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Among food additives, there are a small number of substances that are valued not only for their properties, such as emulsifying, stabilizing the structure or “preserving” products to protect against spoilage, but also for their positive effects on human health. Among them are magnesium chloride, magnesium chloride, or simply an emulsifier with the code “E511”. Over its long history, the substance has established itself as an element that can improve food products and simplify the process of their manufacture, as a medicinal component that helps to overcome certain ailments, and as a chemical reagent with a wide range of uses.
What is magnesium chloride and how is it obtained
E511 is a binary inorganic compound, the synthesis of hydrochloric acid, chlorine, magnesium and magnesium salt.
Magnesium chloride appears as hygroscopic crystals, transparent or white. The substance is odorless, readily soluble in water, moderately soluble in ethanol. Decomposition temperature – 300 degrees Celsius, melting point – 713 degrees, at 1412 degrees the additive begins to boil. It is subject to reaction with salts having a cation in the structure, which can form an insoluble salt with the chlorine anion. It also reacts with those salts, the anion in which forms a soluble salt with the magnesium cation.
In nature, it exists in the form of bischofite – a natural mineral that was found at the bottom of oceanic depressions, as well as terrestrial rocks, where seas were hundreds or thousands of years ago. A crystalline fossil can be white, pinkish, ocher yellow or brown, depending on the impurities in its structure. It may contain groups of hydromica and sulfate minerals in small amounts.
Extraction of magnesium chloride occurs in several ways. Artificial technology is the process of evaporation of sea brine: it is dehydrated, and then subjected to dehydration with hydrochloric acid at a temperature of 100-200 degrees Celsius. If we are talking about bischofite deposits in the earth’s crust, the solid mineral is first subjected to leaching with artesian water right at the occurrence horizons, after which the resulting solution is pumped out and evaporated to obtain a solid salt. Bischofite is not the most convenient substance for extraction, since this salt evaporates very quickly in air, so the seawater evaporation method is now more common.
For the purposes of the food industry, it is of interest, first of all, as a thickener capable of controlling the viscosity of the consistency, and as a stabilizer of the product structure.
How the E511 additive is used by humans in food
Most of the magnesium chloride mined in the world goes to the pharmaceutical industry, but the food industry is not far behind. Recently, the Japanese have become very fond of the additive: they consume large amounts of soy milk and tofu cheese, and magnesium chloride is needed for the production of the latter. In addition, a drink called “nigari”, which is an aqueous concentrate of magnesium chloride, is gaining popularity in the Middle Kingdom.
The food industry around the world uses E511 as a color stabilizer, thickener and emulsifier in the manufacture of such products:
- pickled vegetables (cucumbers, tomatoes, cabbage, peppers, zucchini);
- non-alcoholic sugary drinks;
- baker’s yeast, baking and dough thickeners;
- some dairy products (yogurts, curds, milk with different flavors and aromas);
- canned fruits, berries in syrup;
- low-calorie diet foods;
- tofu;
- baby food.
The substance also helps to extend the shelf life of the finished product and saturate it with magnesium.
Pharmaceutical Industry and Magnesium Chloride
To date, the world has established the production of drugs with E511 in various forms: tablets, flakes, granules, powders, solutions. Magnesium chloride is valuable as a source for replenishing magnesium reserves, which in the course of life can be washed out of the human body. It is used in the fields of cosmetology, dermatology, in various medicinal preparations for the skin. The substance is released in the form of bath salts.
In addition, the additive is used in ophthalmology, dentistry, otolaryngology, the treatment of cardiovascular diseases, and the musculoskeletal system.
Other areas of production where E511 can be used
The range of industries in which magnesium chloride is used is really wide:
- construction (a component for the manufacture of magnesia screeds and floors, xylolite slabs, foam concrete, aerated concrete, glass-magnesium sheets and some other materials);
- municipal services (reagent for dealing with ice and snowdrifts, de-icer, effectively prevents the formation of ice at temperatures from -35 degrees Celsius);
- textile industry (stabilizer in the process of dyeing fabrics and carpets);
- forestry (for firefighting as a flame retardant, also applied to wood to prevent fire);
- animal husbandry, crop production (feed additive for birds, livestock, plant nutrition);
- oil and gas industry (component of jamming and drilling fluids).
Impact on a person when consumed: harm or benefit
Magnesium is a participant in many vital processes and enzymatic reactions in the body: energy metabolism, fatty acid metabolism, protein synthesis, prostaglandin synthesis, neuromuscular contractions, regulation of potassium and sodium balance (thus affecting water balance).
Both as an ingredient in food products and as a component of medicines, magnesium chloride is definitely a valuable substance for the human body.
Indications for its use:
- chronic forms of osteochondrosis and osteoarthritis;
- hypomagnesemia;
- radiculitis, arthrosis, arthritis;
- diseases of the peripheral nervous system;
- prevention and treatment of cataracts;
- some skin diseases (acne, allergic reactions).
Baths and topical baths using the supplement are known for their ability to transdermally restore magnesium levels for spasms, muscle and joint pain, to strengthen bone tissue and nails. Recommended for chronic fatigue, problems in the functioning of the nervous system, and varicose veins. Such therapy helps to get rid of the feeling of heaviness and fatigue in the limbs, improves blood and lymph circulation, reduces pain caused by diseases of the musculoskeletal system, and increases skin turgor. Contraindications for this form of use of the substance are exacerbations of chronic diseases, thrombosis, stage 2 and 3 hypertension, tuberculosis processes, epilepsy, infectious diseases, individual intolerance.
For pregnant women, the use of drugs and products with E511 is allowed. According to the results of scientific studies, the level of risk to the fetus is classified as category C according to the FDA teratogenicity classification: this means that the substance did not reveal any effect on the fetus in experimental animals, and there were no relevant studies in pregnant women, but the level of potential threat is significantly lower than benefit from taking the substance. It is better for lactating women not to combine lactation and taking drugs with magnesium chloride, as it is able to penetrate into the baby’s body with breast milk.
As a substance in preparations for use on the skin, E511 helps to reduce inflammation in tissues, heals peeling and wounds on the skin, saturates them with minerals and trace elements.
In solutions for rinsing the oral cavity, the component has a healing effect in case of bleeding gums, and helps fight bad breath.
The danger of magnesium chloride is only in case of an overdose – so it can provoke a violation of digestion and metabolic processes.
Methods for packaging food additive E511
The substance is fire- and explosion-proof, non-toxic, biostable, therefore it is acceptable to store it in polyethylene and polypropylene bags, or special soft containers weighing up to 1 ton. By agreement between the buyer and the seller of magnesium chloride, it can also be packed in other containers intended for bulk cargo (food – if the additive will be used for food or pharmaceutical production). In this case, it is necessary to exclude the ingress of direct sunlight and moisture on the substance.
Magnesium chloride “E511” is a food supplement, which is one of the most useful among those known today. Among its properties are the ability to normalize the level of acidity in the body, stimulation of the brain and the transmission of nerve impulses, prevention of the onset and treatment of pain in muscles and joints, prevention of heart attack and other heart diseases, combating chronic fatigue and stress, strengthening immunity, preventing osteoporosis and osteoarthritis.
The substance is approved for use in most countries of the world, it can also be added to baby food. In international classifications of food additives, it is labeled as an additive with an extremely low level of danger.