (Table salt has dextrose, a sugar derived from corn.) She tried drinking bottled iced tea. (It contains citric acid, which often comes from mold grown in corn-derived sugar.) She tried bottled water. (Added minerals in some brands can be processed with a corn derivative.)
She ultimately gave up on supermarket meat (sprayed with lactic acid from fermented corn sugars), bagged salads (citric acid, again), fish (dipped in cornstarch or syrup before freezing), grains (cross-contaminated in processing facilities), fruits like apples and citrus (waxed with corn-derived chemicals), tomatoes (ripened with ethylene gas from corn), milk (added vitamins processed with corn derivatives). And that’s not even getting to all the processed foods made with high-fructose corn syrup, modified food starch, xanthan gum, artificial flavorings, corn alcohol, maltodextrin—all of which are or contain derivatives of corn.”29
Unfortunately, as frequent Wise Traditions contributor John Moody noted in an article about citric acid, it can be tricky to ascertain whether a reaction to a food or beverage containing MCA has to do with the corn, mold or MSG.28
THE IDEAL DIET
Citric acid is likely to remain firmly entrenched in the food and beverage industries, but scientists also have their eye on other fancy, high-tech horizons, including “engineer[ing] citric acid-based polymers with enhanced mechanical properties, nanoporous features, and unique photoluminescent capabilities.”6
While the mold-based production process launched by Pfizer over a century ago is still going strong and “provides satisfactory performance,” scientists also see “room for greater improvements in increasing yield and minimizing waste by developing novel fermentation techniques and the optimization of A. niger using genetic manipulation.”14 If any of these mad scientists are concerned about the potential health impact of their “manipulations,” they aren’t saying.
The FDA’s website on food additives helpfully explains that—heaven forbid!—“Some additives could be eliminated if we were willing to grow our own food, harvest and grind it, [and] spend many hours cooking and canning.”4 Meanwhile, The Atlantic’s description of life without corn notes, “The diet of someone with a severe corn allergy is in some ways the ideal diet for a certain type of foodie: fresh, local, free of preservatives and processed foods, the provenance of every ingredient intensely cataloged.”29
The Atlantic’s punchline is, “It’s just not exactly by choice,” but the fact is that we do have a choice. In the face of increasingly widespread and insidious risks, we can eschew lab-engineered “cheap and easy flavors” and recognize that the “ideal diet for a certain type of foodie” is actually an ideal—and delicious—diet for everyone.
SIDEBARS
AND THEN THERE’S LACTIC ACID
Like citric acid, commercial “lactic acid” sounds deceptively benign—but probably isn’t. Natural lactic acid is, of course, the wondrous and time-honored preservative created by bacteria during lacto-fermentation. Lactobacilli convert the starches and sugars in vegetables and fruits, and lactose in milk, into lactic acid, producing delicious ferments that make the foods more digestible and promote the growth of healthy gut flora. Manufactured lactic acid—though classified by FDA as GRAS30—is a different story. The food industry accounts for about 35 percent of global lactic acid use.
Historically, the same Swedish chemist who first isolated citric acid from lemons, Carl Wilhelm Scheele, also isolated lactic acid from sour milk. Initial attempts at industrial production of lactic acid began around the same time as for citric acid, in the late 1880s,31 but with somewhat mixed results. In 1944, for example, a food scientist complained about the problem of equipment corrosion, stating “None of the materials in commercial use is entirely satisfactory.”32
In more recent times, as new manufacturing processes have come online, including biotech processes, production of lactic acid and its derivatives has taken off, becoming of “earnest importance” not just for the food industry but also for the pharmaceutical, cosmetics, textile and even electronics industries, among others.33 For example, lactic acid is the precursor for polylactic acid (PLA), a synthetic plastic that is currently all the rage for orthopedic, dermatological and other medical applications, including implants.34
Commercial lactic acid production generally relies on one of two broad approaches: industrial fermentation or chemical synthesis. In the early 1960s, Monsanto met 40 percent of the U.S. demand for lactic acid after becoming the first company to focus in a big way on chemical synthesis.35 Chemical synthesis uses substances like the synthetic additive propylene glycol (a type of antifreeze and solvent) or acetaldehyde; in a blog post titled “3 Weird Things About Acetaldehyde,” the CDC describes it as carcinogenic and damaging to DNA.36
Most manufacturers prefer the less expensive fermentation method, however, which makes use of either bacteria, fungi or yeast extracts and various “cheap raw materials” or “agricultural residues” from corn or other starchy materials.33 Additional source materials being explored for lactic acid production include food wastes—considered advantageous for “environmental waste
management”—and glycerol, a by-product of biodiesel production.35 (Consumers with food allergies have noted the impossibility of knowing where the “lactic acid” in a given food comes from.37)
ADM entered the lactic acid market using industrial fermentation in the early 1990s, but as of 2017, the top three producers were Cargill, the Dutch company Corbion (producer of Purac and related “lactic acid solutions”) and the Chinese firm Henan Jindan Lactic Acid Technology Co.(“Jindan”).35
Citing opportunities for “accelerated development,” Jindan celebrates its “self-developed strain breeding system” (buttressed by twenty-eight patents) as well as the “advantages of being located in [a] main corn production area” where it can avail itself of “rich local corn resources.”38
THE RISE OF THE HOUSE OF PFIZER
Pfizer was founded in 1849 by two men named Charles who were cousins: chemist Charles Pfizer and confectioner Charles Erhart. As recounted by former Pfizer chemist Joseph Lombardino,39 who started working for Pfizer in 1957 and later developed a blockbuster arthritis drug that “became Pfizer’s largest selling drug product at the time,” the company’s first successful nineteenth-century product was a chemical treatment for intestinal worms.
During the Civil War, Pfizer sold products ranging from iodine to morphine, reaching a workforce size of one hundred fifty and achieving sales revenues of $1.4 million by 1865.17 Unless otherwise noted, the following short list of milestones comes from Lombardino.17
1936: Following its citric acid success, Pfizer becomes a top producer of vitamin C.40 By the late 1940s, according to the company website, it has become “the established leader in the manufacture of vitamins.”
1944: Using the deep-tank fermentation methods pioneered for citric acid, the company achieves “another major fermentation success” during World War II—the large-scale manufacture of penicillin for U.S. troops. “[S]o much penicillin was produced that prices fell from 20 dollars to 20 cents per 100,000 Units” [emphasis in original].
1952-1953: Thanks to a clever advertising campaign by Arthur Sackler (progenitor of Purdue Pharma, the company that later aggressively markets the opioid OxyContin),41 sales of Pfizer’s “broad spectrum” antibiotic Terramycin explode, accounting for 42 percent of company revenues. Pfizer builds a massive sales force that bypasses wholesalers and expands its operations to Europe.
1960: Pfizer sets and achieves a five-hundred-million dollar sales goal and moves its headquarters from Brooklyn to midtown Manhattan.
1995: Pfizer sheds its Food Science Group—a three-hundred-million-dollar division focused on “reduced-calorie bulking agents, fat replacers, flavors, food protectants and speciality ingredients”—and dedicates itself “exclusively” to the health care market.42
Twenty-first century: As the publicly traded behemoth known for drugs like Viagra, Zithromax and Zoloft43 rises to pharmaceutical superstardom, a growing number of critics voice credible accusations of “persistent criminal behavior,” 44 ranging from fraud and racketeering to abysmal quality control to fatal products.45 Beginning in 2021, the brand becomes indelibly wedded in the public mind to murderous Covid injections.46
As consumers increasingly learn to navigate the perils of Pfizer pharma, they should perhaps be grateful that the company chose to close down its involvement in the food sciences!
CITRIC ACID IN BEVERAGES
One of the reasons Pfizer experienced booming citric acid sales right from the start was that mass production of citric acid coincided with the burgeoning popularity of citric-acid-containing soft drinks such as Coca-Cola.18 As one website explains, “The sharp bite that you often get from a soft drink is often due to the addition of citric acid.”47
Some winemakers use citric acid to acidify wines “that are too basic and as a flavor additive,” but the process has the admitted drawback of “microbial instability.”48
Nowadays, sales of so-called “energy drinks” are booming, and in common brands, citric acid may be “the second leading ingredient following water”!5 Manufacturers who include significant amounts of citric acid in energy drinks to extend shelf life and enhance flavor generally do not disclose the fact that citric acid “directly attacks the teeth and dissolves the enamel.”49
Homemade kombucha and other fermented beverages can provide delicious alternatives—and no synthetic citric acid needed!50
REFERENCES
This article appeared in Wise Traditions in Food, Farming and the Healing Arts, the quarterly journal of the Weston A. Price Foundation, Summer 2023
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About Merinda Teller, MPH, PhDReader InteractionsMember Yet?The Weston A. Price Foundation is a tireless advocate for nutrient-dense food and is wholly member supported. Becoming a member is incredibly affordable and has valuable benefits.
https://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/manufactured-citric-acid-ubiquitous-but-not-innocuous/#gsc.tab=0
The photo was posted on Pfizer’s Facebook page with this description: “From the Pfizer Photo Archives: Citric acid manufactured by fermentation at Pfizer’s Brooklyn plant (1948).” It sounds benign, but read Merinda Teller’s article below to learn why it isn’t!
Every good cook knows that delicious and satisfying food involves both chemistry and artistry. Michael Pollan alludes to both in his foreword to Sandor Katz’s wonderfully encyclopedic 2012 book, The Art of Fermentation, describing the Korean concepts of “tongue taste” versus “hand taste.”
The former refers to “the kind of cheap and easy flavors any food scientist or food corporation can produce,” while “hand taste” is “the far more complex experience of a food that bears the indelible mark—the care and sometimes even the love—of the person who made it.”1“Tongue taste” predominates, of course, on the industrial food scene, where a scary new wave of synthetic foods is now entering the market.2
Many of these newfangled lab concoctions are the result of technologies perfected by the twenty-first-century biopharmaceutical industry,3 but they also build on decades of food science focused on chemical food additives that confer “cheap and easy flavors” and help products stay on shelves longer.
To allay possible consumer concerns, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) touts the “many technological, aesthetic and convenient benefits” of food additives, telling the public not to worry if they see “long, unfamiliar names” and “complex chemical compounds” on food labels.4
The innocuous-sounding “citric acid” is an additive that may fly under the radar of even the most attentive consumer. As researchers observed in Toxicology Reports in 2018, the “average consumer is under the impression that the added citric acid listed in the ingredients of prepared foods, beverages and vitamins is derived from natural sources such as lemons and limes,” but nothing could be further from the truth.5
More accurate labeling, the writers argued, would require using the term “manufactured citric acid” (MCA)—but even “manufactured” doesn’t convey the full picture of an additive derived from industrial-scale microbial fermentation involving degradation of carbohydrate substrates (such as corn byproducts or molasses) by a common black mold called Aspergillus niger. A. niger and its “cousins” A. fumigatus and A. flavus can be harmful to humans, especially in individuals who are mold-allergic or in suboptimal health.5
As of 2022, global production of MCA had reached over 2.8 million tons,6 with 70 percent going to food and beverage applications.
MCA functions as “an acidulant, preservative, emulsifier, flavorant, sequestrant [or] buffering agent”7 and appears in everything from baby food to items like “pre-packaged fruits and veggies, canned or jarred foods, hummus, salsa, chicken stock, some yogurts and cheeses [and] baked goods and desserts,”8 as well as in nutraceuticals and in beverages ranging from juices to soft drinks to wine.
Another 20 percent of the global supply goes to the pharmaceutical industry and to cosmetic and personal care products, which makes MCA available for absorption by the skin.9
“Novel pharmaceutical and biomedical applications” are fueling further “significant growth” of the citric acid market—expected to reach 3.3 million tons by 2028.6 With expansion to sectors such as the “feed, electrical, textile [and] plastics industries,”10 enthusiasts predict that MCA “will become a key chemical in the emerging bioeconomy.”7
This “key chemical” has never undergone any safety studies. In 1958, the FDA adopted a Food Additives Amendment to the 1938 Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, with the amendment specifying that “any substance intentionally added to food is a food additive and is subject to pre-market approval by FDA unless the use of the substance is generally recognized as safe (GRAS)” [emphasis added].11
Manufactured citric acid, which had been in use well before 1958, was among the additives “grandfathered” in as GRAS, which allowed the nation’s lead regulatory agency to dispense with any evaluation of MCA safety “when ingested in substantial amounts and with chronic exposure.”5 GRAS substances, moreover, generally come with “no quantitative restrictions as to use.”12
FROM LEMONS TO MOLD. . . BY WAY OF PFIZER
History credits Muslim alchemist Jābir Ibn Ḥayyān—known as “the father of Arabic chemistry”—with discovering natural citric acid in the eighth century.13 In the late 1700s, Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele was the first to actually isolate citric acid from lemon juice, developing a method soon adopted in other countries for commercial production.14 In the early twentieth century, however, food scientists were interested in lowering the cost of citric acid and turned their attention from citrus fruit to synthetic options.15
Pfizer brags on its website about its pioneering 1919 role in developing a process to mass-produce citric acid through mold fermentation, jubilantly stating that this achievement freed Pfizer “from dependency on European citrus growers.”16 Career Pfizer chemist Joseph G. Lombardino explained the breakthrough in a cheerful paper titled “A Brief History of Pfizer Central Research” published in 2000:
“From 1917 to 1929 James Currie, Pfizer’s first research chemist, developed a process for producing citric acid by fermentation of sugar. Currie came from the Department of Agriculture, where he was trying to produce an American brand of Roquefort cheese by fermentation. He was not successful. He then tried to ferment sugar to produce oxalic acid but again failed.
However, he noticed an interesting byproduct in this fermentation: citric acid. Currie contacted Pfizer, related his finding, was hired, and, with his assistant Jasper Kane, eventually developed a large-scale fermentation process for citric acid.”17
Kane made an additional discovery in 1923, finding that less expensive molasses worked just as well as refined sugar as the substrate for microbial fermentation.
By 1929, Pfizer was making ten million pounds of citric acid, “with the product taking over almost the whole market at that time”17 and also becoming Pfizer’s main product.18 As one enthusi astic group of authors later summed up Pfizer’s success, “Two years after Currie’s discovery, industrial-level production using A. niger began, the biochemical fermentation industry started to flourish, and industrial biotechnology was born”; a century later, citric acid production had become a multibillion dollar industry.19
As of 2017, citric acid was the “single largest chemical obtained via biomass fermentation and the most widely employed organic acid.”7
CARTELS, CONSPIRACIES AND CORN
Among the features of the A. niger mold celebrated by food chemists are its ease of handling, its high yields and its versatility—that is, its ability to “ferment various cheap raw materials,”14 including not just molasses from sugar cane or sugar beets but also other carbohydrate substrates such as those derived from corn.20,21
Corn refining—also called “corn wet milling”—separates the outer bran or hull, the germ and the starch-containing endosperm, yielding “hundreds” of corn products and byproducts, including corn syrup, cornstarch, corn oil and alcohol.22
Although Pfizer and a Bayer subsidiary dominated the American citric acid market through the 1980s as a “duopoly,” both companies had to buy their substrate externally, “a situation that added to their costs of production.”23 In 1990, first Cargill and then Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) took advantage of their status as “corn biotech firms” to enter and build a new type of citric acid market, with their integrated production model providing “economies that reduced costs of production by 5 or 10% over the traditional system.”
Cargill’s plant was “the first to be able to pipe in liquid feedstock directly to its citric acid facility.”23 ADM, for its part, adopted a somewhat different tactic, buying up Pfizer’s “most modern plant” and, with updates and expansion, turning it into the largest citric acid plant in the world. As a result, by December 1990, Bayer was left as America’s only non-integrated citric acid manufacturer and Pfizer was no longer a player.23
As explained in a fascinating 1998 article by agricultural economist John Connor, titled “The Global Citric Acid Conspiracy: Legal- Economic Lessons,” the “complete makeover of the structure of ownership and production in the US citric acid market” that began in 1990 soon encouraged less than savory corporate behavior.23 The U.S. later indicted ADM, Bayer, and two major Swiss citric acid producers (Jungbunzlauer and Roche) for establishing a secret citric acid “cartel” that engaged in price-fixing and set limits on output; although Cargill was not indicted, there is evidence to suggest that it, too, was an influential cartel member, albeit a less visible one.
Citric acid buyers involved in the federal class action eventually received millions in settlements, but the penalties amounted to “pennies on the dollar” and left companies like ADM “at most chastened, [but] not in any sense reformed.”
In 1998 when Connor recounted his story of corporate intrigue and back-room meetings in luxury hotels, he viewed the rise of citric acid production in other countries, and especially China, as a positive trend and potential check against cartel shenanigans.
Fifteen years later, China’s citric acid production has come to represent 70 percent of the world’s total volume and accounts for 60 percent of global trading volume.10 Outside of China, ADM and Cargill—but not Bayer—are still in the picture as well, along with a handful of British, Swiss, Belgian and Israeli companies.6
FALSE COMPLACENCY ABOUT MOLD
Giving the lie to the FDA’s complacency about manufactured citric acid’s GRAS status, researchers outside the FDA orbit—as well as sickened consumers—have reported numerous problems, linking MCA to inflammatory reactions like “acid reflux, nausea, stomach pain, cramps, and. . . hives”9 involving the respiratory, gastrointestinal, neurological and musculoskeletal systems.
As already mentioned, one likely trigger, especially of allergic-type symptoms characteristic of mold reactions, has to do with A. niger itself.
Describing the absolute dearth of research on MCA safety, in 2018 a University of Illinois researcher and her coauthor published what they described as “the first scientific report revealing the potential inflammatory reactions related to ingestion of MCA,” presenting four case reports of individuals prone to experiencing symptoms within two to twelve hours of MCA ingestion via food, beverages or vitamins.5
Noting the concurrent rise of MCA use and the growing epidemic of food allergies, they hypothesized that “the potential presence of impurities or fragments from the Aspergillus niger in MCA is a significant difference [from natural citric acid] that may trigger deleterious effects when ingested.”5
In related research, a study documented occupational asthma as a hazard of an improperly ventilated biotech plant that manufactured citric acid, where A. niger spores averaged one hundred times those found in the outside air.24
In the first of the four case reports, a fifty-two year-old woman who developed “debilitating” symptoms in her late thirties experienced “severe diffuse joint and muscle pain in the upper and lower extremities with associated joint swelling, abdominal bloating with cramping and feeling enervated [exhausted],” all occurring within six to twelve hours of MCA ingestion.
The woman spent years making the rounds of specialists in rheumatology and immunology, undergoing “extensive work-ups for auto-immune disease, rheumatoid arthritis, vitamin deficiencies, as well as adrenal and thyroid imbalance, all of which were negative.” It was only after extensive “trial and error” dietary modifications that she identified the commonality: the presence of citric acid.
Another case described similar symptoms of severe joint and muscle pain and swelling, while the two remaining cases reported fatigue on a par with chronic fatigue syndrome as well as shortness of breath (in a man with pre-existing asthma) and swelling of a prosthetic knee.5
In all four case reports, a dose-response relationship was evident, as described in case number one:
“The extent of her joint pain, abdominal discomfort and enervation was directly correlated with the amount of MCA ingested at a given time. If she consumed a meal in which a food item contained MCA and consumed a drink in which MCA was one of the leading ingredients, her symptoms were worse and lasted longer than if she consumed a single food item in which MCA was listed as a more minor ingredient. Even pre-prepared organic foods that were free of all additives except MCA would elicit her symptoms.”
Arguing that “the ubiquitous presence of MCA and repetitive exposure to it through ingesting common foods and beverages” entails the repeat introduction “of A. niger proteins or byproducts. . . repeatedly eliciting an insidious low grade immune response,” the two authors hypothesized that MCA-induced inflammatory reactions might be playing a “causative role” in musculoskeletal conditions like allergic asthma, fibromyalgia, juvenile idiopathic arthritis and chronic fatigue syndrome as well as gastrointestinal conditions like irritable bowel syndrome.5
OTHER HIDDEN RISKS
To increase MCA production, A. niger has undergone “significant genetic modifications. . . resulting in genetically modified mutant variants of this mold.”5 Some believe that this places the mold squarely in the category of a genetically modified organism (GMO).15
The fact that corn has become a dominant substrate for the production of citric acid also raises GMO-related issues. The corn in industrial use is likely to be GMO, but a loophole in federal regulations for “nonagricultural substances”25 allows products labeled as “organic” or “made with organic ingredients” to include GMO-derived citric acid without disclosure (§205.605).26
Interestingly, the Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI), a nonprofit organization that “supports organic integrity,” shares the government’s convoluted logic on this point.
To comply with OMRI’s evaluation criteria for genetic engineering (GE) material used in organic food processing, OMRI requires citric acid producers to use a non-GE strain of the fungus (A. niger), but the substrate can consist of GE ingredients; according to OMRI, “the final citric acid product would be allowed as a non-GE ingredient” because the fungus “biologically transforms GE protein in the substrate.”27
It is unclear whether OMRI has taken into account the massive genetic tinkering that has turned all strains of A. niger into GMOs.
Some citric acid skeptics have pointed out that the omnipresent additive is also a hidden source of monosodium glutamate (MSG), which acts as an excitotoxin.28 One website explains the MSG connection, adding that companies can include citric acid in products labeled as “no MSG”:
“[C]orn is soaked in water with sulfur dioxide in order to remove the corn kernel and the remaining liquor is what is used to make the citric acid. However, during this process, the corn protein gets completely degraded, and manufacturers don’t remove this remaining protein, which leads to the protein becoming hydrolyzed, which means there is now free glutamic acid, aka MSG in the citric acid.
Citric acid also has the capability to react with other proteins it comes in contact with (in processed foods), thus freeing up even more glutamic acid. Because this manufactured citric acid contains MSG, it is now considered an excitotoxin.”9
In January 2019, a writer for The Atlantic described “What life is like when corn is off the table,” outlining the considerable challenges that one corn-allergic individual faced when trying to eliminate corn derivatives such as citric acid from her diet:
“[S]he tried to put salt on her tomatoes. (Table salt has dextrose, a sugar derived from corn.) She tried drinking bottled iced tea. (It contains citric acid, which often comes from mold grown in corn-derived sugar.) She tried bottled water. (Added minerals in some brands can be processed with a corn derivative.)
She ultimately gave up on supermarket meat (sprayed with lactic acid from fermented corn sugars), bagged salads (citric acid, again), fish (dipped in cornstarch or syrup before freezing), grains (cross-contaminated in processing facilities), fruits like apples and citrus (waxed with corn-derived chemicals), tomatoes (ripened with ethylene gas from corn), milk (added vitamins processed with corn derivatives). And that’s not even getting to all the processed foods made with high-fructose corn syrup, modified food starch, xanthan gum, artificial flavorings, corn alcohol, maltodextrin—all of which are or contain derivatives of corn.”29
Unfortunately, as frequent Wise Traditions contributor John Moody noted in an article about citric acid, it can be tricky to ascertain whether a reaction to a food or beverage containing MCA has to do with the corn, mold or MSG.28
THE IDEAL DIET
Citric acid is likely to remain firmly entrenched in the food and beverage industries, but scientists also have their eye on other fancy, high-tech horizons, including “engineer[ing] citric acid-based polymers with enhanced mechanical properties, nanoporous features, and unique photoluminescent capabilities.”6
While the mold-based production process launched by Pfizer over a century ago is still going strong and “provides satisfactory performance,” scientists also see “room for greater improvements in increasing yield and minimizing waste by developing novel fermentation techniques and the optimization of A. niger using genetic manipulation.”14 If any of these mad scientists are concerned about the potential health impact of their “manipulations,” they aren’t saying.
The FDA’s website on food additives helpfully explains that—heaven forbid!—“Some additives could be eliminated if we were willing to grow our own food, harvest and grind it, [and] spend many hours cooking and canning.”4 Meanwhile, The Atlantic’s description of life without corn notes, “The diet of someone with a severe corn allergy is in some ways the ideal diet for a certain type of foodie: fresh, local, free of preservatives and processed foods, the provenance of every ingredient intensely cataloged.”29
The Atlantic’s punchline is, “It’s just not exactly by choice,” but the fact is that we do have a choice. In the face of increasingly widespread and insidious risks, we can eschew lab-engineered “cheap and easy flavors” and recognize that the “ideal diet for a certain type of foodie” is actually an ideal—and delicious—diet for everyone.
SIDEBARS
AND THEN THERE’S LACTIC ACID
Like citric acid, commercial “lactic acid” sounds deceptively benign—but probably isn’t. Natural lactic acid is, of course, the wondrous and time-honored preservative created by bacteria during lacto-fermentation. Lactobacilli convert the starches and sugars in vegetables and fruits, and lactose in milk, into lactic acid, producing delicious ferments that make the foods more digestible and promote the growth of healthy gut flora. Manufactured lactic acid—though classified by FDA as GRAS30—is a different story. The food industry accounts for about 35 percent of global lactic acid use.
Historically, the same Swedish chemist who first isolated citric acid from lemons, Carl Wilhelm Scheele, also isolated lactic acid from sour milk. Initial attempts at industrial production of lactic acid began around the same time as for citric acid, in the late 1880s,31 but with somewhat mixed results. In 1944, for example, a food scientist complained about the problem of equipment corrosion, stating “None of the materials in commercial use is entirely satisfactory.”32
In more recent times, as new manufacturing processes have come online, including biotech processes, production of lactic acid and its derivatives has taken off, becoming of “earnest importance” not just for the food industry but also for the pharmaceutical, cosmetics, textile and even electronics industries, among others.33 For example, lactic acid is the precursor for polylactic acid (PLA), a synthetic plastic that is currently all the rage for orthopedic, dermatological and other medical applications, including implants.34
Commercial lactic acid production generally relies on one of two broad approaches: industrial fermentation or chemical synthesis. In the early 1960s, Monsanto met 40 percent of the U.S. demand for lactic acid after becoming the first company to focus in a big way on chemical synthesis.35 Chemical synthesis uses substances like the synthetic additive propylene glycol (a type of antifreeze and solvent) or acetaldehyde; in a blog post titled “3 Weird Things About Acetaldehyde,” the CDC describes it as carcinogenic and damaging to DNA.36
Most manufacturers prefer the less expensive fermentation method, however, which makes use of either bacteria, fungi or yeast extracts and various “cheap raw materials” or “agricultural residues” from corn or other starchy materials.33 Additional source materials being explored for lactic acid production include food wastes—considered advantageous for “environmental waste
management”—and glycerol, a by-product of biodiesel production.35 (Consumers with food allergies have noted the impossibility of knowing where the “lactic acid” in a given food comes from.37)
ADM entered the lactic acid market using industrial fermentation in the early 1990s, but as of 2017, the top three producers were Cargill, the Dutch company Corbion (producer of Purac and related “lactic acid solutions”) and the Chinese firm Henan Jindan Lactic Acid Technology Co.(“Jindan”).35
Citing opportunities for “accelerated development,” Jindan celebrates its “self-developed strain breeding system” (buttressed by twenty-eight patents) as well as the “advantages of being located in [a] main corn production area” where it can avail itself of “rich local corn resources.”38
THE RISE OF THE HOUSE OF PFIZER
Pfizer was founded in 1849 by two men named Charles who were cousins: chemist Charles Pfizer and confectioner Charles Erhart. As recounted by former Pfizer chemist Joseph Lombardino,39 who started working for Pfizer in 1957 and later developed a blockbuster arthritis drug that “became Pfizer’s largest selling drug product at the time,” the company’s first successful nineteenth-century product was a chemical treatment for intestinal worms.
During the Civil War, Pfizer sold products ranging from iodine to morphine, reaching a workforce size of one hundred fifty and achieving sales revenues of $1.4 million by 1865.17 Unless otherwise noted, the following short list of milestones comes from Lombardino.17
1936: Following its citric acid success, Pfizer becomes a top producer of vitamin C.40 By the late 1940s, according to the company website, it has become “the established leader in the manufacture of vitamins.”
1944: Using the deep-tank fermentation methods pioneered for citric acid, the company achieves “another major fermentation success” during World War II—the large-scale manufacture of penicillin for U.S. troops. “[S]o much penicillin was produced that prices fell from 20 dollars to 20 cents per 100,000 Units” [emphasis in original].
1952-1953: Thanks to a clever advertising campaign by Arthur Sackler (progenitor of Purdue Pharma, the company that later aggressively markets the opioid OxyContin),41 sales of Pfizer’s “broad spectrum” antibiotic Terramycin explode, accounting for 42 percent of company revenues. Pfizer builds a massive sales force that bypasses wholesalers and expands its operations to Europe.
1960: Pfizer sets and achieves a five-hundred-million dollar sales goal and moves its headquarters from Brooklyn to midtown Manhattan.
1995: Pfizer sheds its Food Science Group—a three-hundred-million-dollar division focused on “reduced-calorie bulking agents, fat replacers, flavors, food protectants and speciality ingredients”—and dedicates itself “exclusively” to the health care market.42
Twenty-first century: As the publicly traded behemoth known for drugs like Viagra, Zithromax and Zoloft43 rises to pharmaceutical superstardom, a growing number of critics voice credible accusations of “persistent criminal behavior,” 44 ranging from fraud and racketeering to abysmal quality control to fatal products.45 Beginning in 2021, the brand becomes indelibly wedded in the public mind to murderous Covid injections.46
As consumers increasingly learn to navigate the perils of Pfizer pharma, they should perhaps be grateful that the company chose to close down its involvement in the food sciences!
CITRIC ACID IN BEVERAGES
One of the reasons Pfizer experienced booming citric acid sales right from the start was that mass production of citric acid coincided with the burgeoning popularity of citric-acid-containing soft drinks such as Coca-Cola.18 As one website explains, “The sharp bite that you often get from a soft drink is often due to the addition of citric acid.”47
Some winemakers use citric acid to acidify wines “that are too basic and as a flavor additive,” but the process has the admitted drawback of “microbial instability.”48
Nowadays, sales of so-called “energy drinks” are booming, and in common brands, citric acid may be “the second leading ingredient following water”!5 Manufacturers who include significant amounts of citric acid in energy drinks to extend shelf life and enhance flavor generally do not disclose the fact that citric acid “directly attacks the teeth and dissolves the enamel.”49
Homemade kombucha and other fermented beverages can provide delicious alternatives—and no synthetic citric acid needed!50
REFERENCES
- Pollan M. Foreword. P. xii in Katz SE, The Art of Fermentation: An In-Depth Exploration of Essential Concepts and Processes from Around the World. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Publishing; 2012.
- Teller M. Fake meat and other fake foods: synthetic biology wolves in “sustainable” sheep’s clothing. Wise Traditions. Winter 2021;22(4):45-50.
- Fitts CA. Pharma food with Elze van Hamelen. The Solari Report, Feb. 1, 2023. https://home.solari.com/coming-tuesday-pharma-food-with-elze-van-hamelen/
- Overview of food ingredients, additives & colors. U.S. Food & Drug Administration, November 2004; revised April 2010 (content current as of Feb. 6, 2018). https://www.fda.gov/food/food-ingredients-packaging/overview-food-ingredients-additives-colors
- Sweis IE, Cressey BC. Potential role of the common food additive manufactured citric acid in eliciting significant inflammatory reactions contributing to serious disease states: a series of four case reports. Toxicol Rep. 2018;5:808-12.
- Top players in the citric acid market. IMARC Group, n.d. https://www.imarcgroup.com/citric-acid-manufacturers
- Ciriminna R, Meneguzzo F, Delisi R et al. Citric acid: emerging applications of key biotechnology industrial product. Chem Cent J. 2017;11:22.
- Levy J. Citric acid pros & cons: is citric acid harmful to the body? Dr. Axe, Sep. 22, 2018.
- Citric acid, black mold, and. . . Pfizer? The history and manufacture of the popular additive. Velle, Nov. 10, 2022.
- Overview of citric acid in China. OKCHEM, n.d. https://www.okchem.com/news/overview-of-citric-acid.html
- FDA’s approach to the GRAS provision: a history of processes. U.S. Food & Drug Administration, FDA Science Forum, April 2006 (content current as of Jan. 4, 2018). https://www.fda.gov/food/generally-recognized-safe-gras/fdas-approach-gras-provision-history-processes
- Food additive status list. U.S. Food and Drug Administration (content current as of Aug. 25, 2022). https://www.fda.gov/food/food-additives-petitions/food-additive-status-list#abb
- Sheehan J. The history and use of citric acid. Citrus Depot, May 25, 2022.
- Show PL, Oladele KO, Siew QY et al. Overview of citric acid production from Aspergillus niger. Front Life Sci. 2015;8(3):271-283.
- One of the most common food additives is made with GMO fermented “mold” and GMO corn syrup. AltHealth Works, Apr. 22, 2023. https://althealthworks.com/citric-acid-gmo-mold-corn-author/
- https://www.pfizer.com/about/history
- Lombardino JG. A brief history of Pfizer central research. Bull Hist Chem. 2000;25(1):10-15.
- Pfizer: the making of a global drugs giant. BBC, May 14, 2014.
- Cairns TC, Nai C, Meyer V. How a fungus shapes biotechnology: 100 years of Aspergillus niger research. Fungal Biol Biotechnol. 2018;5:13.
- Intratec Solutions. Technology profile: production of citric acid. Chemical Engineering, Dec. 1, 2021. https://www.chemengonline.com/technology-profile-production-of-citric-acid/
- Xie G, West TP. Citric acid production by Aspergillus niger on wet corn distillers grains. Lett Appl Microbiol. 2006;43(3):269-273.
- Corn wet milling. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1995. https://www3.epa.gov/ttn/chief/ap42/ch09/final/c9s09-7.pdf
- Connor JM. The global citric acid conspiracy: legal-economic lessons. Agribusiness. 1998;14(6):435-452.
- Seaton A, Wales D. Clinical reactions to Aspergillus niger in a biotechnology plant: an eight year follow up. Occup Environ Med. 1994;51(1):54-56.
- National Organic Program. What ingredients can be utilized in the 5% of non-organic ingredients allowed in a processed product labeled as “organic”? U.S. Department of Agriculture, n.d. https://www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media/3%20Nonorganic%20Ingredients%20-%205%25%20Rule%20FINAL%20RGK%20V2.pdf
- https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-7/subtitle-B/chapter-I/subchapter-M/part-205/subpart-G/subject-group-ECFR0ebc5d139b750cd/section-205.605
- Kennedy T. GE ingredients in processing. OMRI, revised and updated Nov. 2017. https://www.omri.org/ge-ingredients-processing
- Moody J. Citric acid. Is this common ingredient safe? The Healthy Home Economist, n.d. https://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/citric-acid-ingredient/
- Zhang S. What life is like when corn is off the table. The Atlantic, Jan. 18, 2019.
- https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/cfrsearch.cfm?fr=184.1061
- https://lactic-acid.com/history/
- Peckham Jr. GT. The commercial manufacture of lactic acid. Chem Eng News. 1944;22(6):440-443, 469.
- Krishna BS, Nikhilesh GSS, Tarun B et al. Industrial production of lactic acid and its applications. International Journal of Biotech Research. 2018;1(1):42- 54.
- Narayanan G, Vernekar VN, Kuyinu EL et al. Poly (lactic acid)-based biomaterials for orthopaedic regenerative engineering. Adv Drug Deliv Rev. 2016;107:247-276.
- Komesu A, Oliveira JA, Martins LH et al. Lactic acid production to purification: a review. BioRes. 2017;12(2):4364-4383.
- Henley J. 3 weird things about acetaldehyde. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Apr. 2, 2018.
- Holroyd R. Am I allergic to lactic acid? And what is it? What Allergy, Mar. 9, 2011.
- https://www.jindanlactic.com/intro/1.html
- https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/nytimes/name/joseph-lombardino-obituary?pid=189192878
- https://cdn.pfizer.com/pfizercom/Pfizer_Legacy_of_Manufacturing_Excellence_110322.pdf
- Keefe PR. Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty. New York: Penguin Random House/Anchor Books; 2021, pp. 43-45.
- Pfizer to sell food division to Cultor. UPI Archives, Dec. 14, 1995. https://www.upi.com/Archives/1995/12/14/Pfizer-to-sell-food-division-to-Cultor/6936818917200/
- Llamas M. Pfizer. Drugwatch, last modified Jan. 25, 2023. https://www.drugwatch.com/manufacturers/pfizer/
- Evans RG. Tough on crime? Pfizer and the CIHR. Healthcare Policy. 2010;5(4):16-25.
- Children’s Health Defense Team. Bring back the boycott: say “no” to big pharma, big banks and totalitarian control. The Defender, Jan. 4, 2022.
- Latypova S. Re-reading an FD&C Act citation from Pfizer contract with a conspiracy in mind. Due Diligence and Art, Substack, May 16, 2023. https://sashalatypova.substack.com/p/re-reading-an-fd-and-c-act-citation
- Ipatenco S. What products contain citric acid? Healthfully, Jul. 8, 2011.
- https://www.calwineries.com/learn/wine-chemistry/wine-acids/citric-acid
- https://energydrinkhub.com/energy-drink-with-citric-acid/
- Morell SF. Kombucha like fine champagne. Nourishing Traditions, n.d. https://nourishingtraditions.com/kombucha-like-fine-champagne/
This article appeared in Wise Traditions in Food, Farming and the Healing Arts, the quarterly journal of the Weston A. Price Foundation, Summer 2023
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I stopped purchasing organic tomato juice from a farmer here
because at least half of the jar was citrus acid and after I poured that out,
there was barely half tomato juice left and it tasted very bad.
❖
I stopped purchasing organic tomato juice from a farmer here
because at least half of the jar was citrus acid and after I poured that out,
there was barely half tomato juice left and it tasted very bad.
❖
Oasis Advanced Wellness
Srdootpsen21affht2A16ig020ua8mtg2ta0f678fm0pulh 421afu8m2rau ·
Is citric acid sprayed with aluminum?
Great question — and one that's very important when it comes to detoxification and protecting the body from hidden toxins.
Citric acid itself is not intentionally "sprayed” with aluminum during manufacturing. However, here's where it gets concerning from a natural health perspective:
What's the Real Concern?
1. Industrial Citric Acid Is Often Made from GMO Mold
The vast majority of commercial citric acid (used in food, supplements, and even cleaning products) is not derived from citrus fruits. Instead, it's produced using a black mold called Aspergillus niger, which is fed GMO corn syrup. This synthetic production process can leave behind residues, impurities, or heavy metals if not purified properly.
2. Aluminum Contamination Can Occur During Processing
While aluminum isn't directly sprayed on citric acid, contamination can happen:
If aluminum containers or pipes are used during processing.
If water used in production contains aluminum.
If processing aids (antifoaming agents or stabilizers) include aluminum compounds.
And here's the key point: Citric acid has the ability to bind to metals like aluminum and enhance their absorption in the body — that's the double danger. This is why even trace amounts of aluminum in combination with citric acid could become a bigger health concern.
3. Supplements & Processed Foods May Be the Hidden Source
If you're" using supplements, multivitamins, or processed foods that list “citric acid," and it's not specified as non-GMO or naturally derived from citrus, there is a potential risk for both GMO contamination and heavy metal exposure.
What Can You Do? Choose Organic, Non-GMO Citric Acid.
Look for citric acid that is:
Derived from organic citrus fruits
Certified non-GMO
From reputable natural health brands
Avoid Citric Acid in Processed Foods & Cheap Supplements.
Especially if aluminum exposure, leaky gut, or neurological health is a concern.
Support Detox Pathways
Support your body’s detox organs — especially your liver and kidneys — using daily practices like:
Drinking distilled or structured water.
Detox your liver and detox heavy metals...often!
Get sunshine and daily sweating.
Rebounding or light lymphatic movement.
REMINDER: Most citric acid doesn’t come from citrus fruits.
It's made using GMO mold and often processed with metals.
It can bind to aluminum and enhance its absorption.
Always choose organic, non-GMO, citrus-derived citric acid.
Protect your body. Read every label. Demand clean ingredients. Care about what you put in your body.
Loretta Lanphier, NP, BCTN, CNHC
www.OasisAdvancedWellness.com
Like and follow us on Facebook @oasisadvancedwellness
#citricacidtruth #hiddentoxins #gmocitricacid #CleanSupplements #labelreadingmatter #ToxinAwareness #naturalhealthtips #organiccitricacid #nongmoliving #moldbase #heavymetaldetox #protectyourbody #naturalmedicinewisdom #aluminumfree #moldisharmful #moldmakesyousick #AluminumToxicity #dangersofaluminum #aluminumandalzheimers"
Srdootpsen21affht2A16ig020ua8mtg2ta0f678fm0pulh 421afu8m2rau ·
Is citric acid sprayed with aluminum?
Great question — and one that's very important when it comes to detoxification and protecting the body from hidden toxins.
Citric acid itself is not intentionally "sprayed” with aluminum during manufacturing. However, here's where it gets concerning from a natural health perspective:
What's the Real Concern?
1. Industrial Citric Acid Is Often Made from GMO Mold
The vast majority of commercial citric acid (used in food, supplements, and even cleaning products) is not derived from citrus fruits. Instead, it's produced using a black mold called Aspergillus niger, which is fed GMO corn syrup. This synthetic production process can leave behind residues, impurities, or heavy metals if not purified properly.
2. Aluminum Contamination Can Occur During Processing
While aluminum isn't directly sprayed on citric acid, contamination can happen:
If aluminum containers or pipes are used during processing.
If water used in production contains aluminum.
If processing aids (antifoaming agents or stabilizers) include aluminum compounds.
And here's the key point: Citric acid has the ability to bind to metals like aluminum and enhance their absorption in the body — that's the double danger. This is why even trace amounts of aluminum in combination with citric acid could become a bigger health concern.
3. Supplements & Processed Foods May Be the Hidden Source
If you're" using supplements, multivitamins, or processed foods that list “citric acid," and it's not specified as non-GMO or naturally derived from citrus, there is a potential risk for both GMO contamination and heavy metal exposure.
What Can You Do? Choose Organic, Non-GMO Citric Acid.
Look for citric acid that is:
Derived from organic citrus fruits
Certified non-GMO
From reputable natural health brands
Avoid Citric Acid in Processed Foods & Cheap Supplements.
Especially if aluminum exposure, leaky gut, or neurological health is a concern.
Support Detox Pathways
Support your body’s detox organs — especially your liver and kidneys — using daily practices like:
Drinking distilled or structured water.
Detox your liver and detox heavy metals...often!
Get sunshine and daily sweating.
Rebounding or light lymphatic movement.
REMINDER: Most citric acid doesn’t come from citrus fruits.
It's made using GMO mold and often processed with metals.
It can bind to aluminum and enhance its absorption.
Always choose organic, non-GMO, citrus-derived citric acid.
Protect your body. Read every label. Demand clean ingredients. Care about what you put in your body.
Loretta Lanphier, NP, BCTN, CNHC
www.OasisAdvancedWellness.com
Like and follow us on Facebook @oasisadvancedwellness
#citricacidtruth #hiddentoxins #gmocitricacid #CleanSupplements #labelreadingmatter #ToxinAwareness #naturalhealthtips #organiccitricacid #nongmoliving #moldbase #heavymetaldetox #protectyourbody #naturalmedicinewisdom #aluminumfree #moldisharmful #moldmakesyousick #AluminumToxicity #dangersofaluminum #aluminumandalzheimers"
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Troublemakers That Make Us Sick - Food Chemicals
If you have a chronic illness or symptom such as acne, eczema, headaches, reproductive issues, bloating, anxiety, IBS, weight gain, SIBO, or any other symptom or condition, or you simply want to have the best health possible in the future, it’s important to avoid common food chemicals that can exacerbate symptoms.
I talk about these food chemicals in Medical Medium Cleanse To Heal:
Healing Plans for Sufferers of Anxiety, Depression, Acne, Eczema, Lyme, Gut Problems, Brain Fog, Weight Issues, Migraines, Bloating, Vertigo, Psoriasis, Cysts, Fatigue, PCOS, Fibroids, UTI, Endometriosis & Autoimmune and share how you can cleanse to remove them from your body.
If you wish to heal, I recommend limiting or altogether avoiding the following:
Many people are sensitive to these ingredients, and while some of them can seem fun in the moment, their effects on our physical and emotional well-being aren’t so enjoyable. I share exactly how you can cleanse your body of these food chemicals in Cleanse To Heal.
Aspartame and other Artificial Sweeteners
You’ll find this in diet sodas as well as hidden in flavoring. Aspartame goes into the liver’s deep, inner core and is unique in the way it’s stored in the liver—it tends to injure small blood vessels inside the liver, causing them to atrophy or shrink. Other artificial sweeteners are also highly toxic to the liver.
Citric Acid
Citric acid is very irritating to the linings of the stomach and the intestinal tract, so it can create a lot of inflammation and discomfort if you’re sensitive to it. Citric acid (the additive) is not the same thing as naturally occurring acid in citrus. Try not to confuse the two.
Citrus itself is a healing food. The isolated ingredient citric acid, however, is often corn derived. Especially if you’re experiencing any kind of stomach pain, keep an eye out for citric acid on ingredient labels and consider skipping foods that include it.
Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)
MSG typically builds up in your brain, going deep into your brain tissue. It can then cause inflammation and swelling, kill thousands of your brain cells, disrupt electrical impulses, weaken neurotransmitters, burn out neurons, make you feel confused and anxious, and even lead to micro-strokes. It also weakens and injures your central nervous system.
MSG is especially harmful if you have an illness that involves your brain or central nervous system. However, there are no circumstances under which it’s good for you. As a result, this is an additive you should always avoid.
The following terms usually mean that MSG is an ingredient: glutamate, hydrolyzed, autolyzed, protease, carrageenan, maltodextrin, sodium caseinate, balsamic vinegar, barley malt, malt extract, yeast extract, brewer’s yeast, corn starch, wheat starch, modified food starch, gelatin, textured protein, whey protein, soy protein, soy sauce, broth, bouillon, stock, and seasoning.
Natural and Artificial Flavors
Any ingredient with a name like natural flavoring is hidden MSG. Natural cherry flavor, natural orange flavor, natural lemon flavor, natural fruit flavor..they’re not just fruit extracts.
The same goes for smoke flavor, turkey flavor, beef flavor, natural peppermint flavor, natural maple flavor, natural chocolate flavor, natural vanilla flavor, and so on. (Although pure vanilla extract is safe to use.) Each type of natural flavor potentially contains multiple biohazards and chemical compounds.
Artificial flavors can represent any of thousands of chemicals that were birthed in a lab. Don’t take risks by consuming them.
Nutritional Yeast
Nutritional yeast is an MSG-contaminated ingredient—there’s a reason why it’s so addictive, with people pouring it on to flavor countless foods. It also has the potential to be an irritant to the digestive system and feed bugs such as unproductive bacteria.
Preservatives
If you’re already anti-preservative and take care to buy foods that don’t list them in the ingredients, it doesn’t mean they’re not sneaking into your food. Accountability is reckless as far as preservative labeling goes.
Not to mention that there were all those years before you became aware, so your liver had plenty of time to collect different varieties of chemically created preservatives. Your liver could be holding on to preservatives from hot dogs you ate decades ago, cotton candy from a fair, a milkshake with imitation fruit flavoring, a purple ice cone…the list is never-ending.
Alcohol
Alcohol is extremely hard on the liver, causing it to become sluggish and stagnant and injuring liver cells. When someone drinks, it hinders the liver’s ability to acknowledge, decipher, extract, and retain the vitamins, minerals, and other helpful materials that are also coming in through the blood.
It slows down the liver’s ability to run its over 2,000 chemical functions for the body. (Don’t let this stop you from using hand sanitizer with alcohol in it. Killing off the flu virus or strep from a public bathroom or other germy spot outweighs what your liver’s going to receive from that sanitizing wipe.)
In the case of herbal tinctures, actively seek out alcohol-free versions (avoid the word ethanol, too). You can also refer to my supplement directory of preferred supplements. I don’t sell supplements or own a supplement company; I simply maintain a directory of high-quality supplements to help you.
Formaldehyde
You can be exposed to this troublemaker from so many sources, everywhere from cosmetics to pharmaceuticals to carpets to food. It does what alcohol does to the liver, only much more extreme. It’s also a viral fuel
If you have a chronic illness or symptom such as acne, eczema, headaches, reproductive issues, bloating, anxiety, IBS, weight gain, SIBO, or any other symptom or condition, or you simply want to have the best health possible in the future, it’s important to avoid common food chemicals that can exacerbate symptoms.
I talk about these food chemicals in Medical Medium Cleanse To Heal:
Healing Plans for Sufferers of Anxiety, Depression, Acne, Eczema, Lyme, Gut Problems, Brain Fog, Weight Issues, Migraines, Bloating, Vertigo, Psoriasis, Cysts, Fatigue, PCOS, Fibroids, UTI, Endometriosis & Autoimmune and share how you can cleanse to remove them from your body.
If you wish to heal, I recommend limiting or altogether avoiding the following:
- Aspartame and other artificial sweeteners
- Citric acid
- Formaldehyde
- Monosodium glutamate (MSG)
- Natural and artificial flavors
- Nutritional yeast
- Preservatives
- Alcohol
Many people are sensitive to these ingredients, and while some of them can seem fun in the moment, their effects on our physical and emotional well-being aren’t so enjoyable. I share exactly how you can cleanse your body of these food chemicals in Cleanse To Heal.
Aspartame and other Artificial Sweeteners
You’ll find this in diet sodas as well as hidden in flavoring. Aspartame goes into the liver’s deep, inner core and is unique in the way it’s stored in the liver—it tends to injure small blood vessels inside the liver, causing them to atrophy or shrink. Other artificial sweeteners are also highly toxic to the liver.
Citric Acid
Citric acid is very irritating to the linings of the stomach and the intestinal tract, so it can create a lot of inflammation and discomfort if you’re sensitive to it. Citric acid (the additive) is not the same thing as naturally occurring acid in citrus. Try not to confuse the two.
Citrus itself is a healing food. The isolated ingredient citric acid, however, is often corn derived. Especially if you’re experiencing any kind of stomach pain, keep an eye out for citric acid on ingredient labels and consider skipping foods that include it.
Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)
MSG typically builds up in your brain, going deep into your brain tissue. It can then cause inflammation and swelling, kill thousands of your brain cells, disrupt electrical impulses, weaken neurotransmitters, burn out neurons, make you feel confused and anxious, and even lead to micro-strokes. It also weakens and injures your central nervous system.
MSG is especially harmful if you have an illness that involves your brain or central nervous system. However, there are no circumstances under which it’s good for you. As a result, this is an additive you should always avoid.
The following terms usually mean that MSG is an ingredient: glutamate, hydrolyzed, autolyzed, protease, carrageenan, maltodextrin, sodium caseinate, balsamic vinegar, barley malt, malt extract, yeast extract, brewer’s yeast, corn starch, wheat starch, modified food starch, gelatin, textured protein, whey protein, soy protein, soy sauce, broth, bouillon, stock, and seasoning.
Natural and Artificial Flavors
Any ingredient with a name like natural flavoring is hidden MSG. Natural cherry flavor, natural orange flavor, natural lemon flavor, natural fruit flavor..they’re not just fruit extracts.
The same goes for smoke flavor, turkey flavor, beef flavor, natural peppermint flavor, natural maple flavor, natural chocolate flavor, natural vanilla flavor, and so on. (Although pure vanilla extract is safe to use.) Each type of natural flavor potentially contains multiple biohazards and chemical compounds.
Artificial flavors can represent any of thousands of chemicals that were birthed in a lab. Don’t take risks by consuming them.
Nutritional Yeast
Nutritional yeast is an MSG-contaminated ingredient—there’s a reason why it’s so addictive, with people pouring it on to flavor countless foods. It also has the potential to be an irritant to the digestive system and feed bugs such as unproductive bacteria.
Preservatives
If you’re already anti-preservative and take care to buy foods that don’t list them in the ingredients, it doesn’t mean they’re not sneaking into your food. Accountability is reckless as far as preservative labeling goes.
Not to mention that there were all those years before you became aware, so your liver had plenty of time to collect different varieties of chemically created preservatives. Your liver could be holding on to preservatives from hot dogs you ate decades ago, cotton candy from a fair, a milkshake with imitation fruit flavoring, a purple ice cone…the list is never-ending.
Alcohol
Alcohol is extremely hard on the liver, causing it to become sluggish and stagnant and injuring liver cells. When someone drinks, it hinders the liver’s ability to acknowledge, decipher, extract, and retain the vitamins, minerals, and other helpful materials that are also coming in through the blood.
It slows down the liver’s ability to run its over 2,000 chemical functions for the body. (Don’t let this stop you from using hand sanitizer with alcohol in it. Killing off the flu virus or strep from a public bathroom or other germy spot outweighs what your liver’s going to receive from that sanitizing wipe.)
In the case of herbal tinctures, actively seek out alcohol-free versions (avoid the word ethanol, too). You can also refer to my supplement directory of preferred supplements. I don’t sell supplements or own a supplement company; I simply maintain a directory of high-quality supplements to help you.
Formaldehyde
You can be exposed to this troublemaker from so many sources, everywhere from cosmetics to pharmaceuticals to carpets to food. It does what alcohol does to the liver, only much more extreme. It’s also a viral fuel
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