Iranian Company Starts Production of Sorbitol as Necessary Material in Pharmaceutical, Food Industries
“At present, the sorbitol production plant, which is the only sorbitol production plant in Iran and West Asia, has a production capacity of 7,500 tons of sorbitol 70% in liquid form per year,” said Saman Fat'hi, the managing director of the company.
He added that in future plans, completing the sorbitol chain by launching a vitamin C production line and production of newer drugs is also on agenda.
“The main challenge for launching the production line was the lack of complete technology in the country to produce this product which was obviated by using the power and knowledge of the Iranian experts,” Fat'hi said.
Sorbitol is a product that can be used as a laxative to relieve constipation, and also as a urologic irrigating fluid. It may also be used as a pharmaceutical sweetener. It is a polyhydric alcohol with about half the sweetness of sucrose. Sorbitol occurs naturally and is also produced synthetically from glucose.
The Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) list of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) suggests a tolerance of 7% of sorbitol in foods. FDA studies have found no toxicity and determine the normal level of consumption of sorbitol to be 25 g daily in two doses. No carcinogenic effects were found in experiments on sorbitol.
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