Preservative for candy and confectionery products. Designed to inhibit two common problems experienced by professional food crafters: rancidity and mold growth. Used individually or in combination, these convenient preservatives help to extend the shelf life and great taste of your finished creations. General Use Guide: Use 2 teaspoons to 5 lb.. of total batch.

#6070 Preserve-It Mold Inhibitor (Potassium Sorbarte) - An active convenient mold and fermentation inhibitor, formulated to help pre-vent mold growth from within. This water-based preservative is ideal for all candy, desserts and pastries. Potassium sorbate is a potassium salt version of sorbic acid, a polyunsaturated fat used to inhibit mold growth. Potassium Sorbate does not kill the yeast; it merely inhibits renewed yeast activity under the correct conditions.

Scientific Facts: What is Potassium Sorbate?
Potassium sorbate is a potassium salt version of sorbic acid, a polyunsaturated fat used to inhibit mold growth. Sorbic acid was first isolated from the oil of the unripened rowan berry (sorbapple or mountain ash berry) in 1959 by A.W. Hoffmann. Sorbic acid obtained its name from the scientific name for mountain ash (i.e. Sorbus aucuparia, Linne), the parent of the rowan berry. The chemical structure of sorbic acid was determined some time between 1870 and 1890 (see above), and then chemically synthesized by O. Doebner in 1900. The value of sorbic acid, or its salts, was not immediately recognized. (It would only be much later that these compounds would be appreciated for their ability to interfere with ATP metabolism in microbes, while posing no health risk when consumed by mammals.) In 1939 and 1940, E. Mueller (Germany) and C.M. Gooding (U.S.) discovered sorbic acid's antimicrobial properties. Subsequently, in 1945, C.M. Gooding and Best Foods, Inc. were awarded the first patent for the use of sorbic acid as a fungistatic agent in foods. Since the 1950's, sorbic acid has been repeatedly tested for safety and efficacy, and today stands as one of the most thoroughly tested food additives in history. In fact, few
substances have had the kind of extensive, rigorous, long-term testing that sorbic acid and its salts have had. It has been found to be non-toxic even when taken in large quantities, and breaks down in the body into water and carbon dioxide in the Krebs Cycle
.  The all-time critic of food additives, Dr. Michael Jacobsen (founder of Center For Science In The Public Interest in Washington, D.C.), has given sorbic acid
and its salts his highest rating, SAFE. He has indicated that, "the body metabolizes s potassium sorbate like any other polyunsaturated fat." Many of the most common food additives which health conscious Americans take for granted have not received this rating: hydrolyzed vegetable proteins, common food colorings (coal tar dyes), natural liquid smoke flavorings (distillates), BHA, BHT, TBHQ, nitrates, etc.  Lumen Foods chose to use this compound after thoroughly investigating the variety of naturally occurring mold inhibits in the mid-80's. We use about 0.8% of this compound by weight. (Other natural preservatives, such as vinegar, salt, sugar, honey (yes, these are all preservatives), are inappropriate for this purpose when making Lumen products.) Our belief in the safety and effectiveness of potassium sorbate is reflected in the fact that Lumen Foods is today an importer of potassium sorbate, as well, in a joint project with foodchem.com. We stand by the weight of scientific evidence on sorbic acid and its salts. It provides the very best method of inhibiting mold in intermediate moisture, soy protein products.