Examining the Role of Food Additives in Preventing Contamination

Food additives play many roles in the manufacture of fresh and packaged foods, and one of those roles is the prevention of contamination during the manufacturing process. Your food additive supplier, All food additives, whether they are specific to preventing contamination or simply to add color or texture to foods, are regulated by food and beverage safety agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration. This information alone should alleviate much of the angst many consumers have concerning additives in foods. The additives specific to preventing contamination can be categorized broadly as acidity regulators, antioxidants, emulsifiers, and preservatives.

Acidity regulators

Microorganisms thrive in narrow pH ranges. The addition of acidity regulators either raises or lowers the pH to an area inhospitable to the microbes being targeted during food processing. Included in this category are citric acid, lactic acid, and tartaric acid. Along with acid regulation, these additives often enhance the flavors of their associated foods, primarily fruit and vegetable dishes.

Antioxidants

Many consumers understand the role of antioxidants as destroyers of the free radicals that cause cellular damage in the body. However, this destruction also prevents food contamination since antioxidants damage bacteria, yeast, and fungi as naturally as they damage cells. Natural antioxidants range from vitamins C and E to flavonoids while synthetic antioxidants include butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT). Whether natural or synthetic, antioxidants reduce rancidity in fresh foods and often improve the flavor. Adding antioxidants helps preserve oils, flour, and milk powder and prevents discoloration of fruit and meat.

Emulsifiers

Carrageenan, diglycerides, monoglycerides, lecithin, and polysorbates all aid in stabilizing foods by keeping ingredients from separating and by improving the mouthfeel of products. Along the way, they increase shelf life by allaying bacterial growth.

Preservatives

The largest category of additives that prevent contamination are preservatives. These additives may prolong shelf life by countering the effect of specific microbes, or they might be formulated for microorganisms at large, such as bacteria, molds, and yeast. These unwanted microbes consume primarily sugars within goods, breaking them down and producing waste, which we consider contamination. Adding preservatives repels these microorganisms from colonizing on foods.

Benzoates, nitrates, sorbates, and sulfites are general-use additives necessary for preserving frozen and canned foods. These preservatives maintain a high level of quality when added as an ingredient, and keep foods fresh and appealing.

Bell Chem is a food additive supplier based in Longwood, FL (just north of Orlando) with hundreds of products stocked in their 50,000+ square-foot warehouse, including food additives specific to alleviating food contamination. You can expect the highest quality products, expedited shipping options for maximum efficiency, and unrivaled personalized customer service. Let our knowledgeable and friendly customer service representatives and accounting staff personalize all your needs by either calling 407-339-BELL (2355) or by sending us an online message.

Lactic Acid in Food: A Guide to Fermentation

When microorganisms eat, they break down their food and produce gas. When this process occurs in a closed environment, it is called fermentation. Food additive supplier Bell Chem brings you information on lactic acid and the fermentation process.

Of the varied types of fermentation, lactic acid fermentation involves lactic acid bacteria (LAB) or Lactobacillales cultures performing their functions anaerobically – without the oxygen so many other systems find necessary. LAB dine on carbohydrates and produce carbon dioxide and lactic acid. In turn, these by-products affect the taste, texture, and appearance of foods and beverages.

Conditions for Lactic Acid Fermentation

Lactic acid fermentation can be broken into a series of conditions. 

Temperature

Fermentation is closely tied to temperature gradients. Higher temperatures lead to expedited fermentation. The ultimate temperature for fermentation is room temperature. Refrigerating products will halt fermentation, which is handy if you wish to stop at a specific point in the process. 

Submersion

Whatever it is you are fermenting – fruits, vegetables, legumes – must be fully submerged in water. If your water is chlorinated, let it rest for at least 30 minutes before using it in a fermentation.

Salinity

Adding a nominal amount of salt does not cause a danger to the LAB and is encouraged to enhance flavor. Be aware that salt will slow the rate of fermentation; if you wish to regulate LAB activity, salt is your friend.

Some fruits and vegetables are naturally self-brining; add 2% of the total weight of your product in salt and seal the jar tightly. The salt pulls the water from the product (osmosis), and the water will naturally fill the sealed jar. These products do not need water added to the jar, only salt and the product to be fermented. 

For products with a lower water content, add water and a 3% - 4% salt-to-product-weight ratio. Using larger-sized or whole products generally requires this method.

Size

The greater the surface area of the product you are fermenting, the more rapidly it will ferment. This means smaller chunks of carrots will ferment more rapidly than simply cutting a carrot in half and jamming it into the jar.

Sugar 

Sugar is a carbohydrate broken down to a smaller form. Since LAB consumes carbohydrates, sugar is an easier form of food for them. The more sugar added to a fermentation, the more quickly the fermentation will occur. Not all sugar will be consumed by the LAB, and the result will be a balance of sweet and acidic flavors. 

Benefits of Lactic Acid Fermentation

The benefits of lactic acid fermentation are far reaching. Fermented foods are great for your gut biome, have intriguing flavors, and are much easier to locate now that the general population has developed a fondness for kombucha, sourdough bread, and yogurt. 

Bell Chem is a food additive supplier based in Longwood, FL (just north of Orlando) with hundreds of products stocked in their 50,000+ square-foot warehouse. You can expect the highest quality products, expedited shipping options for maximum efficiency, and unrivaled personalized customer service. Let our knowledgeable and friendly customer service representatives and accounting staff personalize all your needs by either calling 407-339-BELL (2355) or by sending us an online message.

Sodium Citrate in Food Production: Molecular Gastronomy and Beyond

Sometimes an ingredient is so versatile it becomes a go-to product added to almost every food. Sodium citrate is one of those favored ingredients. While you may recognize a few of sodium citrate’s many roles in food production, Bell Chem, your food ingredient supplier, wishes to share more the wonders of sodium citrate.

As the sodium salt of citric acid, sodium citrate adds a tart, salty flavor to products while remaining colorless and odorless. Its tiny white crystals do not detract from a food’s overall appearance. For being so low key physically, the chemical properties of sodium citrate lead to spherification of the solvent to which it is added – a culinary masterpiece of chemistry! 

Emulsification

Water and oil will not combine unless an emulsifier is added. Sodium citrate allows these two opposing ingredients to coalesce in cheese products, salad dressings, and sauces, giving each mouthful the same flavors. In cheese, calcium citrate helps maintain a smooth, creamy texture upon melting.

pH regulation

If the acidity of a food or beverage is not within proper limits, the taste and texture may suffer. Sodium citrate adjusts the pH to control acidity in carbonated beverages. In highly acidic formulations, sodium citrate raises the pH above 5 to allow for gelification and foam. The correct pH also enhances the shelf life and preservation of products. In ice creams and other frozen desserts, sodium citrate improves the creamy smoothness while inhibiting ice crystal formation.

Buffer

Surprisingly, when the pH is not extremely acidic, sodium citrate acts as a buffer, hindering drastic changes in pH. Stabilization of pH in canning and pickling, even in the acidic range, prevents microbial growth leading to spoilage. 

Chelation

In the dairy industry in particular and other industries overall, sodium citrate acts as a chelating agent, stimulating antioxidant function to deter spoilage of products. This sequestration of chemicals is also key to sodium citrate’s molecular gastronomy function: sequestration forms gels without the use of other chemicals, such as calcium. 

Bell Chem is a food ingredient supplier based in Longwood, FL (just north of Orlando) with hundreds of products stocked in their 50,000+ square-foot warehouse, including sodium citrate. You can expect the highest quality products, expedited shipping options for maximum efficiency, and unrivaled personalized customer service. Let our knowledgeable and friendly customer service representatives and accounting staff personalize all your needs by either calling 407-339-BELL (2355) or by sending us an online message.

Types of Food Additives Needed in a Wholesale Bakery

Bakeries may rely on many of the same additives as other food industries, but several are specific to baking. You can find the majority of these additives in the warehouse of your food ingredient supplier, Bell Chem. Below is a sampling of the most prevalent bakery food additives.

Artificial sweeteners

With the push toward weight loss, many bakeries offer low-sugar or no-sugar products, which require artificial sweeteners, such as aspartame, saccharin, and sucralose. These artificial sweeteners give the same flavor as full-sugar products without an influx of calories. 

Emulsifiers

Many baked goods contain water (or a liquid containing a large percentage of water) and oil. Under normal circumstances these two liquids are immiscible. Adding an emulsifier such as carrageenan, a di- or mono-glyceride, or lecithin, quickly combines these within the other ingredients by breaking the surface tension of the liquid ingredients, creating a mixture with improved texture.

Enzymes

Amylase, lipase, and protease are all enzymes that break complex carbohydrates into simple sugars, which expedites the fermentation process while baking. As enzymes break down carbohydrates, the remaining simple sugars feed yeast, an extremely important ingredient in the majority of baked goods. Yeast gives bread the light, fluffy texture and tantalizing odor commonly associated with baked goods. 

Food colorings and flavorings

From titanium dioxide to salt, the appearance and taste of baked goods is vitally important. While many colors and flavors were originally natural, many are now produced artificially at a more economical price. Another consideration is the addition of on-trend ingredients, such as caffeine or vitamins, which may impact the overall flavor of baked goods. Flavor enhancers such as bitter blockers and flavor extenders, maskers, and potentiators can recall the original flavor while maintaining the on-trend ingredients. 

Preservatives

As the name suggests, preservatives such as calcium and sodium propionate, potassium sorbate, and potassium and sodium benzoate prolong shelf life of baked goods by creating an unstable environment for microorganisms. 

For more information on baked goods additives, visit Bell Chem’s News page.  

Bell Chem is your food ingredient supplier based in Longwood, FL (just north of Orlando) with hundreds of products stocked in their 50,000+ square-foot warehouse, including bakery food additives. You can expect the highest quality products, expedited shipping options for maximum efficiency, and unrivaled personalized customer service. Let our knowledgeable and friendly customer service representatives and accounting staff personalize all your needs by either calling 407-339-BELL (2355) or by sending us an online message.

Diatomaceous Earth Food Grade for Humans and Other Animals

Diatomaceous earth, or DE, is an organic compound composed not of earth, but of tiny, microscopic algae plankton known as diatoms. Food ingredient supplier Bell Chem wishes to inform you about the many uses of food grade diatomaceous earth.

Diatom exoskeletons are composed of biogenic silica, and, if you are not aware, silica is a huge contributor to the earth’s exterior (approximately 26%) and is a component of clay, quartz, feldspar, and sand, to name a few. Diatom deposits are used for both food grade and industrial businesses. 

The differences between industrial grade and food grade silica are quite distinct: industrial silica contains more calcined silica with impurities while food grade is uncalcined and contains less than 1% crystalline silica. In other words, it is more finely ground and much purer. Food grade also relates to any products manufactured for consumption either as a food, beverage, medicine, or cosmetic. But why would you want to consume the skeletal remains of a one-celled marine or freshwater creature? 

For Humans

Studies on the effects of DE on skin are ongoing, but appear promising. As a dietary supplement, DE has been noted to purge impurities from the digestive tract (a detoxifier), and lower LDL and triglyceride cholesterol levels. 

Osteoporosis causes large areas of hard bone tissue to weaken by forming large, porous areas within the bone. This seriously weakens bones, leading to fractures, pain, and, eventually, loss of mobility and even morbidity. In 30 years of studies, dietary silica such as that found in food grade DE has been deemed beneficial and possibly quite important for bone formation and ongoing rigidity.

Hair and nails rely on silicon as well. According to many ongoing studies, when silicon is ingested, it appears to reduce hair loss and increase hair’s sheen. The mineral composition of human nails is primarily silicon, and an imbalance causes brittle, broken nails. Dietary DE seems to mitigate those effects.

For Other Animals

In animal kennels and stalls, dusting with DE keeps fleas, ticks, mites, and other tiny insects from infiltrating. Insects and arachnids who ingest DE quickly die because the sharp silica edges tear through their digestive systems. However, larger animals such as chickens, dogs, and guinea pigs are unaffected once DE settles into the animals’ habitats. 

For Humans and Other Animals

As an insecticide, DE is exceptional. Every insect has a hard outer casing called an exoskeleton. When DE touches insect exoskeletons, it erodes the wax covering. While this seems a minor problem, it is a huge circumstance for insects since they retain water through that hard shell. Eroding the wax causes water to easily escape, and the insect quickly dehydrates. 

Bell Chem is a food ingredient supplier based in Longwood, FL (just north of Orlando) with hundreds of products stocked in their 50,000+ square-foot warehouse, including diatomaceous earth. You can expect the highest quality products, expedited shipping options for maximum efficiency, and unrivaled personalized customer service. Let our knowledgeable and friendly customer service representatives and accounting staff personalize all your needs by either calling 407-339-BELL (2355) or by sending us an online message.

5 Most Common Flavor Enhancers and What They Do

Flavors make mundane foods great. Food ingredient supplier Bell Chem’s extensive inventory of flavor enhancers can give any meal the panache of a gourmet affair. We have compiled a list of 5 of our most common flavor enhancers so your meals can bring a smile to every customer’s face.

Monosodium glutamate

Created over 100 years ago, monosodium glutamate was almost lost to history after chemist Kikunae Ikeda determined kelp held a flavor often associated with “savory.” The chemical was L-glutamate, and when combined with sodium, it formed what the Japanese refer to as umai, or “delicious.” Anglicized, this becomes umami, the latest recognized taste our tongue’s sensors can perceive: savory. We no longer rely on kelp, but instead simple starches, to create MSG. When MSG is sprinkled on foods, consumers tend to use it much more sparingly than salt. This leads to a threefold decrease in the amount of sodium ingested along with a satisfying flavor. How can you beat a flavor known as “delicious”? 

Honey

When it comes to flavor, honey has a bunch – literally. When bees collect nectar from certain flowers, their honey takes on the specific flavor profile of that nectar. Much like a fine wine, discriminating gourmets can detect specific bouquets within a serving of honey. Honey is sweeter than table sugar and can generally be used in a 2:1 ratio, or for every 2 cups of sugar, add 1 cup of honey instead. Even with less product in recipes, honey not only adds a distinct flavor; it enhances the flavors of other ingredients. As it flavors foods, honey can also extend shelf life and stabilize liquid products, such as salad dressings, with its increased viscosity.

Citric acid 

Citric acid’s flavor is tart, refreshing, and acidic, although most people simply recognize it as “citrus.” Originally derived from lemon peels, citric acid does more than add flavor – it adds to the existing flavors of a food or beverage. Many chefs and manufacturers add citric acid to beverages to offset the sweet ingredients.

Corn syrup

As opposed to high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup is not quite as sweet as table sugar since the level of fructose has not been mechanically elevated. Corn syrup is often used as a liquid sweetener in candies, jams, and cakes. Corn syrup is pure glucose with no other saccharides present. Marshmallows, pecan pie, and peanut brittle would not be the same without the addition of corn syrup, which gives texture and a complex mouthfeel to products.

Salt (Sodium Chloride)

Another of our tongue’s specific tastes is salty. It has been proven sodium chloride stimulates the taste buds more than other salts, such as potassium chloride. Our bodies are designed for salt. In small concentrations, salt stimulates other tastes and flavors, such as sweet, by suppressing bitter tastes. A little salt is added to most cookie or cake recipes for this reason. However, more robust flavors, such as umami, require larger doses of salt to alter their taste profiles, which is why manufacturers often add more salt to savory foods as opposed to sweet foods. Salt balances and concentrates the flavors of foods and beverages.

Bell Chem is based in Longwood, FL (just north of Orlando) with hundreds of products stocked in their 50,000+ square-foot warehouse. You can expect the highest quality products, expedited shipping options for maximum efficiency, and unrivaled personalized customer service. Let our knowledgeable and friendly customer service representatives and accounting staff personalize all your needs by either calling 407-339-BELL (2355) or by sending us an online message.

Rice Flour in Food Manufacturing

For anyone with celiac disease or an aversion to gluten, finding a good substitute for wheat flour is difficult. Rice flour’s promise of eased digestion is bringing it to the forefront for food manufacturers, and your food ingredient supplier, Bell Chem, presents the following examples of how rice flour is taking the cooking and baking worlds by storm. 

Cereal

Breakfast cereals have long relied on rice flour as a prime ingredient since its tremendous amount of amylose: the higher the amylose content, the more starch is contained in the rice flour and the stiffer the gel can be produced. This gel gives the crisp crunch to cereals since rice flour is not as prone to absorb water…or milk. As cereals containing rice flour cool after baking, the porous texture has the ability to be more tightly regulated which also leads to a crisper cereal.

Snack Foods

When applied to the outer coating of snack foods, rice flour has two tasks: it aids in the coating’s adhesion to the snack and gives a satisfying crunch to the snack’s exterior. Artisan loaves also use this feature when dusting the exterior of the loaves before baking.

Food in Restaurants

Restaurants have learned to rely more heavily on rice flour for frying since it produces a crisper, lighter texture to foods. Even the ubiquitous French fry is crunchier when rice flour coats the fries prior to entering the fryer. In sauces and sauce mixes, rice flour plumps up the volume, giving a more pleasant mouthfeel. 

Baby Foods

Rice flour is a key ingredient in many baby foods, and is often one of the first foods introduced to infants in the form of rice cereal. It is easily digestible and contributes to few allergic reactions. Studies have proven the amino acid profile of rice flour is quite similar to the amino acid profile of breast milk. Additionally, rice flour contains a high starch content, lipids (including unsaturated fatty acids), and necessary fiber. 

Food for the Elderly

On the other side of the human lifespan, rice flour is being touted as an impressive contender for nutritional food of the year for our aging population. Compared to other cereal grains, rice flour is more nutritious, and it contains more protein than yogurt. 

Bell Chem is a food ingredient supplier based in Longwood, FL (just north of Orlando) with hundreds of products stocked in their 50,000+ square-foot warehouse, including rice flour. You can expect the highest quality products, expedited shipping options for maximum efficiency, and unrivaled personalized customer service. Let our knowledgeable and friendly customer service representatives and accounting staff personalize all your needs by either calling 407-339-BELL (2355) or by sending us an online message.

Chemicals Used in Food Production

Foods marketed in boxes or bags almost always contain food additives in the guise of chemicals to affect food in varied forms. Additives can make food more palatable, extend shelf life, lower overall calorie or fat content, add nutrient value, emulsify, change food color or texture, or many combinations of these and other functions. Bell Chem is your food ingredient supplier for food and reagent, nutritional, and USP-grade ingredients to keep your foods and beverages healthy and delicious.

Emulsification 

Without added chemicals, many foods and liquids would be unpalatable. Emulsifiers, such as gum arabic, lecithin, salt, and sodium hexametaphosphate maintain texture and flavor with every bite. Emulsifiers also deter ice crystals from forming in frozen foods or sugar coagulation in baked foods and increase the volume of baked goods. Many emulsifiers also act as stabilizers or thickeners, such as gums, starches, and proteins.

Nutritional additive 

Many natural nutrients are lost during food production because of mechanical measures, such as heat and freezing. Adding lost nutrients or bolstering the nutrient value of foods has occurred since 1924 when salt became iodized to prevent goiters. The addition of vitamins has drastically improved the health of millions of people. For instance, vitamin B in infant cereals helps prevent anemia, vitamin D-fortified milk helps to prevent rickets, and folic acid — often added to flour — is recommended for pregnant women to prevent birth defects. Fiber, linoleic acid, and minerals are other additives commonly combined with packaged foods.

Preservation

Utilizing antioxidants and antimicrobials seems like common sense in today’s food industry. Both additives keep foods fresher and stabler for extended periods of time. Antioxidants include Vitamin E and its derivatives, butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT). Antimicrobials include acids (acetic, propionic, sorbic), nitrates, nitrites, and sulfites. 

Taste, color, and texture 

As food is processed, some pigments may be degraded. The addition of chemicals creates color with less variation and more appeal. Taste and smell are both chemical reactions. When specific chemicals are added to foods and beverages, the sensations of both taste and smell react favorably. Currently, more than 1,200 different flavors are available for foods. Spices, sugar, salt, and citrus acid are all palatable flavors. Some foods, such as frozen desserts or jams, have a specific texture generally created with the help of chemicals. Many texturizing food ingredients, including guar and xanthan gum, pectin, and whey, are frequently used to enhance the composition of foods.

Bell Chem is a food ingredient supplier based in Longwood, FL (just north of Orlando) with hundreds of products stocked in their 50,000+ square-foot warehouse, including a vast array of food production chemicals. You can expect the highest quality products, expedited shipping options for maximum efficiency, and unrivaled personalized customer service. Let our knowledgeable and friendly customer service representatives and accounting staff personalize all your needs by either calling 407-339-BELL (2355) or by sending us an online message.

The Many Faces of Vinegar

Vinegar is readily recognized as a condiment base and food preservative for canning. However, there’s more than one type of vinegar. Food ingredient supplier Bell Chem shares with you a variety of different vinegars we stock and how they will benefit your company.  

Vinegar for Flavor and Preservation

As a condiment, vinegar is utilized in cooking because of its strong, sharp flavor. Surprisingly, it depends where you are in the world as to what variety of vinegar you are served in or alongside your food. In the United States and England, cider vinegar is the choice of chefs and culinary experts. Across the channel from England, Ireland’s vinegar of taste is malt vinegar while wine-producing countries such as Spain, Italy, and France choose wine vinegar. 

Many condiments contain vinegar as a key component, including ketchups and other tomato-based products, salad dressings and sauces, mustard, aspics and other gelatins, and vinaigrettes. Because vinegar has preservative properties and deters bacterial and other microbial growth, meats are often fermented in vinegar for “raw” meat dishes.

Distilled Vinegar

Distilled vinegar, such as Bell Chem’s white distilled vinegar, is the primary choice for food preservation, such as pickling. Cider vinegars, such as the apple cider vinegar in Bell Chem’s inventory, share the limelight in industrial use with distilled vinegar. Apple cider vinegar has found niche markets in pharmaceuticals and personal care, being sold as gummies and in capsule form. These two types of vinegar form the brunt of food preservation and condiment ingredients. While distilled vinegar has the market cornered, other varieties, such as malt, wine, and cider vinegars add different flavors and nuances to the products in which they are added.

Balsamic Vinegar

Commercial balsamic vinegars combine grape “must” (the juice of pressed grapes) and wine vinegar in an array of flavors and consistencies. Commercial kitchens tend to enhance the flavor of their prepared dishes with balsamic vinegar rather than cook with it.

Rice Vinegar

Rice vinegar is the fermentation of rice rather than grapes and has a milder flavor that allows the natural flavors of foods to be enjoyed. Much like distilled vinegar in the west, rice vinegar is used as a preservative in the east, such as for chicken and processed meat. Many beers and wines contain rice vinegar.

With a wide range of types and uses, Bell Chem’s selection of vinegars can certainly help your business. Bell Chem is a food ingredient supplier based in Longwood, FL (just north of Orlando) with hundreds of products stocked in their 50,000+ square-foot warehouse, including several varieties of vinegar. You can expect the highest quality products, expedited shipping options for maximum efficiency, and unrivaled personalized customer service. Let our knowledgeable and friendly customer service representatives and accounting staff personalize all your needs by either calling 407-339-BELL (2355) or by sending us an online message.

Healthy Ways to Incorporate Oils in Your Cooking Habits

You decide to incorporate healthier oils into your restaurant cooking process, but you have relied on saturated fat for so long that you don’t even know where to begin?? Bell Chem has a variety of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats for your cooking needs and has the information you need to distinguish the best practices for these oils.

First, let’s discuss the differences between polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats. Polyunsaturated fat is liquid at room temperature but becomes solid when cooled. A monounsaturated fat remains liquid when used in most kitchens. Monounsaturated fats are beneficial to your health because they help lower LDL (bad) cholesterol that can build up along the walls of blood vessels causing clogged or blocked arteries. Polyunsaturated fats include omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, which are essential for brain function and cell growth.

Oils that contain either of these fats can add a dash of flavor to your cooking. Many of your kitchen appliances work at a variety of temperatures, and many unsaturated oils work best in specific temperature ranges. Our experts have listed which oils work under what conditions as well as common ways to incorporate them into your menu to receive their maximum benefit.

Low-Temperature Oils
Good for creating a splendid dip, dressing, or marinade.

• Canola

• Corn

• Flaxseed

• Grapeseed

• Hemp

• Olive

• Peanut

• Safflower

• Sesame

• Soybean

• Sunflower

• Walnut

High-Temperature Oils
Great for sautéing, deep frying, and pan frying.

• Canola

• Corn

• Peanut

• Safflower

• Soybean

• Sunflower

• Any vegetable oil

Higher temperature oils are not readily absorbed into fried foods. Sautéing is a healthy alternative to frying since very little oil is used to cook food quickly. Begin with a tablespoon and add more as necessary. You will find that cooking with oil instead of butter is better for your budget as well as your patron’s health, but can still offer a flavor-rich outcome. The proper conversion calls for substituting ¾ cup of vegetable or nut oil for each cup of butter or shortening in the recipe you are using.

With a wide range of oils, Bell Chem can fulfill your restaurant supply needs. Find more information about our products by reading our blog.

Bell Chem is a food and reagent product supplier based in Longwood, FL (just north of Orlando) with hundreds of products stocked in their 50,000+ square-foot warehouse. You can expect the highest quality products, expedited shipping options for maximum efficiency, and unrivaled personalized customer service. Let our knowledgeable and friendly customer service representatives and accounting staff handle all of your needs by calling 407-339-BELL (2355) or send us an online message.