# Viskase

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> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viskase
> Source revision: 1342579865
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{Short description|American manufacturer}}
{{Notability|date=March 2026}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox company
 | name             = Viskase Companies, Inc
 | logo             = 
 | type             = [Public](/source/Public_company) ({{OTC Pink|VKSC|type=limited}})
 | genre            =
 | foundation       = 1925
 | founder          = Erwin O. Freund
 | location_city    = Lombard, Illinois
 | location_country = United States
 | location         =
 | locations        =
 | area_served      = Worldwide
 | key_people       = Tim Feast, CEO
 | industry         = [Food service](/source/Food_service) [manufacturing](/source/manufacturing)
 | products         = [Food casings](/source/Sausage_casing)
 | services         =
 | revenue          =
 | operating_income =
 | net_income       =
 | assets           = $203,542,000 (2006)
 | equity           =
 | owner            =
 | num_employees    = 2,100
 | parent           =
 | divisions        =
 | subsid           =
 | homepage         = http://www.viskase.com
 | footnotes        =
 | intl             =
}}
'''Viskase''' (formerly '''Visking''') is a global [corporation](/source/corporation) based out of [Lombard, Illinois](/source/Lombard%2C_Illinois), United States, that supplies plastic, cellulose, and fibrous film and packaging to the food service industry, including [casings](/source/Casing_(sausage)) for processed meats such as [hot dog](/source/hot_dog)s and [sausage](/source/sausage)s.  Viskase has manufacturing facilities in the United States, Mexico, [Brazil](/source/Brazil) and France, as well as sales offices located around the world.

Viskase is a [publicly traded company](/source/Public_company), using the [stock symbol](/source/Ticker_symbol) {{OTC Pink|VKSC|type=limited}}.

==Company history==
=== Origins ===
Erwin O. Freund, founder of what would become Viskase, sought a readily available replacement for animal intestine casing.  Upon creating a [cellulose](/source/cellulose) casing, using the "[viscose](/source/viscose)" process (also used in [rayon](/source/rayon)) he realized the product stuffed well, linked, and was able to withstand the smokehouse. Quite by accident, he discovered that when the casing was removed from the product the sausages retained their shape and were firm. This was the beginning of the skinless [frankfurter](/source/Sausage) or [hot dog](/source/hot_dog).<ref>{{cite web|title=Viskase: About Us|url=http://viskase.com/about-us/viskase-history/|publisher=Viskase Companies, Inc|accessdate=22 June 2013}}</ref>

In the 1950s, Visking Corporation became a division of [Union Carbide](/source/Union_Carbide).<ref>{{cite web|title=Leslie Enders Houck|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1992/09/11/leslie-enders-houck/|publisher=Chicago Tribune|access-date=24 April 2015}}</ref>

== Products ==
* Fibrous
* LCC
* MEMBRA-CEL
* NOJAX
* POLYJAX
* VISCOAT Smoke Master & Color Master
* VISFLEX
* VISMAX

== See also ==
* [Dialysis tubing](/source/Dialysis_tubing)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.viskase.com Viskase Corporate Website]
{{Finance links
| name = Viskase Companies
| symbol = VKSC
| reuters = VKSC.O
| bloomberg = VKSC:US
| sec_cik = VKSC
| yahoo = VKSC
| google = VKSC
}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Food and drink companies of the United States
Category:Companies traded over-the-counter in the United States
Category:Darien, Illinois
Category:Companies based in DuPage County, Illinois

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Viskase](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viskase) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viskase?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.