‘Formulation Aids’ Serve as Essential Tools

Imagine a large toolbox, the kind that you might find in a basement workshop. You unfasten the lock and slowly open the hinged lid. Instead of the usual contents—nails, screws, screwdrivers, pliers, hammer—you find for your use an assortment of ingredients ranging from enzymes to phosphates and from silicas to fatty acids, along with a few other interesting surprises tossed in.

After rummaging through the box, you recognize some of the items as processing aids—substances added for their technica…