The unsung heroes of food processing are those ingredients that, while typically necessary in only tiny amounts, perform a great deal more than mere bit parts. As an umbrella term, we can call them processing agents, and without their silent support in a formulation, cakes and breads wouldn’t rise, sauces would break, dairy items would separate, spoilage and mold would set in rapidly, colors would bleed and dull, semi-solids would weep, flavors would dull and fade, proteins would clump…essentially, food entropy would set in and most processed foods and beverages would not be possible.

Because they are such an inextricable part of the chemistry of food product preparation, the impression of these processing agents is that they all are complicated chemical concoctions and artificial. While there are certainly a wealth of (safe) artificial ingredients used as catalysts, enzymes, preservatives, and conditioners, etc., more often than not they’re natural ingredients derived from common sources. Popular antimicrobial agents include extracts of celery, tart cherries, or rosemary. Leavenings can be as simple as yeast or sodium bicarbonate. And vegetable cellulose makes an excellent anti-caking agent. Minerals—for example, certain forms of zinc—behave as acidulants, as does vinegar. And enzymes from papaya are well-known for their tenderizing capacity, softening and breaking down tough proteins.

Lecithin from soy and sunflower seeds is a traditional vegan emulsifier, and apples can give us malic acid for chelating (be sure to check that the malic acid you order is, in fact, derived from fruit), and pectin for gelling or clarifying. These compounds also have health benefits, and in fact it is not unusual for many of the processing agents employed in food production to provide such an added advantage. For example, some vitamins have a role as processing agents—vitamin C is a commonly applied curing agent, and vitamin E (as tocopherol or tocotrienol) is one of the most popular antioxidants. Tocopherol is commonly used to protect against rancidity and maintain the freshness of thousands of different products. Processors also are beginning to take note of tocotrienol which, although more expensive an ingredient than tocopherol, has an antioxidant capacity several hundred times greater.

While most of these ingredients do their work under the radar, these essential ingredients are unquestionably what make our modern food industry possible. These are but a few examples of the hundreds of ingredients playing integral parts behind the scenes of nearly every prepared food and beverage product.

In the following pages, you’ll find detailed listings for suppliers of a comprehensive spectrum of processing agents and similar ingredients. Click below for references by company name, headquarters, and website. And remember, we update these listings frequently, so keep checking back.