EWG® Score – 1 - 2
EU and Canada Approved – YES
Plant-based – Yes – Corn
Skin Irritant – mild
Environment Hazard – low
Biodegradable – easily
CAS – 77- 92 - 9
What is Citric Acid
Citric acid is a weak organic acid that is naturally found in citrus fruits like lemons, limes, oranges, and grapefruits. It is also produced commercially through microbial fermentation using various types of fungi, bacteria, and yeasts. Rustic Strength sources citric acid that is derived from a fungus combined with a substrate made from commodity corn.
Why do we use Citric Acid
Rustic Strength mainly uses citric acid to help control the pH levels of our products and give a little extra preservative power.
Here are some other uses for citric acid:
• Food and Beverage Industry: Citric acid is widely used as a food additive in the form of an acidity regulator, flavor enhancer, and preservative. It provides a sour taste to foods and beverages, balances flavors, and helps prevent browning in fruits. It is commonly used in soft drinks, candies, jams, jellies, and various processed foods.
• Pharmaceutical Industry: Citric acid is used in pharmaceutical formulations as an excipient, which is a substance added to a medication to enhance its stability, solubility, or bioavailability. It is also used as an acidifier in some medications and as a component of effervescent tablets.
• Industrial Applications: Citric acid is used in various industrial processes such as water treatment, metal cleaning and polishing, and as a chelating agent in chemical reactions. It is also used in the textile industry for dyeing and printing.
Is Citric Acid safe to use? Is it nontoxic?
Citric acid is considered GRAS (generally regarded as safe) by the FDA in food and products. However, there are people that have food sensitivities to citric acid. This article does not address those issues as we only make household goods, not food. It can be a mild skin irritant to those with hypersensitive skin. Please use caution.
In Summary
Rustic Strength uses citric acid to regulate pH and provide a little extra preservative power to our products. It is easily biodegradable, non-toxic to humans and the environment. There are people that have skin sensitivities to citric acid.
If you have any questions regarding this or any other ingredients we use, feel free to reach out to our email: customercare@rusticstrength.com. We would be more than happy to answer your questions.
We invite you to do your own research!
Scientific journals and articles are the foundation of evidence-based decisions at Rustic Strength. Blogs can provide helpful information. However, if it can not cite scientific articles, its claims stand on little.
EPA Safe Ingredient - https://www.epa.gov/saferchoice/safer-ingredients#scil
EWG® Score = https://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ingredients/701385-CITRIC_ACID/
EU - https://echa.europa.eu/substance-information/-/substanceinfo/100.000.973
Canada - https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/consumer-product-safety/cosmetics/cosmetic-ingredient-hotlist-prohibited-restricted-ingredients/hotlist.html
Plant-based - SDS on file with manufacturer
Skin Irritant - https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.3109/10915818709098563
Environment Safe – SDS on file with manufacturer
Biodegradable – https://echa.europa.eu/registration-dossier/-/registered-
dossier/15451/5/3/2#:~:text=Several%20biodegradation%20studies%20indicate%20that,and%
20in%20natural%20water%20bodies.
https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/FR-1994-12-12/94-30496#:~:text=%2D418%2D3098.-
,Summary,as%20direct%20human%20food%20ingredients.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1091581814526891
https://www.lilsipper.com/citric-acid-what-is-it-
really/#:~:text=Citric%20acid%20is%20commonly%20derived,the%20corn%20substrate%20is%
20removed.