aeq@pucc-h (Jeff Sargent) (01/26/84)
Curious that silicon dioxide should be added to make products free-flowing.... The nifty stuff that one can pour over ice cream to form a hard shell also lists silicon dioxide among its ingredients, and I would have inferred that silicon dioxide was a major contributor to the hardness! But then, I wasn't a chemistry major.... -- Jeff Sargent/...pur-ee!pucc-h:aeq
gam@proper.UUCP (01/28/84)
It appears that the ingredients of Equal tablets (given in the aforementioned articles) differ from those of Equal packets. The latter contain "Dextrose with dried corn syrup, aspartame, silicon dioxide, microcrystalline cellulose, tribasic calcium phosphate, and cellulose gum" Beats me why they feel the need to put sand in it! :-) I notice `silicon dioxide' also occurs in General Foods `International Coffees', probably to keep the powder from caking. I would be interested in hearing about the effects of ingestion of silicon dioxide of this form (obviously very fine). I would guess that since it is chemically inert, it probably isn't harmful.... (famous last words?).
gam@proper.UUCP (Gordon Moffett) (01/30/84)
It appears that the ingredients of Equal tablets (given in the aforementioned articles) differ from those of Equal packets. The latter contain "Dextrose with dried corn syrup, aspartame, silicon dioxide, microcrystalline cellulose, tribasic calcium phosphate, and cellulose gum" Beats me why they feel the need to put sand in it! :-) I notice `silicon dioxide' also occurs in General Foods `International Coffees', probably to keep the powder from caking. I would be interested in hearing about the effects of ingestion of silicon dioxide of this form (obviously very fine). I would guess that since it is chemically inert, it probably isn't harmful.... (famous last words?). -- Gordon A. Moffett decvax!decwrl!amd70!proper!gam hplabs!intelca!proper!gam