Xanthan Gum

Certified: Kosher

Despite its odd-sounding name, Xanthan Gum is a natural carbohydrate, made mostly of corn sugar. Just a little Xanthan Gum can add thickness, consistency, and viscosity to baked goods, dairy products, and salad dressings.

Xanthan Gum gets its name from Xanthomonas campestris, a strain of bacteria used in the production of Xanthan Gum. Although often associated with germs or illness, bacteria are actually very useful in food production. Various strains of bacteria can digest different foods and chemicals, causing them to ferment into different substances (a common example is cheese).

In the 1950s, distinguished scientist Allene Rosalind Jeanes and her team at the US Department of Agriculture discovered that adding Xanthomonas campestris to simple corn sugar would turn it into a complex polysaccharide with useful thickening properties. Since then, Xanthan Gum has become a popular thickener and a commonly used chemical in medicine, cosmetics, and toothpaste.

When used in preparing liquids and emulsions, Xanthan Gum can keep mixtures uniform, stabilize emulsions, and add viscosity to liquids. Many ice cream recipes call for Xanthan Gum, as it stops ice crystals from forming and gives the ice cream a smooth, creamy consistency. When used in salad dressings, Xanthan Gum keeps oil and vinegar from separating. Lastly, Xanthan Gum is used commercially in many condiments, jellies, canned soups, sauces, and syrups, and has many other uses in baking and cooking.

Xanthan Gum is often used to thicken baked goods. It is especially popular as a thickener in gluten-free baked goods, and we sell Gluten-Free Xanthan Gum for this very purpose.

Xanthan Gum is stable at most temperatures and levels of acidity. Xanthan Gum does not mix well by hand, so it is best to mix it in a blender or add it to the oil component of a recipe.

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