Rhodia Highlights Sustainable Vanillin Manufacturing Technology

At the recent IFT Expo, Rhodia displayed its new food-safe and sustainable technology for manufacturing its Rhovanil Extra Pure vanillin and Rhodiarome Extra Pure ethyl vanillin products. The company’s facilities in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Saint-Fons, France, have converted several steps of their manufacturing process to use food grade bio-ethanol as a solvent. This conversion is part of the environmentally responsible guaiacol, ex-catechol, route utilized at both facilities.

Rhodia also is pursuing certification of its food safety management system under the stringent FSSC 22000 international standard. Both of Rhodia’s manufacturing plants have been certified under ISO 9001 and comply with the requirements of Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) and the American Institute of Baking; in addition, the Baton Rouge plant meets the requirements of NFPA-GMA SAFE.

Vincent Lajotte, aroma ingredients business director of Rhodia aroma performance, said, “We are investing in sustainable practices, such as the use of food grade bio-ethanol in our ex-catechol process, as a better alternative to competitive processes that can cause pollution and create hazardous by-products. In short, our Rhovanil Extra Pure vanillin and Rhodiarome Extra Pure ethyl vanillin products are the purest, safest and most sustainable in the world.”