Page 317 - Analytical method for food addtives
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22
E481–2: Stearoyl lactylates
22.1 Introduction
The major food groups contributing to dietary intake of stearoyl lactylates are fruit-
based desserts, dairy-based drinks, infant formulae and weaning foods with the
maximum permitted level of 10 000 mg/kg being allowed in fat emulsions. The
acceptable daily intake (ADI) for stearoyl lactylates is 20 mg/kg body weight. 1
Sodium stearoyl-2-lactylate, a dough conditioner and emulsifier, is the reaction
product of two naturally occurring food components, stearic acid and lactic acid,
1
neutralised to the sodium salt. The commercial product is a mixture of sodium
salts of a homologous series of stearoyl lactylic acids.
22.2 Methods of analysis
Very few methods are published for the determination of stearoyl lactylates in
foodstuffs. No recent publications could be found; the latest were publications
dated in the 1980s. A GC method for determining sodium stearoyl-2-lactylate
2
(SSL) in baked wheaten products and an HPLC method for the analysis of the
emulsifiers, sodium stearoyl lactylate (E481) and calcium stearoyl lactylate (E482). 3
These were for the substances themselves and not for their analysis in foods. A
summary of these methods is given in Table 22.1, together with the matrices for
which the methods are applicable. If statistical parameters for these methods were
available these have been summarised in Table 22.2.
