thickening

What are

Thickeners are food additives designed to improve certain physical characteristics of the product, such as appearance, consistency and stability over time.

Thanks to thickeners, puddings, all types of sauces, slices, soups, frozen ready meals, yoghurts and many other products, become denser, more viscous and more appealing to the eyes of the consumer, who would certainly not like to be in front of ketchup, mayonnaise or yoghurt reduced to broth.

Health

Are thickening additives dangerous to health?

The thickening additives are mostly of natural origin and although they are the most used from the quantitative point of view, generally there is no toxicological risk due to their ingestion. Not surprisingly, for most of these substances no limit was set for the maximum daily intake.

The greatest problems could derive from hypersensitivity reactions towards some thickeners, reported above all as regards guar flours and tragacanth gum.

With regard to modified starches (thickeners derived from natural corn, wheat, potato starch etc., treated with chemical, physical or biological means), if they contain gluten, the generic name must be completed with the indication of the origin specific vegetable (for example "modified wheat starch", "modified rice starch" etc.).

Generally, thickeners have a vegetable origin or are obtained by semi-synthesis; consequently they can be consumed by all religious groups, vegans and vegetarians.

Possible animal origin is due to gelatine (fish glue), often obtained from animal carcasses, obviously with the necessary sterilization procedures.

Thickeners and Quality

Does the use of thickeners improve or worsen the quality of the foods to which they are added?

Although they are not harmful substances, thickeners very often contribute to masking quality deficiencies of raw materials. For example, a ketchup produced with unripe tomatoes, therefore poor in pectin, thanks to thickeners can take on the same consistency as a ketchup made with ripe tomatoes, already rich in this natural thickener. It is no coincidence that pectin is used as a thickening / gelling agent (E 440), especially in the home production of jams and fruit jellies. Other natural thickeners include agar agar, gum arabic, carrageenan, carob seed flour and Tara seed flour, although the list (see table below) is much longer.

The mechanism of action of the thickeners is simple and linked to the ability to absorb or bind water, swelling and making the preparation more dense and creamy. The intensive use of thickeners thus contributes to depleting the nutritional power of food products, which come out not only poorer in fats, proteins and carbohydrates, but also in micronutrients such as vitamins and mineral salts.

In addition to keeping certain food preparations compact, emulsifiers and thickeners make it possible to replace caloric macronutrients such as carbohydrates (starches and sugars) and fats with water; they are therefore widely used in so-called "light foods".

Thickeners list

Treats Wikipedia

Abbreviations used in the list

PRA - additives that can cause allergic reactions in predisposed subjects
GMOs? - additives that can also be produced with the use of genetically modified organisms
OA - additives of animal origin

E400 Alginic acid (thickener) (stabilizer) (gelling agent) (emulsifier)

E401 Sodium alginate (thickener) (stabilizer) (gelling agent) (emulsifier)

E402 Potassium alginate (thickener) (stabilizer) (gelling agent) (emulsifier)

E403 Ammonium alginate (thickener) (stabilizer) (emulsifier)

E404 Calcium alginate (thickener) (stabilizer) (gelling agent) (emulsifier)

E405 Propane-1, 2-diol alginate (propylene glycol alginate) (thickener) (stabilizer) (emulsifier)

E406 Agar-agar (thickener) (gelling agent) (stabilizer)

E407 Carrageenan (thickener) (stabilizer) (gelling agent) (emulsifier) (PRA)

E407a Algae transformed Eucheuma (thickener) (stabilizer) (gelling agent) (emulsifier)

E410 Locust bean gum (thickener) (stabilizer) (gelling agent) (emulsifier)

E412 Guar gum (thickener) (stabilizer)

E413 tragacanth rubber (thickener) (stabilizer) (emulsifier) (PRA)