What's the Deal with Xanthan Gum?

Unless you do a lot of gluten-free baking, you might not have come across xanthan gum — at least not in a recipe. Flip over a jar of salad dressing or a carton of ice cream to read the ingredients, and you'll likely find xanthan gum listed there, too!

So, is this a safe ingredient for a gluten-free diet — or an industrial additive to be avoided?

Xanthan gum is produced from a certain strain of bacteria (Xanthomonas campestris, according to Wikipedia) reacting with carbohydrates. These carbohydrates are typically derived from corn. The resulting substance has incredible thickening and binding properties when added to water or other liquids.

Commercially, this ingredient is used to thicken salad dressings and other sauces, and keep them from separating. Xanthan gum is also used in frozen products to make them smoother and creamier-tasting, especially ice cream. We see xanthan gum listed in a lot of low-fat products as well.

These same binding and thickening properties make xanthan gum very useful at home for gluten-free baking. If we add a little to recipes using gluten-free flour, we can nearly replicate some of the stretching and structural characteristics of gluten. And we really do mean a little! Most recipes call for only 1/2 - 1 teaspoon per cup of flour used.

We can't say that xanthan gum itself is necessarily good or bad, though some people do have trouble digesting it and develop symptoms ranging from mild intestinal discomfort to severe pain. As a corn-derived ingredient and one that can't really be made outside a laboratory, we personally don't like to use it very frequently. But for those of us living with a gluten allergy, xanthan gum can be a real blessing.

Have you ever cooked or baked with xanthan gum? What do you think about it as an ingredient?

(Originally published November 17, 2009)

(Image: Bob's Red Mill)

Comments (9)

I always thought of it as a chemical on packaged food ingredient lists and not something you'd find in a regular kitchen, but a few episodes ago on Top Chef someone used it, I think it was Michael in a Quick Fire challenge.

Thanks for the further info.

It's become a pantry stable since I was diagnosed with Celiac last year. You can hardly bake anything gluten free without Xanthan Gum or Guar Gum. That said, there's really no need for anyone on a "regular" diet to have it in the house unless they're cooking for someone with a gluten intolerance. But yes, I have noticed it a lot on ingredient labels for processed foods - especially now that I have to read those labels like a hawk.

I'm gluten intolerant and bake all the time without Xanthan gum. A person needs to readjust their expectations to baking without gluten. The flavor is better without the artifical flavor or textural nuance from Xanthan gum. We used Xanthan gum in the industry to thicken Salad Dressings used for bulk potato salad, macaroni salad and dips. The texture of Xanthan reminds me of psyllium powder.

thanks for this info! does anyone know how to replace xanthan gum in gluten free recipes?

Having to cook all of my recipes without dairy, egg or gluten, Xantham gum is very necessary for any half-decent results.

No one in my household has any issues digesting it... And they better not, or the next recipes may taste too salty due to my tears in the batter....

I have used xanthan gum for years, along with guar gum. Recently, however, I realized that I am one of those folks who experiences problems with it. (And it's not the corn, since corn treats me fine.)

I wrote a post about this last night, with a recipe for multi-grain muffins without the gums. I'm realizing that -- like Lona said -- you really don't need the gums for baking, as long as you have the recipe's ratios right.

http://glutenfreegirl.com/gluten-free-whole-grain-muffins/

Xanthan gum scares me in that it's weird.

But I was reading up on it recently and apparently there's un-vegan xanthan gum on the market that's made from leftovers of the dairy industry.

I can't determine if this is true, and my research goes in circles.

You ask: So, is this a safe ingredient for a gluten-free diet — or an industrial additive to be avoided? Have you ever cooked or baked with xanthan gum? What do you think about it as an ingredient?

I cannot comment as to whether xantham gum is safe or not - but, according to the FDA is GRAS. It is an all-natural product used widely in thousands of cosemtics, food products, and in medicine, etc. Whether it is safe in the long run, I cannot comment.

Yes, some people may be allergic or sensitive to xanthan gum, as with ANY ingredient.

A recipe will bake because it is carefully balanced between tougheners and tenderizers, plus a host of other variables have an impact on it.

I am not convinced that a blanket statement of: you don't need gums in gluten-free baking as long as the ratios are right, apply. Yes, a recipe will bake. But, that's not the whole point! What about other attributes? Xanthan gum plays a role in a gluten-free baking recipe - a greater role in some classes of recipes than in others..

I know from my developing hundreds of recipes, muffin and quick-bread recipes, such as pancakes, - and now gluten-free recipes because I am Celiac - they have greater latitude and fail less when it comes to recipe substitutions and exceptions. It's because of their ratio and type of ingredients and their use of the muffin mixing method.

Same with yeast doughs - but, some gluten-free recipes without xanthan gum crack horribly and become visually unappealing and taste horrible, as a result.

Fine butter cakes, using the creaming method, are always trickier and may not turn out so well without the help of gums.

However, more experimentation is needed.

Basically, whether or not you use xanthan gum in your recipe - which is really a stabilizer, mouth-feel enhancer, textural improver - is up to you. It all depends on how you want to final recipe to look, taste and feel when you eat it.......because when you take away the gluten proteins, your familiar recipe becomes something else.....

And, if you are allergic or sensitive to it, well that's another story.

But, if you aren't, I believe in baking all-natural gluten-free recipes, too - and if I need to add all NATURAL gums so my recipe looks MORE appealing to ME, has a great mouthfeel, is pleasing to eat, and tastes great, too - isn't that part of the whole experience, too?

It's MY choice.

We wrote Bob's Red Mill and asked the low-down on xanthan gum.

Here is their response:
From: Chelsea Lincoln
To: www.baking911.com
Sent: Thu, January 27, 2011 2:52:30 PM
Subject: Bob's Red Mill: Contact Us form

baking911.com,

I am a big fan of www.baking911.com and use it often and refer customers to it for tutorials or problem solving.

Our Xanthan Gum does not have any wheat used in the manufacturing and all our gluten free products are tested using Elisa gluten tests and produced in our gluten free facility for assurance.

Our Xanthan Gum comes from a microorganism which is fed corn or soy and the protective layer it forms around itself is what’s harvested for the xanthan gum.

We do not know if people with corn or soy intolerances are affected by this, but if this is a concern, Guar Gum can be used in its place. You would use 1 ½ times the amount of Guar Gum as a recipe calls for Xanthan Gum.

Please let me know if you have any further questions.

Best Regards,

Chelsea, Customer Service

Bob's Red Mill Natural Foods

1-800-349-2173

www.bobsredmill.com