Food

Decolorization and purfication of edible oils
Impurities of various kinds, including color pigments, soaps, gums, and albuminous matter, can cause processing problems or poor quality in finished products for makers of edible oils. BASF Catalysts bleaching earths are highly effective in removing these detrimental materials from a wide range of edible oils.

For edible oils, bleaching is a critical manufacturing step in which impurities are removed. Our bleaching earths are activated clay adsorbents that offer superior capacity for trapping undesired contaminants. These innovative products benefit our customers by enhancing oil quality and improving the shelf life and stability of their products.

BASF Catalysts bleaching earths also provide economic benefits to our customers. By removing impurities that can hamper catalyst performance in downstream processing steps our bleaching earths help ensure that customer operations are as efficient as possible. BASF Catalysts also serves the oleochemical industry with a broad line of hydrogenation and other catalyst technologies and a large and highly experienced technical service staff.

Fats and oils production
BASF Catalysts catalyst technologies and bleaching earths play a vital role in the manufacture of fats and oils derived from agricultural feedstocks, such as soybean oil, fish oil, palm oil, and corn oil, among others. These oleochemicals include edible oils, fatty acids, fatty amines, and fatty alcohols. Their end markets are diverse, ranging from foods, to detergents, personal care products, lubricants and fabric softeners.

Our capability to develop cost-effective products with improved performance characteristics and our strong customer orientation and relationships have made BASF Catalysts a leader in the oleochemicals industry for more than 50 years.

BASF Catalysts's long-term commitment to this market also means we understand the issues facing our customers. An example -- In foods, the move toward healthier products with less fat presents a challenge to our customers that BASF Catalysts already is working to help solve with special catalyst products.

We start by working with customers to determine the right catalytic solution for their applications. This may be one of our proprietary catalysts tailored for the customer application or it may be a joint development program undertaken with the customer to come up with a catalyst unique to their needs and exclusive to their use. BASF Catalysts also offers custom manufacturing services, freeing our customers to focus on their core business.

BASF Catalysts manufactures catalysts for fats and oils production in both the United States and Europe, providing our customers with security of supply. Our R&D and technical service staff is similarly located to provide immediate, local attention to customer needs.