Why is CITRIC ACID NOT Kosher for Passover?
I have done Much Research over the Years and Cannot Find any Reason for it Needing ANY Kashut, and The Only Reference to Pesach is that at 1 time in the UK they Used FRUCTOSE Derived from Wheat as the Food Source. {Not Anymore} as you Know Citric Acid is Derived from a type of Mold, in Commercial Processing it is Fed FRUCTOSE { Most Commonly from Corn, the Cheapest Source } Once it is Harvested they use Mechanical and Chemical Process to Extract the CITRIC ACID { as Well as Other Acids } Regardless of the Source of the FRUCTOSE it is NOT Part of or in the final Product. in Essence if you used Wheat or Bread to Fertilize your Garden Vegetables those Vegetables Would NOT Be Classified as NOT Kosher For Passover due to the Wheat Fertilizer { as long as they were Washed } so Why Classify Citric Acid as NOT Kosher For Passover?
Citric Acid is something than can come from hamets, so therefore would require clarification before approving it.
Citric acid is made by sugar/glucose fermentation. The process starts with often corn starch mixed with water. To this mixture, they add 2 enzymes to convert the starch into glucose. This glucose is then treated with a specific culture, which converts the glucose into crude citric Acid. The crude acid goes through a series of mechanical steps that result in pure citric Acid.
While this seems to be innocuous to the layman, both the enzymes and the cultures can be serious hametz concerns. Enzymes are also the result of a bacterial fermentation. If the glucose used is derived from wheat starch, you end up with an enzyme that is hametz. The same is true for the culture. A top expert in the field has related to me personally that he has seen it grown on wheat. This is nothing like using fertilizer on plants. The glucose itself is part of the enzyme.
Another factor to be aware of is that many enzymes have SORBITOL added to them, for stability reasons. In Europe, a large percentage of the sorbitol is made from wheat! In China, many enzymes are imported from Europe, where wheat glucose and wheat based sorbitol are common. Then they are further processed in China, so they are labeled Product of China.
For these reasons, citric Acid requires Passover certification.