It is a transparent to slightly amber liquid with a mild taste widely used as pH corrector and preservative in the food industry.
It is registered in Europe as a food additive with the reference E270. In the USA, lactic acid has the status of GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe).
Lactic acid is used by the food industry (as a natural preserving agent), by the pharmaceutical industry (as a vector of indispensable minerals or as injectable solutions), by the cosmetic industry (as moisturizing agent) and for numerous other industrial applications. It is the raw material used for producing PLA.