How is Citric Acid made?
Citric acid is found naturally in citrus fruits, but producing citric acid from citrus fruits is very expensive and the demand for citric acid is greater than the available supply of citrus fruits. Therefore, when you see citric acid on a product label, you can be sure that it is a powder that was made from the fermentation of sugars.
A culture of Aspergillus niger (a fungus commonly used in the pharmaceutical industry) is fed with sugar and metabolizes it into a liquid solution. The solution is mixed with lime (calcium hydroxide) which causes citrate salt to come out of the solution (precipitate). The citrate salt is then treated with sulfuric acid to make useable citric acid.
The sugars that are used for the citric acid can be derived from cane sugar, corn or wheat. In the United States, citric acid is most often derived from corn since it is a cheap, subsidized crop. In South America cane sugar is often used due to the low sugar prices, while in Europe wheat sweeteners are commonly used.
What is Citric Acid? - OK Kosher
Citric acid is a white powder used to give a sour taste to beverages and food products. It is also used as a preservative to prevent spoilage because it increases the acidity of products and many bacteria that cause food spoilage are unable to grow in an acidic environment. It is also used in...www.ok.org
the source of the sugars likely doesn't matter when it comes to the allergic reactions, sugar cane is better than corn or wheat, but most people can probably eat a whole cob of corn, even GMO corn bathed in pufa oil, and do fine, but i doubt anyone can safely consume "aspergillus niger". i think in the process of citric acid some of those fungus cells maybe come through in the final product.
the sulfuric acid also seems worrisome, like where is it sourced from, and does that remain in the product? it could cause excess sulfur levels in the body, and then the sulfur intolerance symptoms?