Wood Pulp Increasingly Common in Foods

One of the greatest challenges food producers face is maintaining the quality of their foods as they go from factory to consumer. Well, many companies have found a product that boosts fiber content in food, cuts fat content, stabilizes and maintains the shape, prevents clumping and reduces the need for expensive ingredients (think oil and flour). What is it? Cellulose— which is essentially a processed wood pulp.

To make it, raw plant fibers (usually wood) are cooked in chemicals and the cellulose is separated out. The cellulose is then purified and processed. A pound of the finished materials usually sells for between $2.50 and $3 a pound. Niels Thestrup, vice president of the hydrocolloids department for Danisco AS, says that sales of the ingredient have increased 3-5% over the last decade, but have increased 6-8% in the last two years.

Organic products also sometimes include cellulose. Popular company Organic Valley adds cellulose to their cheese products and Kraft uses "forms of cellulose made from wood pulp and cotton in products." Both companies say that cellulose comprises less than 1 percent of their finished product. Although cellulose is not digestible by humans, scientists say it is a harmless fiber that can cut the number of calories in food.

What do you think of eating cellulose?

Photo by Shards of Blue