If I asked you where citric acid comes from, what would you say?
Like most people, you’d probably answer:
“Lemons.”
That’s exactly what I thought for years.
After all, lemons, limes, oranges, and grapefruits naturally contain citric acid. It seems like a reasonable assumption.
Then I learned something that completely changed how I viewed ingredient labels.
The vast majority of citric acid used in modern foods, beverages, supplements, gummies, vitamins, and processed products is not extracted from lemons at all.
Instead, it is commonly manufactured through an industrial fermentation process involving a mold called Aspergillus niger.
The moment I learned that, I started asking questions.
Not because I was looking for something new to fear.
Not because I enjoy making life complicated.
But because I believe we should understand what we are putting into our bodies and feeding our families.
And the deeper I researched, the more questions I had.
Why This Matters
Before we discuss synthetic citric acid, I think it’s important to understand why this conversation matters in the first place.
More than 800 years ago, one of history’s most respected physicians and scholars, Moses Maimonides (known in Jewish tradition as Rambam), wrote extensively about health, nutrition, prevention, and the responsibility people have to care for their bodies.
Maimonides was not only a Torah scholar. He was also a practicing physician whose writings on health are still studied centuries later.
In his work Mishneh Torah, Hilchot De’ot (Laws of Human Conduct), Chapter 4, he wrote:
“Since maintaining a healthy and sound body is among the ways of God… a person must distance himself from things that destroy the body and accustom himself to things that strengthen and heal the body.”
What strikes me about this statement is how relevant it remains today.
Maimonides wasn’t teaching people to wait until they became sick.
He wasn’t teaching people to ignore their health until someone else told them there was a problem.
He was teaching awareness.
He was teaching prevention.
He was teaching responsibility.
Most importantly, he explained that maintaining our health allows us to better fulfill our purpose, serve others, and serve the Creator.
For him, health wasn’t about vanity.
It wasn’t about chasing trends.
It was about stewardship.
Throughout Chapter 4, Maimonides discusses exercise, digestion, moderation in eating, sleep, elimination, and daily habits that support health. The common thread running through all of his teachings is remarkably consistent: protect the body before illness develops.
While Maimonides lived centuries before modern food manufacturing, his writings consistently emphasize simple foods, moderation, and habits that strengthen the body. Based on the principles found throughout Hilchot De’ot Chapter 4, it is difficult to imagine him encouraging people to build their diets around highly processed foods filled with artificial additives and ingredients they do not understand.
That principle has profoundly influenced how I approach herbalism, nutrition, and ingredient awareness.
When I learn about a food additive, I don’t simply ask:
“Is it approved?”
I ask:
“Is this something I want in my home?”
What Is Synthetic Citric Acid?
Let’s clear up one important misconception right away.
Natural citric acid exists in citrus fruits.
When you squeeze a lemon into water, you’re consuming naturally occurring citric acid.
That is not what I’m talking about in this article.
The citric acid listed on ingredient labels is usually something entirely different.
Today, most commercial citric acid is manufactured through industrial fermentation and can be found in countless products, including soft drinks, electrolyte powders, gummies, vitamins, supplements, snack foods, sauces, condiments, children’s products, and processed foods.
Once I started paying attention, I realized it was nearly impossible to walk through a grocery store without seeing it.
How Is Synthetic Citric Acid Made?
This is the part that surprised me.
Most consumers picture citric acid being squeezed from lemons.
The reality is much different.
Manufacturers typically begin with a sugar source such as corn-derived glucose, molasses, or another carbohydrate source.
That sugar solution is then inoculated with Aspergillus niger, a mold commonly used in industrial fermentation.
The mold consumes the sugars and produces citric acid as a byproduct.
After fermentation, the mold biomass is removed and the citric acid undergoes additional processing.
Manufacturers commonly use calcium hydroxide to form calcium citrate. The calcium citrate is then treated with sulfuric acid to release citric acid. The resulting material is filtered, purified, concentrated, crystallized, and dried before being sold to food manufacturers.
In simplified form, the process looks like this:
Sugar Source
↓
Aspergillus niger Fermentation
↓
Separation & Recovery
↓
Calcium Hydroxide Processing
↓
Sulfuric Acid Treatment
↓
Purification & Crystallization
↓
“Citric Acid” Added To Foods
When I first learned this process, I couldn’t help but wonder:
Why do most consumers have no idea this is how their citric acid is produced?
An Important Detail Most People Never Hear About
One detail that caught my attention during my research is that Aspergillus niger is not simply an industrial microorganism.
According to Thermo Fisher Scientific’s Allergen Encyclopedia, Aspergillus niger is a recognized allergen associated with occupational allergic disease and respiratory allergic disease. The encyclopedia notes that exposure can contribute to allergic and infectious disease in humans.
To be clear, this does not prove that finished citric acid products contain allergenic mold residues, nor does it mean everyone who consumes synthetic citric acid will experience adverse effects.
However, I believe it raises a reasonable question.
If the ingredient begins its life through a fermentation process involving a mold that is itself recognized in allergy literature, shouldn’t consumers at least be aware of that fact?
For me, that was another reason to continue asking questions.
But Doesn’t Fruit Contain Citric Acid?
Yes.
And this distinction is extremely important.
The concerns many consumers raise are not about lemons.
They are not about oranges.
They are not about grapefruit.
They are not about whole foods.
Many people who report issues with synthetic citric acid continue to consume citrus fruits without any problems at all.
That’s one of the reasons this topic deserves discussion.
The question isn’t:
“Can I eat a lemon?”
The question is:
“Should manufactured citric acid created through industrial mold fermentation automatically be viewed the same way as naturally occurring citric acid found in whole foods?”
Those are two very different conversations.
Why Some Consumers Are Concerned
As I continued researching, I came across a paper published in Toxicology Reports in 2018 titled:
“Potential Role of the Common Food Additive Manufactured Citric Acid in Eliciting Significant Inflammatory Reactions Contributing to Serious Disease States: A Series of Four Case Reports.”
The authors described four individuals who experienced repeated inflammatory-type reactions after consuming products containing manufactured citric acid.
Reported symptoms included joint pain, muscle pain, digestive complaints, respiratory symptoms, and fatigue.
What caught my attention wasn’t that the paper claimed to have all the answers.
It was that researchers were asking questions that many consumers had already been asking for years.
You can read the study here:
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6097542
The Story That Really Made Me Think
Recently, a mother shared something with me that I found fascinating.
Her daughter struggled with unexplained weight gain for years.
They pursued testing.
They sought medical answers.
They tried different approaches.
According to the family, removing products containing synthetic citric acid corresponded with significant improvements and approximately forty pounds of weight loss.
Years later, they remain convinced that eliminating synthetic citric acid played a major role in her daughter’s transformation.
Whether you personally agree with their conclusion or not, one thing is undeniable:
This mother paid attention.
And that’s how people have learned for thousands of years.
Long before modern laboratories existed, people observed patterns. They noticed what happened when something was added, and they noticed what happened when something was removed. Observation has always been one of humanity’s greatest teachers.
In many ways, science itself begins with observation.
What Would Maimonides Think About All Of This?
Obviously, Maimonides never encountered synthetic citric acid.
He never encountered artificial colors, synthetic sweeteners, artificial flavors, maltodextrin, dextrose, or industrial food manufacturing.
But his principles remain remarkably relevant.
Throughout Hilchot De’ot Chapter 4, he repeatedly emphasizes preserving health, avoiding harmful habits, practicing moderation, and caring for the body before illness develops.
If Maimonides were alive today, I don’t know what he would think about synthetic citric acid specifically.
What I do think is that he would encourage us to ask questions.
He would encourage us to understand what we’re consuming.
He would encourage us to learn how ingredients are produced.
And he would encourage us to take responsibility for our health rather than blindly assuming every modern ingredient deserves our trust.
Why I Choose To Avoid Synthetic Citric Acid
My decision is simple.
The more I learned about how synthetic citric acid is manufactured, the more convinced I became that it had no place in my home.
Today, I intentionally avoid synthetic citric acid and products containing it.
That doesn’t mean I avoid lemons.
It doesn’t mean I avoid oranges.
It doesn’t mean I avoid whole foods containing naturally occurring citric acid.
What I avoid is the manufactured additive.
Instead, I focus on foods that are as close to their natural form as possible. Whole foods, traditional foods, herbs, fermented foods, olive oil, and products preserved through more traditional methods such as vinegar, rosemary extract, and salt are far more aligned with the way I choose to nourish my family.
For me, this decision isn’t rooted in fear.
It’s rooted in stewardship.
The more I learn about modern food manufacturing, the more I appreciate simplicity.
Final Thoughts
The more I studied synthetic citric acid, the more it seemed to represent a larger issue.
We live in a world where many consumers know more about the marketing on a package than the ingredients inside it.
Maimonides taught that protecting our health is a responsibility. He encouraged people to cultivate habits that strengthen the body and avoid those that weaken it. More than eight centuries later, I believe those principles are just as relevant as ever.
For me, that means choosing foods that are as close to their natural form as possible and avoiding synthetic citric acid altogether.
Not because someone told me to.
But because once I learned how it was made, where it appears, and the questions surrounding it, that became the choice I was most comfortable making.
My goal is not to tell you what to think.
My goal is to encourage you to ask questions.
Read labels.
Learn where ingredients come from.
Pay attention to patterns.
Observe how foods affect you and your family.
Sometimes the most important thing an ingredient label can do is tell a story.
The question is whether we’re willing to read it.
Ready To Start Reading Labels More Carefully?
If this article encouraged you to take a closer look at what goes into the foods, supplements, and products you bring into your home, I created a free resource to help you get started.
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Looking For Products With Simpler Ingredient Lists?
One of the most common questions I receive is:
“If I’m trying to avoid ingredients like synthetic citric acid, where do I start?”
To make things easier, I’ve curated a collection of products that align more closely with the ingredient standards I use in my own home. While no product collection is perfect, these are products I feel comfortable recommending based on their ingredient quality and overall formulation.
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Sources
Maimonides (Rambam), Mishneh Torah, Hilchot De’ot Chapter 4
https://www.sefaria.org/Mishneh_Torah%2C_Human_Dispositions.4
Potential Role of the Common Food Additive Manufactured Citric Acid in Eliciting Significant Inflammatory Reactions Contributing to Serious Disease States: A Series of Four Case Reports (2018)
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6097542/
Citric Acid Production and Aspergillus niger Fermentation Research
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10779990/
Thermo Fisher Scientific Allergen Encyclopedia – Aspergillus niger
https://www.thermofisher.com/phadia/wo/en/resources/allergen-encyclopedia/m207.html
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