Food grade silica from Evonik

Innovative Silica Solutions for Food, Nutrition & Oral Care Safety and Performance

As a global leader in specialty chemicals, Evonik Industries AG has more than 50 years of expertise in R&D and manufacturing of synthetic amorphous silica. Its food grade silica product lines, including SIPERNAT®, ZEOFREE®, AEROSIL® and SIDENT®, have become indispensable functional ingredients in the global food industry, animal nutrition sector and oral care field. With advanced production technology, strict safety standards and full-range regulatory compliance, Evonik delivers high-performance, safe and customizable silica solutions that empower manufacturers to optimize product quality, enhance processing efficiency and meet evolving market demands.

Evonik’s Food Grade Silica Product Portfolio

Evonik has built a comprehensive product matrix of food grade silica through precise control of precipitation and fumed production processes, with tailored properties to fit diverse application scenarios in the food and nutrition industry.

1. SIPERNAT® Precipitated Silica Series

As the core product line for food and nutrition applications, SIPERNAT® series covers hydrophilic and hydrophobic grades, each designed for specific functional requirements:

• General-purpose carrier grades: SIPERNAT® 22 is the benchmark carrier silica, combining high liquid absorption capacity with excellent flowability, ideal for converting liquid food and feed additives into free-flowing powders. SIPERNAT® 50 features ultra-high absorbency, enabling active ingredient loading up to 75% for highly concentrated absorbates.
• Dust-free premium grade: SIPERNAT® 2200 is a micro-granular spherical silica with low fines content, which can convert various liquid ingredients into nearly dust-free powders with high bulk density, significantly improving workplace safety and processing convenience.
• Flow & anti-caking grades: SIPERNAT® 22 S and 50 S are hydrophilic silica grades with high absorption capacity, widely used as flow aids and anti-caking agents in powdered food and premixes. The unique hydrophobic SIPERNAT® D 17 is Evonik’s flagship anti-caking product, which inhibits moisture uptake and delivers exceptional performance at an ultra-low dosage of 0.1-0.5%, far lower than conventional hydrophilic products.
• Special application grades: SIPERNAT® 22 LS and 622 LS are finely ground silica for rheology control in liquid food systems; SIPERNAT® 303 and 306 are designed as clarifying and adsorbent agents for beverage processing like beer brewing.

2. ZEOFREE® Series

This line includes high-performance precipitated silica and calcium silicate products for food and nutrition applications. ZEOFREE® 5162 offers equivalent anti-caking efficiency to SIPERNAT® 22 S with superior mechanical stability, making it ideal for production processes with high-shear mixing. ZEOFREE® 5133 calcium silicate is also a versatile flow aid and anti-caking agent compliant with global food and feed regulations.

3. AEROSIL® Fumed Silica Series

AEROSIL® food and pharma grade fumed silica, such as AEROSIL® 200 F, 380 F and 200 Pharma, feature ultra-high purity and extremely low impurity levels. They are perfectly suited for formulations with sensitive ingredients (e.g., peroxides in food additives), and provide excellent thickening and rheology control in liquid and semi-solid food systems.

4. SIDENT® Oral Care Specialty Silica Series

Specially developed for toothpaste and oral care products, SIDENT® series complies with USP-NF and European Pharmacopoeia (EP) standards for dental grade silica. The line includes cleaning abrasives (SIDENT® 8, 9, 10) with tailored Relative Dentin Abrasion (RDA) and Pellicle Cleaning Ratio (PCR) values, as well as thickening grade SIDENT® 22 S, covering all formulation needs from kids’ toothpaste, sensitive toothpaste to whitening and clear gel toothpaste.

Core Functions & Versatile Applications in Food Industry

Evonik’s food grade silica delivers multiple critical functional benefits across the entire food and nutrition value chain, addressing key pain points in processing, storage and product performance.

1. High-Efficiency Carrier for Liquid Active Ingredients

Many functional ingredients in the food industry, such as vitamins (e.g., vitamin E acetate), organic acids, natural pigments (e.g., marigold extract), antioxidants, L-carnitine and choline chloride, are in liquid or paste form, making it difficult to disperse homogeneously in powdered food products.

Evonik’s silica products, with their highly porous structure, act as excellent carriers to convert these liquid ingredients into stable, free-flowing powders, with active agent loading ranging from 50% to 75%. This not only ensures uniform dispersion of active ingredients in the final product, but also maintains their high bioavailability, while enabling dust-free production and precise dosing in automated manufacturing. Typical applications include dietary supplements, fortified foods, solid beverages, baking premixes and spice blends.

2. Superior Flow Aid & Anti-Caking Agent

Powdered food products, including table salt, icing sugar, coffee creamer, soup powders, spices, whey powder and food additive premixes, are prone to caking and poor flowability during production, transportation and storage due to moisture absorption and interparticle interactions.

Evonik’s food grade silica forms a uniform coating on the surface of powder particles, reducing interparticle forces and adsorbing free moisture and oils, thus fundamentally solving caking issues and significantly improving powder flowability. Hydrophilic grades are effective at a dosage of 0.5-2%, while the hydrophobic SIPERNAT® D 17 achieves excellent results at only 0.1-0.5%, well below the maximum limit set by global food safety regulations. The silica is chemically inert, tasteless and odorless, and does not alter the original flavor, color or texture of the food product.

3. Niche Applications in Food & Beverage Sector

• Beverage processing: SIPERNAT® 303 and 306 grades are used as clarifying and adsorbent agents in beer brewing, effectively removing haze-forming substances and extending shelf life without affecting the beer’s original flavor profile.
• Oral care: SIDENT® series silica is the core functional ingredient in toothpaste, providing balanced cleaning performance and enamel safety, with excellent compatibility with fluoride and other active ingredients in oral care formulations.
• Food contact materials: SIPERNAT® series silica enhances the print clarity and color performance of food packaging paper, complying with global food contact material safety standards.
• Processing aid: The silica can be added directly into the spray drying process of powdered foods to improve product flowability and storage stability, and also acts as an anti-sticking agent and rheology modifier in bakery and confectionery production.

4. Animal Nutrition & Feed Safety

Evonik’s food grade silica also fully complies with global feed additive regulations, and is widely used in animal feed production as a carrier for vitamins, trace minerals and other feed additives, as well as an anti-caking and flow agent for premixes. It improves the uniformity of nutrient distribution in feed, enhances production efficiency, reduces equipment clogging and downtime, and ensures precise and consistent nutrient intake for animals. The products are approved for use in all animal species under EU Regulation (EC) No. 1831/2003, and are listed in the AAFCO Official Publication for feed applications in the US.

Key Advantages of Evonik Food Grade Silica

1. Customizable Product Design for Diverse Needs

Through precise control of production processes, Evonik can tailor the specific surface area, particle size, pore structure and surface hydrophilic/hydrophobic properties of silica to meet the unique needs of different food systems. Whether for high-shear production processes, high-humidity storage environments, dust-free production requirements or sensitive ingredient formulations, Evonik provides a targeted silica grade and customized solution.

2. Enhanced Production Efficiency & Cost Savings

Evonik’s silica products significantly improve the flowability of powdered materials, enabling faster production rates and higher throughput in automated manufacturing lines. By preventing caking and clogging, they reduce production downtime and equipment maintenance costs, while minimizing off-spec products and material waste. The high loading capacity of carrier grades also improves economic efficiency by producing highly concentrated active absorbates.

3. Neutral Organoleptic Properties & High Compatibility

Evonik’s food grade silica is chemically inert, tasteless, odorless and colorless, and does not react with active ingredients in food formulations, nor does it affect the original flavor, texture and appearance of the final product. It has excellent compatibility with a wide range of food ingredients, including vitamins, minerals, flavors, oils and plant extracts.

Global Regulatory Compliance & Quality Assurance

Food safety is the top priority for Evonik, and its food grade silica products meet the strictest regulatory requirements and quality standards worldwide.

• Global regulatory compliance: The products comply with EU (EU) 231/2012 food additive E551 standards, US FDA 21 CFR regulations, Food Chemicals Codex (FCC), China GB 25576 national food safety standard for food additive silicon dioxide, and other major market regulations. For feed applications, they meet EU Regulation (EC) No. 1831/2003 and AAFCO feed standards.
• Strict quality management: All production facilities are certified to ISO 9001 quality standards, follow Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), and implement HACCP principles to assess, monitor and control all potential hazards throughout the production process. All facilities are licensed by local authorities and regularly audited for feed and food safety by third-party bodies or government agencies.
• Authoritative certifications: Evonik can provide Kosher and Halal certificates upon request, and SIDENT® dental grade silica meets USP-NF and EP pharmacopoeia standards.
• Toxicological and ecological safety: Evonik’s synthetic amorphous silica is completely non-crystalline, with no risk of crystalline silica. Comprehensive toxicological studies have confirmed that it has no acute oral toxicity, no sensitization, no mutagenicity and no teratogenicity. It is ecologically friendly, non-hazardous to aquatic organisms, and classified as a substance with minimal environmental risk.

Global Footprint & Local Technical Support

Evonik has established a complete global network of production bases, R&D centers and application technology laboratories across Europe, the Americas and Asia Pacific, including production and technical sites in Shanghai, Nanping and Zhenjiang in China. This global layout ensures stable and reliable supply chain delivery worldwide, while providing localized technical support to customers in different regions.

Evonik’s team of application technology experts provides end-to-end support to customers, from formulation development, process optimization, regulatory compliance consulting to sample testing. The company works closely with customers to understand their specific technical needs and develop tailored silica solutions, helping customers achieve product differentiation and gain competitive advantages in the market.

Conclusion & Outlook

With the philosophy of "Beyond Chemistry", Evonik has long been committed to driving innovation in food grade silica technology, and has become a trusted partner for the global food and nutrition industry. Its high-performance, safe and compliant silica solutions address core challenges in food processing, storage and product functionality, helping manufacturers create higher quality, safer and more innovative food and nutrition products for consumers worldwide.

In the future, Evonik will continue to invest in R&D to develop more functional silica solutions that adapt to the new trends in the food industry, such as clean label, plant-based food, personalized nutrition and sustainable production. Evonik will continue to work hand in hand with industry partners to promote the high-quality and sustainable development of the global food industry.

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