Question 1

if this is made from sugar does this mean its made from black mold?

Accepted Answer

Yes, and no. But drawing a conclusion about health and toxicity by trying to connect citric acid to "black mold" is unhelpful. Similar words don't always have the same meaning, as evidenced by the oxymoron that the vast majority of pesticides used in agriculture are chemically classified as "organic compounds".

Fact:  pretty much all citric acid is produced by fermentation of sugars (name your source) by Aspergillus niger, a "black mold" ("niger" means "black" in Latin.) But A. niger is NOT the "toxic black mold" of lore and legend; that title belongs primarily to Stachybotrys chartarum, which, ironically, isn't even necessarily black. (The word "mold" more accurately describes a growth habit of many fungal species whose classifications have likely not been definitively determined.) You have Aspergillus living in/on your body right now, and you're breathing in their spores as you read this, but they probably aren't making you ill. In the same way, a concern that citric acid produced by A. niger is somehow harmful to you is like saying bread and wine are unhealthy not because of their ingredients or alcohol content, but rather because the fungus used to ferment them is a yeast like the fungus that causes Candidiasis also grows as a yeast. And unlike in wine and bread, there are no fungal cells/cell parts present in final the product.

So the bottom line is that even though all the citric acid you're likely to be able to find anywhere will be made by the fermentation of some type of sugar by A. niger, there is no need to be concerned about health issues arising from citric acid related to so-called "black mold".

Question 2

What is this citric acid made from? Is it GMO FREE? Is it made from Corn?

Accepted Answer

This is likely made from aspergillus niger.  This is a type of fungus that is fed on a sucrose or glucose-containing medium to produce citric acid. The source of sugar is corn steep liquor, molasses, hydrolyzed corn starch or other inexpensive sugary solutions.  After the mold is filtered out of the resulting solution, citric acid is isolated by precipitating it with calcium hydroxide to yield calcium citrate salt, from which citric acid is regenerated by treatment with sulfuric acid, as in the direct extraction from citrus fruit juice.

Question 3

Is this fcc/usp grade?

Accepted Answer

P.K. On the front of the packing is printed Anhydrous,non gmo, food grade fine grain all natural product:for specific answer that you are looking for, I recommend contacting manufacturer Milliard Bands, Lakewood NJinfo@milliardbrands.com- hope this response is helpful

Question 4

What is the consistency of this citric acid? Is it in granule/crystal or powder form?

Accepted Answer

It varies unfortunately....The first several bags I got were powdered form, then I got a couple of bags that were like fine white table sugar (which was too granular for me).  I ended up using a food mill (wear a mask) and milling it to the consistency I needed.  I really like the Milliard Citric Acid so I just know that I might have to mill it to my own needs.

Additives	Sodium Bicarbonate
Brand	Milliard
Age Range Description	Adult

MilliardCitric Acid 10 Pound - 100% Pure Food Grade Non-GMO Project Verified(10 Pound)

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