E417 - Tara gum
What it is and how it is used
Tara gum is milled from the endosperm of the seed of Caesalpinia spinosa, a thorny leguminous tree native to the Peruvian Andes and still harvested there, largely from wild and semi-wild stands. The pods are also a commercial source of tannins, so the gum is in part a by-product of the leather trade.
Chemically it is a galactomannan, the same family as guar and locust bean gum, and its ratio of galactose to mannose sits neatly between the two. That middle position is the reason to use it: it thickens cold like guar, but it also gels in combination with xanthan or carrageenan like locust bean gum. Formulators reach for it when guar is too slimy and locust bean gum is too expensive or too slow to hydrate.
Foods commonly containing it
Ice cream and frozen desserts, dairy desserts and yoghurts, sauces and dressings, gluten-free bakery, and plant-based drinks.
Safety summary
Tara gum is authorised in Great Britain as E 417 and sits in Group I, permitted at quantum satis.
Both the Scientific Committee for Food and JECFA allocated an ADI ‘not specified’. EFSA's 2017 re-evaluation concluded there is no need for a numerical ADI and no safety concern for the general population at reported uses and use levels: the gum is not absorbed intact, is fermented by gut bacteria, and showed no adverse effects at the highest doses tested in subchronic, chronic and carcinogenicity studies, with no genotoxicity concern.
Known concerns
As with other soluble gums, large amounts can loosen the stools or cause bloating in sensitive people — a fibre effect rather than a toxicological one.