Do you have sudden, strange and unexplained allergic reactions to gluten free and other freefrom foods?
You know you’ve checked the label and everything looks to be safe… Maybe you are even reacting after food cooked using gluten free self raising flour but you just can’t work out what’s causing a problem?
Well you’re not going mad, you may be allergic to xanthan gum which is used to replace the missing gluten that is lacking when you don’t bake with wheat based flours.
It sounds like like a character for Willy Wonkers Chocolate Factory or maybe even a nasty disease of the mouth.
Xanthan gum can be found in so many things from toothpaste to icecream and as it has thickening properties it has been adopted by the gluten free baking industry as a pretty good way of replacing that missing gluten that makes normal wheat baked goods so springy, moist and strong.
Gluten helps bind bread together so when it is lacking the bread or cakes produced can be very dry, flat, solid and unappealing.
So what exactly is xanthan gum?
It doesn’t take very much research to discover that “It is produced by the fermentation of glucose, sucrose, or lactose. After a fermentation period, the polysaccharide is precipitated from a growth medium with isopropyl alcohol, dried, and ground into a fine powder. Later, it is added to a liquid medium to form the gum.” (source: Wiki)
The word lactose should already be ringing alarm bells.
It appears that xanthan gum can be grown on sugar from dairy, soya, wheat or corn yet it rarely declares which medium was used to grow it.
It is also grown using a bacterian which causes cabbages to rot! Lovely! I hear you cry. Pass me some xanthan gum right now.
It’s used a lot because it’s considered to be relatively safe and is very cheap to produce. It is also very stable and works miracles with gluten free bread.
How do you know where your xanthan gum originated from?
Have you ever seen a label with the source of the xanthan gum listed? My research didn’t throw up an figures about the amount of the allergen which may or may be present in the end produt but it could be a frustrating journey trying to discover what it came from. In fact on Doves Farm xanthan gum it says it comes from a few different countries so it would take a while to work out what the mix consisted of.
Tracing where xanthan gum was actually derived from is proving harder than I thought but I’m on the case.
If you suspect it may be causing you a problem, try to find out the source. I think it should definitely be labelled and wonder why it isn’t already.
Doves Farm have responded however to assure me that the xanthan gum they use is grown on corn, the least allergenic of the base ingredients so it should be OK for most people.
At no point have I ever been told that xanthan gum could be a potential threat to my health, even though I am allergic to wheat and soya and intolerant to wheat.
There is always the possibility that someone could be allergic to all xanthan gum, the bacterium it is grown on could cause an allergic response too. People can be allergic to the strangest things.
There must be another way to bake gluten free without xanthan gum…
Eating fake foods which are processed unnaturally seems like a bad idea for me, we know from recent news that processed meat can increase your risk of heart disease and cancer, so why not other processed aritificial food stuffs too?
When you try to find products on the shelves of supermarkets that don’t contain xanthan gum you realise just how widespread its use is. It’s in so many things.
Artisan Bakery doesn’t use any man-made synthetic gums or other additives. They use natural simple ingredients. I haven’t tried their bread yet but am planning to do so if my own home baking attempts prove futile. Watch this space for more info on that, but I have heard very good reports from others that it’s very tasty bread. I’m looking forward to trying it.
I have also noticed recently that M&S gluten free use guar gum. This was true for their gluten free crumpets but I’m not sure about their bread or other #GF stuff, but worth trying if you think xanthan is a problem.
Guar gum, by comparison, whilst processed to some extent is the powder from the gum of the guar bean so it’s far more natural and should pose less allergy risk.
So, to xanthum or not to xanthan, that is the question. One the most important lessons I learnt whilst writing this blog post is how to actually spell xanthan gum… I’ve been spelling it xanthum gum – when did they change the spelling?
Does it only pose a problem for hightly allergic people? How much allergen may be present? More research needed because I didn’t find all the answers but I will update this blog post as and when I discover what’s that.
Are you allergic to xanthan gum? Do you react when you eat products containing it? Or is just a harmful ingredient?
Further reading about xanthan gum
The FitSugar blog explains The Skinny on xanthan gum
Celeste explains why she no longer uses xanthan gum: Why I no longer use Xanthan or guar gum
Michelle Berridale-Johnson of Foods Matter also shares some interesting research material about xanthan gum xanthan and guar gum
I don’t think there is such a thing as xanthum gum. It’s xanthan gum.
Thanks Donna. How have I not noticed that my whole life? I have updated the blog… Thanks for pointing that out, a copywriter should really get the spelling right the main topic of discussion! 2/10 see me. Write one hundred times: It’s not xanthum gum it’s xanthan gum
The xantham gum from ‘Life free from’ says it is wheat and gluten free, as well as nut free and suitable for vegans (so I assume no dairy).
Thanks Liz. I also checked with Dove Farm and The Foodamentalists and both use corn derived xanthan gum so perhaps we are worrying for no reason. Worth knowing though as could explain the unexplained attacks when we can’t check the origin!
We have advised against consumption of xanthan gum on the TrulyGlutenFree site for ages ever since I discovered it in supplements, let alone foods. I am told much of it nowadays is fermented using corn sugar, as that is the cheapest source. The problem is, as you say, you can’t tell and it can vary without even the supplier knowing, as it depends on what source is cheapest at any given time. There is no obligation for the manufacturer to tell the product supplier when the source changes. Nightmare.
Fermented products, like some supplements, enzymes, food additives etc, are a real problem generally since, as you can tell from this, they have to use a fermentation substrate – a sugar – and that is usually corn-based from what I am finding, although it can be the sources you mention. Most people won’t react at this level , of course, but you can and a lot of my readers/patients do.
Thanks Micki, and as I am realising, I am not most people. Am on a pick it kill it diet at the moment. No processed foods at all and feel so much better already. Husband did buy a packet of those lovely kettle crisps for me, the unsalted ones, so Might have to make an exception for those. Ha Ha. The more I read about xanthan gum the more disgusted I am, all these fake, manmade ingredients can’t be good for us. I’m avoiding it if at all possible from now on. No mean feat I know, but as I’m pretty sure it’s possibly the culprit for some pretty horrendous allergic reactions it’s no great loss. My doctor can’t believe what I’m allergic to and the list keeps rising!
Like that: pick it, kill it. Welcome to TGF world! Nothing processed goes in at all as it’s just not worth it. Hope you enjoy cooking…!