Many challenges face the formulating chemist who is tasked with developing a good-tasting calcium-fortified food, a pleasant-to-take calcium nutritional supplement, an effective calcium antacid or other pharmaceutical, or an elegant cosmetic or other personal care product.

To help in these endeavors, Specialty Minerals Inc. (SMI) has incorporated in these web pages many details on consumer products and the use of calcium carbonates and talcs in them. We hope you will find this information useful. 

In addition, SMI has published a series of information sheets to help answer many of the questions we receive about using our precipitated calcium carbonates (PCCs) and ground calcium carbonates (GCCs) in health-related applications. These will help you choose the right calcium carbonate grade to achieve the desired sensory and performance properties in the consumer product being developed.

Some of the most frequently asked questions are these:

• Bioavailability: How bioavailable is calcium carbonate? How does it compare to other calcium salts? To the calcium in cow’s milk? 
• Calcium Carbonate as a Calcium Source: Why is calcium carbonate the right source for me to use? What is the elemental calcium concentration? What are the economics of using calcium carbonate? 
• Calcium Carbonate Shapes and Sizes:  What are all of these particle shapes and sizes that SMI produces for food, nutritional and pharmaceutical formulations? How do they differ? What do those particle shapes mean to me? Will they affect my product’s properties?
• California Proposition 65:  What is California Proposition 65? What are the lead exposure limits that must be met? How do I figure out what kind of calcium carbonate I need?
• SMI Calcium Carbonates Meeting Proposition 65:  What are the lead levels of the ground calcium carbonates (GCCs) and precipitated calcium carbonates (PCCs) that you manufacture? How do you test for lead? 
• What is PCC?  What is precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC)? How is it made? What are the differences between precipitated and ground calcium carbonate?
• Osteoporosis: What is osteoporosis? Who is at risk? What happens if I have osteoporosis? How much calcium do I need to take? What else can I do to prevent osteoporosis?

Just click on a topic to download the information sheet with the information you’re seeking.

Learn more:

• SMI minerals in food fortification uses
• SMI minerals in nutritional supplements
• SMI minerals in pharmaceuticals
• SMI calcium carbonates for food, nutritional supplements, pharmaceuticals and personal care products
• Choosing the right grade of Specialty Minerals calcium carbonate for consumer products.
  
  
• SMI minerals in consumer products: See the products you use every day—foods, nutritional supplements, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, toiletries, and other personal-care items—that use Specialty Minerals talcs and calcium carbonates.
  
  
• What is Ground Calcium Carbonate (GCC) / Limestone? A mineral introductory webpage
• What is Precipitated Calcium Carbonate (PCC)? A mineral introductory webpage
  
  
• About Specialty Minerals Inc.