Apple Cider Vinegar Capsules and Gummies

Apple cider vinegar is a two-stage fermentation product. Apples, Malus domestica, are crushed and pressed for juice; yeast converts the sugars to ethanol; acetic acid bacteria then oxidise the ethanol to acetic acid, CAS 64-19-7, C2H4O2, molecular weight 60.05. The finished liquid is roughly 94% water and 5% acetic acid with about 1% carbohydrate, which is the whole of its chemistry — there is no standardised marker beyond the acid itself. The 'mother' that buyers ask about is not an additive but a cellulose-rich biofilm of acetic acid bacteria that remains suspended in vinegar which has not been filtered; where a brand wants to declare it, Thovek starts from unfiltered material and says so on the specification rather than adding anything back. A 5% acid liquid cannot be capsuled or deposited as it stands, so the format work is where this product is actually made. The vinegar is concentrated and spray-dried onto a maltodextrin or gum acacia carrier to give a free-flowing powder standardised to 5% acetic acid, with higher-acid grades available. That powder is hygroscopic and acidic, and both properties drive the formulation. Capsules are filled at 500 mg of powder in size 0 or 00 shells — HPMC for vegetarian and vegan ranges, bovine gelatin where a buyer prefers it — with a two-capsule serving the usual design. Gummies are depositor-moulded at 2.5 to 5.0 g per piece, declaring 500 mg of apple cider vinegar per gummy, on a pectin base for vegan lines or a gelatin base where chew texture is the priority; the acid load makes the pieces tacky, so they are finished with a carnauba or vegetable-oil polish, or with sugar and sour sanding, and packed with a desiccant. Sugar-free versions run on isomalt or maltitol. Vitamin B12, folate, vitamin B6, iodine and pomegranate and beetroot juice powders are the co-actives most often requested, the last two doubling as natural colour. The base formulations are plant-derived throughout and are vegan and vegetarian in the pectin and HPMC build. Where a buyer chooses a gelatin build, the origin must be declared: bovine gelatin ships with a source declaration and a BSE/TSE statement, and fish gelatin triggers a fish allergen declaration, both of which sit on the finished specification rather than being left to the label designer. No milk, egg, soy, peanut, tree nut, sesame, crustacean or gluten-containing cereal enters the base formulas. Apple is not a listed major allergen in the EU or the United States, but it is a common birch-pollen cross-reactive food and some brands choose to flag it voluntarily. Batch release covers acetic acid assay, moisture and water activity, heavy metals, pesticide residues and microbiology, with patulin — the mycotoxin associated with apple products — tested on request. Thovek supplies composition, specification and manufacture; the claims a brand makes on the finished pack are the buyer's responsibility and must be cleared for the destination market. The importer file covers the FSSAI manufacturing licence, GMP and HACCP certificates, free sale certificate, certificate of origin, allergen, GMO and BSE/TSE statements, gelatin source declaration, stability data and halal, kosher, vegan or organic certification as required.