The manufacturing procedure for ascorbic acid (natural source vitamin C) involves a 15 step process. Vegetable starch is reduced to a simple sugar (D-glucose) which is then converted to pure ascorbic acid. For more details on this process, see our ascorbic acid labels.The manufacturing procedure for sodium ascorbate involves dissolving ascorbic acid in solution with sodium bicarbonate (prepared from sea water). This process removes the bicarbonate from the sodium replacing it with ascorbic acid forming sodium ascorbate. This process produces a truly buffered vitamin C.