Gellan Gum, one of the most popular ingredients used in food products. it is widely used in salad dressings, sauces, ice cream and also gluten free foods. What is Gellan Gum, and why is it such a popular ingredient?
First let us see the following info about gellan gum:
1. Gellan Gum is made by fermenting corn sugar with a bacteria, Xanthomonas campestris. It’s the same bacteria that creates black spots on broccoli and cauliflower. The result is a slimy goo that is then dried up and ground into a fine white powder.
2. Gellan Gum is an emulsifier. It helps ingredients blend more effectively and stay blended while waiting on a shelf. For example – water and oil mixtures, as well as bits of spice in a salad dressing.
3. Gellan Gum is also used as a thickener. Add a bit to water and it becomes more viscous. Many fat free salad dressing maintain and oily viscosity by using thickeners such as Gellan Gum. In pastry fillings, it prevents the water seeping out and soaking the dough, thus protecting the crispness of the crust.
4. Gellan Gum is used in ice creams as well to prevent the formation of ice crystals and keep the product “smooth”.
5. Gellan Gum has become popular in the gluten free circles. It helps give the dough a sticky consistency.
6. Only a small amount of Gellan Gum is necessary to achieve the desired result, usually less than 0.5% of the food product weight.
7. When mixed with guar gum or locust bean gum, the viscosity is more than when either one is used alone, so less of each can be used.
8. Nutritionally, Gellan Gum is a carbohydrate with 7 grams of fiber per tablespoon. This may cause bloating in some people.
9. Gellan Gum may be derived from a variety of sources such as corn, wheat, or soy. People with an allergy to one of the above, DON'T need to avoid foods with Gellan Gum, or to ascertain the source.
why? first we must say yes for that if a product contains soy ingredients (e.g., soybean oil). it may cause allergic reaction, but highly processed ingredients derived from soy (e.g., glycerin or tocopherol) will not cause any allergic reaction.
While gellan gum is such highly processed product by fermentation technology,and it has been approved by many international researchers that"fermentation takes the allergy out of soy",
during the fermentation process, proteins are broken down into very small pieces that can't be identified by the antibodies that produce the allergic reaction, so that is to say,no more soy-allergen risk.
10. Gellan Gum was “discovered” by a team of USDA researchers in the 1960′s. In 1968 it was approved for use as a food additive in the US and Europe.
So is Gellan Gum safe to consume or not? It’s perfectly safe to consume if you don’t have any allergy issues as mentioned above. However, most people wouldn’t prepare a salad dressing at home with Gellan Gum, nor add it to a pastry filling. When you see Gellan Gum labeled on products at the supermarket, you realize that you are buying an industrial processed product. In this case the health/nutrition consequences are minimal, but check what other, more sinister additives are lurking in the product as well.
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