Calcium stearoyl-2-lactylate (calcium stearoyl lactylate or CSL) or E482 is a versatile, Regulation of food and dietary supplements by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration#Food additives, FDA approved food additive. It is one type of a commercially available lactylate. CSL is Toxicity, non-toxic, Biodegradation, biodegradable, and typically manufactured using Renewable resource, biorenewable Raw material, feedstocks. Because CSL is a safe and highly effective food additive, it is used in a wide variety of products from Baking, baked goods and desserts to packaging. As described by the Food Chemicals Codex 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). Commercial grade CSL is a mixture of calcium salts of stearoyl lactic acid, with minor proportions of other salts of related acids. The Hydrophilic-lipophilic balance, HLB for CSL is 5.1. It is slightly soluble in hot water. The pH 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: 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 Baking, baked goods, cereals, pastas, instant rice, desserts, Icing (food), icings, Buttercream, fillings, puddings, Cake#Cake decorating, toppings, Confectionery, sugar confectionaries, powdered beverage mixes, Non-dairy creamer, creamers, cream liqueurs, Instant mashed potatoes, dehydrated potatoes, Dip (food), snack dips, sauces, Gravy, gravies, chewing gum, Diet food, dietetic foods, minced and diced Potted meat, canned meats, and Mostarda, ''mostarda di frutta''. 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. The largest application of CSL is in yeast leavened bakery products. Although CSL was introduced to the market first, most applications use Lactylate#Sodium stearoyl-2-lactylate, 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.

References

{{reflist Food additives Salts of carboxylic acids Calcium compounds E-number additives