Product Overview
50% Diluted Acetic Acid Food Grade is a clear, colorless liquid carrying half the strength of glacial acetic acid — enough acidity for serious pickling, pH control, and processing work, without the freezing-point and handling headaches of the concentrated product. It is offered under our Food Grade designation, the descriptor food and beverage buyers request when a plant's procurement spec calls for a food-grade acetic acid solution rather than a technical material.
The buyers we pack this for are food processors running preservation and brine lines, beverage producers, culinary manufacturers blending dressings and marinades, and industrial users who want a mid-strength acid they can meter accurately. Pack sizes run from 1 quart bottles to 275 and 330 gallon totes, so the same material scales from bench trials to production dosing.
Why This Concentration
Pick 50% when you want fewer gallons of water freight per unit of acid but still want a solution that pours and meters like a liquid in normal plant conditions. Compared with dilute strengths, a 50% solution cuts your storage footprint and lets you dilute down in-house to whatever working strength your process sheet calls for.
The trade-off is handling. At 50%, this is a corrosive Class 8 material (per 49 CFR 172.101) with a Danger signal word (per the product's GHS classification). If your team only needs low-strength acid at the point of use and you would rather receive it ready to go, step down to 30% Diluted Acetic Acid Food Grade, 20% Diluted Acetic Acid Food Grade, 10% Diluted Acetic Acid Food Grade, or 5% Diluted Acetic Acid Food Grade. If you dilute in-house at volume and want maximum acid per drum, look at 75% Diluted Acetic Acid Food Grade. For most plants dosing acetic acid daily, 50% is the working middle: strong enough to matter, dilute enough to handle with standard corrosive-service PPE and equipment.
Chemical Profile
This is a 50% aqueous solution of acetic acid, CAS 64-19-7, formula C2H4O2, molecular weight 60.05. It presents as a clear, colorless liquid with the sharp, pungent vinegar odor anyone who has opened a drum of acetic acid knows immediately — at this strength the odor is strong, and you will want ventilation before you break a seal. Density runs approximately 1.055–1.06 g/cm³, slightly heavier than water, and the solution is miscible with water in all proportions, which makes in-plant dilution straightforward: it blends cleanly without layering.
Industrial Applications
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Pickling and food preservation. Acetic acid lowers pH to inhibit microbial growth, which is the working principle behind commercial pickling and brine preservation lines. A 50% solution gives processing plants a concentrated feedstock to dilute into brines at their own target strength.
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Flavoring in food processing. Diluted acetic acid supplies the acid note in dressings, sauces, and marinades. Manufacturers buying at 50% control their own dilution and dosing rather than paying to ship pre-diluted vinegar strength.
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pH control and adjustment. In food manufacturing and general industrial processing, acetic acid is dosed to pull pH down to a target range. Its moderate acid strength gives finer control near the setpoint than a strong mineral acid, and a consistent 50% feed makes dosing math repeatable.
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Cleaning in food-service environments. Acetic acid solutions are diluted into cleaning applications for food preparation areas, where the acid cuts mineral scale and residue.
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Fermentation support. Beverage producers use acetic acid in fermentation processes, where controlled acidity is part of managing the culture environment.
Handling & Storage
Treat this material as the corrosive it is. The signal word is Danger, with hazard statement H314 — causes severe skin burns and eye damage (per the product's GHS classification). Splash goggles, chemical-resistant gloves, and body protection are the baseline before you open a container; add ventilation or respiratory protection where vapor builds, because the pungent vapor at 50% strength is unmistakable and irritating.
Store it cool, dry, and out of direct sunlight, in HDPE or glass — the same container materials we pack it in. Keep it away from strong oxidizers and strong bases; the neutralization reaction with bases is energetic. Acetic acid also attacks many common metals, so check compatibility on every pump, fitting, and transfer line in acid service before first use. Kept sealed in compatible containers, the solution is stable in normal warehouse conditions.
Hazmat & Shipping
This product ships as regulated hazardous material. The assignment is UN2790, Hazard Class 8, Packing Group II (per 49 CFR 172.101), under the proper shipping name "Acetic acid solution, with not less than 50 percent but not more than 80 percent acid, by mass" (per 49 CFR 172.101). Our team packs it in UN-rated packaging with the required Class 8 labeling and shipping papers, the same way we handle corrosives out of our Taylor, Texas dock every day. Quarts through 15 gallon carboys move as packaged corrosive freight; 55 gallon drums and 275/330 gallon totes ship as palletized or bulk-container hazmat. Receiving a Packing Group II corrosive means your dock should be ready for a signed hazmat delivery — plan the receiving end before the truck arrives.
Documentation
A Safety Data Sheet (English) accompanies every order, and a lot-specific Certificate of Analysis is available for the material you receive — the document your QC and procurement team should check against your own acceptance criteria before releasing it into a regulated process. A Technical Data Sheet is also available on request. A grade descriptor on a label is not a substitute for reviewing the COA against your application's requirements; we supply the paperwork so you can make that call with the actual lot data in hand.
Why Buy from Alliance Chemical
You can buy this one product at every scale you will ever need it — 1 quart, 1 gallon, 5 gallon, 15 gallon, 55 gallon drum, 275 gallon and 330 gallon totes — from a distributor that packs and ships Packing Group II corrosives as routine work, not an exception. Order direct: Alliance Chemical has operated since 1998 and has served more than 50,000 customers from our Taylor, Texas warehouse. The shipping and handling guidance on this page is reviewed by Andre Taki, DOT Hazmat Specialist.
