The Household and Commercial Products Association (HCPA) recognized Emerald Kalama Chemical with a 2020 Innovation Award in the ingredients category in recognition of Emerald’s achievement registering Kalaguard® SB sodium benzoate as a new preservative option under U.S. EPA FIFRA.

“Congratulations to Emerald for its Innovation Award for Ingredients,” said Steve Caldeira, President and CEO, HCPA. “It is a privilege to work with a company that is so committed to creating products that help improve lives. This is a well-deserved recognition, especially in a year in which the household and commercial products industry continues to play such a critical role in the daily lives of Americans.”

“I am thrilled that HCPA has recognized Kalaguard® SB with this award. HCPA is an important industry association working to address challenges such as preservation. By investing substantial time and resources in the pursuit of EU BPR and EPA FIFRA approval for Kalaguard® SB, Emerald has succeeded in expanding the palette of in-can preservatives, while also fulfilling current market needs for a green, nature-identical, skin-friendly option,” said Rosanna Stokes, business development manager for Emerald’s Consumer Specialties business in the Americas.

Sodium benzoate has been used for decades as an effective preservative to inhibit microbial growth in foods, beverages and cosmetics. Because it is green and gentle on the skin, Emerald’s development team realized that it is also an attractive preservative for other consumer product applications. It is non-sensitizing, nature identical, biodegradable and listed on the EPA Safer Choice Chemical Ingredients List as “verified to be of low concern”.

However, sodium benzoate could not be utilized in many home or industrial products in the U.S. until October, when Emerald completed EPA FIFRA registration for Kalaguard® SB. Regulatory registrations are required for preservatives to be used in applications such as cleaners, laundry care, floor and leather care, coatings, adhesives, silicones, surfactants and inks. Kalaguard® SB effectively controls bacteria, yeasts and molds in these products up to pH 7. It is also easy to incorporate at both ambient and elevated process temperatures.

“The industry has been facing significant hurdles with preservation. On one hand, evolving consumer preferences, supply disruptions and regulatory changes are making many traditional preservation chemistries less feasible. On the other hand, it is still critical to protect consumer health by ensuring that products are robustly preserved against microbial growth. Kalaguard®SB helps formulators to effectively preserve products while also meeting consumer needs and reducing label requirements,” Stokes said.

Emerald also completed EU Biocidal Products Registration (BPR) for Kalaguard® SB in 2019. Following BPR registration, Stokes said that Emerald has already worked with manufacturers in Europe to incorporate Kalaguard® SB into over 200 commercialized home care products, with many more on the horizon.

Stokes expanded, “Kalaguard® SB is enabling a new generation of home care products that feature a consumer-friendly, non-sensitizing preservative package. We are working with an increasing number of manufacturers of all sizes, using our extensive formulation and efficacy knowledge to help solve their preservation challenges and guide them to greener and more sustainable formulations.”

Emerald is a leading provider of specialty ingredients optimized to bring performance and value to globally trusted household care brands, with a focus on providing high quality, nature identical ingredients and extensive applications expertise. Emerald specializes in consumer-friendly preservation, aroma chemicals, multifunctionals and optimizing formulations to be higher performing and more robust. Emerald® products are responsibly manufactured at Emerald’s facilities in the U.S. and Europe.

For more information about Kalaguard® SB or other Emerald® products, available globally, visit www.emeraldkalama.com


About Emerald
Emerald Kalama Chemical offers a wide spectrum of high quality ingredients and materials, which bring value and performance to applications such as adhesives, foods, beverages, fragrances, cosmetics, home care, rubber, vinyl, and other consumer and industrial products. Emerald Kalama Chemical has three businesses to serve these markets: Industrial Specialties, Consumer Specialties and Antioxidants and Accelerators. Headquartered in Vancouver, Wash., Emerald Kalama Chemical is a business group of Emerald Performance Materials and serves customers globally from operations in the U.S. and Europe.

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