Why Xanthan Gum Is Common In Life?

Yesterday, I went to a party of my friends. During the party, I drank a cup of juice, but different from the common juice, It tasted a little like soup, but delicious as well. Then, I turned to the label of the juice, a substance called xanthan gum inside. I‘m used to read the labels on many kinds of products, and xanthan gum one of the most popular ingredients used in food products, such as in salad dressings, sauces, ice cream,flour, cakes, etc. It is also a common ingredient in other products such as toothpaste and many pharmaceutical medicines.

Things you need to know

Xanthan Gum is made from corn and called a polysaccharide. A bacteria called Xanthomonas campestris is added and fermentation takes place. Precipitated from the solution using isopropyl alcohol, dried, and milled into a powder, thus xanthan gum can be added to food and beverages easily.

Use of Xanthan Gum

Xanthan gum is an emulsifier. It is used in low-fat salad dressings to stabilize and form an emulsion in place of fats and oils, it helps ingredients blend more effectively actually.

Xanthan gum can be quickly dissolved in the water. It has a good solubility in water, even it can be dissolved in the cold water. As we know itself has excellent hydrophilic. If add the water directly without sufficient mixture , this may leads to external swelling into micelles and prevents moisture from entering the inside, affecting the function in the end. When combined with water,  xanthan gum binds and forms a highly viscous gel. 

Xanthan gum solutions has the characteristics of high viscosity and low concentration(1% aqueous solution viscosity equivalent to 100 times of gelatin), as a result, it is a highly efficient thickener. Foods like  yogurt, whipped cream, salad dressing benefit from the addition of xanthan gum to create thickness and improve the appearance and texture.

The soft and smoother mouth feel always accompanies you whenever you enjoy your coffee, your ice creams, your pastry, etc.

Is Xanthan Gum safe?

Xanthan gum may be derived from a variety of sources such as corn, wheat, or soy. If you are allergic to things like one of them, you need to to ascertain the source and avoid using xanthan gum. It is considered safe by the FDA and safe for use. If you think xanthan gum is an industrial processed product and decide to give up it, it may not be an easy thing, for xanthan gum is a common additive in foods, lots of labels of gluten free baking mixes and packaged gluten free products contains xanthan gum.

Article Source: http://okdoodadd.blogspot.hk/2015/08/normal-0-7.html.