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BUSINESS DESCRIPTION AND SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (Policies)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

BUSINESS DESCRIPTION AND SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES [Abstract]

The consolidated financial statements include the financial statements of the Company and its subsidiaries. All significant intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

Revenue Recognition

Revenue for each of our business segments is recognized upon product shipment, passage of title and risk of loss, and when collection is reasonably assured. The Company reports amounts billed to customers related to shipping and handling as revenue and includes costs incurred for shipping and handling in cost of sales. Amounts received for unshipped merchandise are not recognized as revenue but rather they are recorded as customer deposits and are included in current liabilities. In instances of shipments made on consignment, revenue is deferred until a customer indicates to the Company that it has used the Company's products. The Company does not charge its customers rental fees on cylinders or drums used to ship its products. In addition, the Company follows the provisions of ASC Topic 605, “Revenue Recognition” (incorporating the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) Staff Accounting Bulletin (SAB) No. 104, “Revenue Recognition”) which sets forth guidelines on the timing of revenue recognition based upon factors such as passage of title, payments and customer acceptance.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

The Company considers all highly liquid investments with a maturity of three months or less to be cash equivalents.

Inventories

Inventories are valued at the lower of cost (first in, first out or average) or market value and have been reduced by an allowance for excess or obsolete inventories. Cost elements include material, labor and manufacturing overhead.

Property, Plant and Equipment and Depreciation

Property, plant and equipment are stated at cost. Depreciation of plant and equipment is calculated using the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the assets as follows:

Buildings	15-25 years
Equipment	3-12 years

Expenditures for repairs and maintenance are charged to expense. Alterations and major overhauls that extend the lives or increase the capacity of plant assets are capitalized. When assets are retired or otherwise disposed of, the cost of the assets and the related accumulated depreciation are removed from the accounts and any resultant gain or loss is included in earnings.

Business Concentrations

Financial instruments that subject the Company to credit risk consist primarily of money market investments and accounts receivable. Investments are managed within established guidelines to mitigate risks. Accounts receivable subject the Company to credit risk partially due to the concentration of amounts due from customers. The Company extends credit to its customers based upon an evaluation of the customers' financial condition and credit histories. The majority of the Company's customers are major national or international corporations. In 2011, 2010 and 2009, no customer accounted for more than 10% of total net sales.

Goodwill and Acquired Intangible Assets

Goodwill represents the excess of costs over fair value of assets of businesses acquired. ASC 350, “Intangibles-Goodwill and Other,” requires the use of the acquisition method of accounting for a business combination and defines an intangible asset. Goodwill and intangible assets acquired in a business combination and determined to have an indefinite useful life are not amortized, but are instead assessed for impairment at least annually in accordance with the provisions of ASC 350. ASC 350 also requires that intangible assets with estimable useful lives be amortized over their respective estimated useful lives to their estimated residual values, and reviewed for impairment.

As of December 31, 2011, the Company adopted ASU No. 2011-08, “Intangibles-Goodwill and Other (Topic 350): Testing Goodwill for Impairment” (“ASU 2011-08”). As permitted by this new guidance, the Company performed a qualitative assessment of whether there was an indication that goodwill was impaired at the date of adoption. In connection therewith, the Company determined that it was not "more likely than not" (i.e., a likelihood of more than 50%) that the fair values of its three reporting units are less than their respective carrying amounts, including goodwill. Therefore, no further testing was necessary. As of December 31, 2010, the Company also performed an impairment test of its goodwill balance. As of December 31, 2010, the Company's reporting units' fair values exceeded their carrying amounts, and therefore there was no indication that goodwill was impaired. Accordingly, the Company was not required to perform any further impairment tests. The Company performs its impairment assessment each December 31.

The Company had unamortized goodwill in the amount of $28,515 at December 31, 2011 and December 31, 2010, subject to the provisions of ASC 350. Unamortized goodwill is allocated to the Company's reportable segments as follows:

	2011		2010
Specialty Products	$	7,160	$	7,160
Food, Pharma and Nutrition		8,393		8,393
Animal Nutrition and Health		12,962		12,962
Total	$	28,515	$	28,515

The following intangible assets with finite lives are stated at cost and are amortized on a straight-line basis over the following estimated useful lives:

	Amortization Period
	(in years)
Customer lists	10
Regulatory re-registration costs	10
Patents & trade secrets	15 - 17
Trademarks & trade names	17
Other	5 - 10

Income Taxes

Income taxes are accounted for under the asset and liability method. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the future tax consequences attributable to differences between the financial statement carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases and operating loss and tax credit carry-forwards. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the years in which those temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. The effect on deferred tax assets and liabilities of a change in tax rates is recognized in income in the period that includes the enactment date.

Use of Estimates

Management of the Company is required to make certain estimates and assumptions during the preparation of consolidated financial statements in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. These estimates and assumptions impact the reported amount of assets and liabilities and disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities as of the date of the consolidated financial statements and revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Estimates and assumptions are reviewed periodically and the effects of revisions are reflected in the consolidated financial statements in the period they are determined to be necessary. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

Fair Value of Financial Instruments

The Company has a number of financial instruments, none of which are held for trading purposes. The Company estimates that the fair value of all financial instruments at December 31, 2011 and 2010 does not differ materially from the aggregate carrying values of its financial instruments recorded in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets. The estimated fair value amounts have been determined by the Company using available market information and appropriate valuation methodologies. Considerable judgment is necessarily required in interpreting market data to develop the estimates of fair value, and, accordingly, the estimates are not necessarily indicative of the amounts that the Company could realize in a current market exchange. The Company's financial instruments, principally cash equivalents, accounts receivable, accounts payable and accrued liabilities, are carried at cost which approximates fair value due to the short-term maturity of these instruments. The fair value of the Company's obligations under its long-term debt and credit agreements approximates their carrying value as the stated interest rates of these instruments are variable and reflect rates which are otherwise currently available to the Company.

Cost of Sales

Cost of sales are primarily comprised of raw materials and supplies consumed in the manufacture of product, as well as manufacturing labor, maintenance labor, depreciation expense, and direct overhead expense necessary to convert purchased materials and supplies into finished product. Cost of sales also includes inbound freight costs, outbound freight costs for shipping products to customers, warehousing costs, quality control and obsolescence expense.

Selling, General and Administrative Expenses

Selling expenses consist primarily of compensation and benefit costs, trade promotions, advertising, commissions and other marketing costs. General and administrative expenses consist primarily of payroll and benefit costs, occupancy and operating costs of corporate offices, depreciation and amortization expense on non-manufacturing assets, information systems costs and other miscellaneous administrative costs.

Research and Development

Research and development costs are expensed as incurred.

Net Earnings Per Common Share

Basic net earnings per common share is calculated by dividing net income by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during the period. Diluted net earnings per common share is calculated in a manner consistent with basic net earnings per common share except that the weighted average number of common shares outstanding also includes the dilutive effect of stock options outstanding and unvested restricted stock (using the treasury stock method).

Stock-based Compensation

The Company has stock-based employee compensation plans, which are described more fully in Note 2. On January 1, 2006, the Company was required to adopt ASC 718, “Compensation-Stock Compensation,” which requires all share-based payments, including grants of stock options, to be recognized in the income statement as an operating expense, based on their fair values. The Company estimates the fair value of each option award on the date of grant using a Black-Scholes based option-pricing model. Estimates of and assumptions about forfeiture rates, terms, volatility, interest rates and dividend yields are used to calculate stock-based compensation. A significant change to these estimates could materially affect the Company's operating results.

Impairment of Long-lived Assets

Long-lived assets, such as property, plant, and equipment, and purchased intangibles subject to amortization, are reviewed for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset may not be recoverable. Recoverability of assets to be held and used is measured by a comparison of the carrying amount of an asset to estimated undiscounted future cash flows expected to be generated by the asset. If the carrying amount of an asset exceeds its estimated future cash flows, an impairment charge is recognized by the amount by which the carrying amount of the asset exceeds the fair value of the asset, which is generally based on discounted cash flows.