by Eric Brand

For the record, I've learned a few things recently that spur me to
correct a few things in my previous posts on granules.

It sounds like I had things a bit wrong with the issue of fillers, I
thought that most Taiwanese companies used pharmaceutical starch with
the proteins removed, but it may actually be that normal potato starch
and corn starch are used (for example, KPC uses only non-GMO potato
starch for its hypoallergenic nature, while Sun Ten uses corn starch).
I'm not positive about this, but after talking to some Taiwanese QC
experts the other day, it sounds like this is the case. Additionally,
it sounds like the minerals and gelatins, despite not being able to be
significantly concentrated, may also be cooked in water in Taiwan. I
visited one of the main companies recently and they said that there
was water boiling involved, but they wouldn't elaborate because the
precise technique was a trade secret.

Also, it seems that the main filler used to dilute Chinese granules in
the mainland is dextrin rather than starch. Sorry for the errors in
my previous posts, these issues are a bit tough to get to the bottom
of. I guess learning more requires us to constantly update our
knowledge as new information surfaces.

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