Citric Acid is a naturally occurring preservative used in many applications including canning, flavoring, cleaning, and even photography development. As a weak organic acid, Citric Acid is commonly purchased in powder form, but is found in all citrus fruits including lemons, limes, oranges, and tangerines. Citric Acid has a variety of uses from food preservation to flavoring, but it also has many other practical uses.
Preservative
When used in the canning process, Citric Acid helps prevent the harmful form of food poisoning known as botulism. When combined with fruits or vegetables, Citric Acid helps to maintain a safe pH level inside the foods. Additionally, Citric Acid will also help to minimize discoloration or oxidization that naturally occurs over time.
Sour Flavoring
Since Citric Acid is safe for human consumption and has a naturally sour taste, it is a popular ingredient in most types of candy, especially sour flavored candies. Many artificial flavorings and drinks also use Citric Acid in their recipes. In moderation, the sour flavor is also used to enhance dishes by balancing sweet and salty flavors together. Acting as a flavoring substitute, many health food recipes call for the use of Citric Acid.
Alternative Uses
While Citric Acid is best known as a food preservative and flavor enhancer, it has many alternative uses. Because Citric Acid is a weak organic acid, it is useful as an environmentally safe cleaning product. There are many different types of these environmentally safe cleaning products that contain various levels of Citric Acid. Some other useful tools Citric Acid can be used for are artificial enamel formation and regeneration as well as its use in photography in the chemical process of developing prints.
I’ve heard that citric acid is labeled in foods instead of saying MSG, is this true? Does it have the same effect as MSG in foods or as a perserative?
Thanks
While Citric Acid and MSG are not the same, manufactured Citric Acid does often contain small amounts of MSG. Typically the manufactured Citric Acid is derived from corn rather than fruits and during processing trace amounts of processed free glutamic acid are created. Although it is a small amount of MSG, if you are especially sensitive to foods containing MSG you might want to also avoid foods labeled with Citric Acid.
I use citric acid in my dishwasher with a smaller amount of powder dish cleaner. My dishes and glasses come out PERFECT.
If you use food grade, I use it to make cheese and add it to anything that would otherwise need lemon (dressings, club soda etc). In addition, if you mix a small amount with olive oil and garlic powder to tenderize meet, it’s much healther than the commercial tenderizers.
It’s worth buying in bulk and using it for cleaning and just about everything. Oh, did I mention adding water and using it to take off hard water spots?