What is propylene glycol?
Propylene glycol is an emollient used in many types of medical care products, including those applied to the skin or taken internally. Propylene glycol is found in medical products such as cough syrups and skin care products. It is safe and imparts unique attributes when formulated into such products.
Propylene glycol is a food additive found in many foods we eat today. It is used in food coloring, flavoring and also used to keep food, medicines and cosmetics moist. It is considered to be generally safe and it is the element in our product that helps to create the vapor that simulates smoke. It is also used in medical inhalants. Although the FDA considers it as “generally recognized as safe” for use in food, cosmetics and medicines, use of propylene glycol in simulated smoking devices is not currently included in the list of uses generally recognized by the FDA since this technology is so new.
Most flavor ingredients (essential oils, oleoresins and aromatic chemicals) are oil soluble and will not disperse in water. This can be a problem, since the majority of food and beverage products are aqueous. As a result various solvents, emulsifiers and carriers are used in flavors to disperse the oil soluble ingredients. Propylene glycol is a food grade, clear, colorless, slightly syrupy, solvent, which is hygroscopic and relatively inexpensive. It is highly effective in dispersing oil soluble flavor ingredients. Other commonly used solvents and carriers are ethyl alcohol, polysorbate 80, and triacetin. The solvent, or combination of solvents, which are used in a particular extract or flavor is largely based on the characteristics of the flavor ingredients, food product being flavored and customer requirements. Propylene glycol, which is generally known as “PG” in the flavor industry, tastes bitter and is slightly sweet. If you dip a finger in some of your flavors and extracts contai
