Xylitol

If you read labels to steer clear from any sketchy sounding food additives, you’ve probably come across xanthan gum in random items from ice cream to salad dressings, from toothpaste to gluten-free desserts.

Our new house has raspberry bushes like nobodies business. A giant giant one by the front of the house next to the driveway, and two smaller ones out back. I've been picking about a pint a day, yesterday I picked a pint and a half. I don't even know what to do with that many raspberries.

The process begins with a sugar from a soy, wheat, dairy, or corn source. A strain of bacteria, called Xanthomonas campetris, is added to the sugar to create a gum, or a slimy substance, which works as a colorless and tasteless thickener, stabilizer, and emulsifier.If you’re attempting some gluten-free baking of your own, it is recommended that when converting a flour-based recipe to gluten-free, add one to two teaspoons of xanthan gum for cakes and up to one teaspoon of xanthan gum for cookies.

I used a bunch of raspberries to make a jam which I spread in the middle of a chocolate cake, which I then frosted with easy dark chocolate frosting and promptly devoured.

And according to Web MD , xanthan gum can work as a laxative; it swells in the intestinal tract and activates digestion. If you experience uncomfortable bloating after eating products that contain xanthan gum, try substituting guar gum , which is made from thickeners guar beans and produces a comparable gummy texture.

The many cosmetic and pharmaceutical applications of this Xanthan Gum include the use in tooth pastes, lotions, shampoos, and formulations for tablets.Xanthan Gum is used as a baking aid in recipes which require gluten free flours. Gluten is needed to impart elasticity to the dough which would allow it to hold in the gases formed by fermentation which causes the rising effect.

Other food additives: Carrageenan      Pectin       Xanthan Gum