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Innovation Through Partnership
Cerestar is the leading manufacturer of starches and starch derivatives in Europe, and one of the largest in the world. It has fully integrated plants, specialty plants and sales offices throughout the world.
Cerestar is a Cargill company. Cargill is an international marketer, processor and distributor of agricultural, food, financial and industrial products and services with 97,000 employees in 59 countries. The company provides distinctive customer solutions in supply chain management, food applications and health and nutrition.
Starch, which is extracted from maize, wheat and potatoes, has very diverse uses, both in food and non-food applications. In the food industry, starch and its derivatives are used in the manufacture of desserts and ice creams, canned products and various types of beverages. They are also used to improve the appearance of certain products and to prolong shelf-life during storage. Additionally they are also found in numerous animal feed products.
Starch and starch derivatives have many non-food applications, representing about 45% of total consumption in this sector.
Starch and starch derivatives are used in the pharmaceutical industry as substrates in the production of antibiotics, in the cosmetics and chemical industries to manufacture absorption agents and biodegradable plastics respectively. They have other uses, such as in thickening agents for varnishes and coatings, as additives for inks and as secondary products in the textile industry.
The paper industry is another large sector which uses these products widely, to strengthen paper and cardboard, as a paper coating component and to produce adhesives and glues for paper and cardboard.
Cerestar offers a complete range of starch products, from glucose syrups to maltodextrins and from dextrose to polyols and cyclodextrins. Polyols (erythritol, isomalt, mannitol, maltitol, sorbitol, xylitol) are used as sweeteners by the food industry which takes advantage of their non cariogenic, low calorie characteristics. They are also used in the production of toothpastes, shampoos, polyutherane foam, etc. Erythritol, Cerestar's newest sugar replacer, opens a whole new world of possibilities to formulate low calorie and healthy foods and drinks. Cerestar also products maize oil and various co-products with a high protein content which are widely used in animal feed.
Cerestar has an extensive Research and Development programme, which provides basic knowledge for technical services to customers.
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