A method of treating antimicrobial products, dairy products, pharmaceutical products and other products having offensive tastes or odors to remove the off-odors and off-tastes from the products. The method involves exposing a selected commercial grade product that contains a small amount of free acid impurities to an ammonia gas. The ammonia gas reacts with the free acid impurities to convert the free acids into ammonium salts, thereby reducing or eliminating the off-flavor and off-odor of the product. The products to be treated include antimicrobial products selected from the group consisting of sodium benzoate, calcium benzoate, potassium benzoate, sodium diacetate, paraben, niacin, calcium acetate, calcium diacetate, sodium sorbate, calcium sorbate, potassium sorbate, sodium propionate, calcium propionate, potassium propionate and mixtures thereof; dairy products selected from the group consisting of casein, whey, skim milk powder, and calostrum; pharmaceutical products selected from the group consisting of acetaminiphen, aspirin, ibuprophen, dextromethorphan hydrobromide, guaejenesin, paracetamol, and sodium erythorbate; and various other products selected from the group consisting of butylate hydroxy tolulene, polydextrose powder, sodium acid sulfate, and sodium diacetate. The common characteristic of the commercial grades of each of these products is that they contain a small amount of free acid impurities that react favorably with ammonia gas.
