The raw materials for bone china is about 50% bone ash derived from animal bones. These bones undergo multiple processing stages during which all meat is removed and the bone is completely cleaned. Once cleaned, the bone is heated to about 1000°C (1832°F) so that all additional organic material is removed from the bone and the bone becomes sterilized. Lastly, the newly sterilized bone is ground with water into fine particles which can be used as a raw material for bone china. Bone ash plays an important role in the creation of bone china, as the phosphate of the bone generates beta tri-calcium phosphate, and other compounds from the bone create a calcium crystal called anorthite. Although synthetic alternatives such as dicalcium phosphate and tricalcium phosphate have been produced, the majority of bone china is still made using natural bone ash