Ananticaking agent is an additive placed in powderedorgranulated materials, such as table salt or confectioneries, to prevent the formation of lumps (caking) and for easing packaging, transport, flowability, and consumption.[1] Caking mechanisms depend on the nature of the material. Crystalline solids often cake by formation of liquid bridge and subsequent fusion of microcrystals. Amorphous materials can cake by glass transitions and changes in viscosity. Polymorphic phase transitions can also induce caking.[2]
Some anticaking agents function by absorbing excess moisture or by coating particles and making them water-repellent. Calcium silicate (CaSiO3), a commonly used anti-caking agent, added to e.g. table salt, absorbs both water and oil.
Some studies suggest that anticaking agents may have a negative effect on the nutritional content of food; one such study indicated that most anti-caking agents result in the additional degradation of vitamin C added to food.[8]
Diatomaceous earth, mostly consisting of silicon dioxide (SiO2), may also be used as an anticaking agent in animal foods, typically mixed at 2% rate of a product dry weight.[9]
The most widely used anticaking agents include the stearates of calcium and magnesium, silica and various silicates, talc, as well as flour and starch. Ferrocyanides are used for table salt.[1]
The following anticaking agents are listed in order by their number in the Codex Alimentarius by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN.
^Rutland, D. W. (1991). "Fertilizer caking: Mechanisms, influential factors, and methods of prevention". Fertilizer Research. 30: 99–114. doi:10.1007/BF01048832. S2CID12152189.
^Elmore, A. R.; Cosmetic Ingredient Review Expert Panel (2003). "Final report on the safety assessment of aluminum silicate, calcium silicate, magnesium aluminum silicate, magnesium silicate, magnesium trisilicate, sodium magnesium silicate, zirconium silicate, attapulgite, bentonite, Fuller's earth, hectorite, kaolin, lithium magnesium silicate, lithium magnesium sodium silicate, montmorillonite, pyrophyllite, and zeolite". International Journal of Toxicology. 22 Suppl 1: 37–102. PMID12851164.
^Lipasek, R. A; Taylor, L. S; Mauer, L. J (2011). "Effects of anticaking agents and relative humidity on the physical and chemical stability of powdered vitamin C". Journal of Food Science. 76 (7): C1062–74. doi:10.1111/j.1750-3841.2011.02333.x. PMID22417544.
