Guar gum is needed for producing sufficient viscosity. Because less is required, costs are reduced. This would help explain its presence in so many things today. In addition to guar gum's effects on viscosity, its high ability to flow, or "deform", gives it very favorable rheological properties. It forms breakable gels when cross-linked with boron. It is used in various multi-phase formulations for hydraulic fracturing, in some as an emulsifier because it helps to prevent oil droplets from coalescing, and in others as a stabilizer to help prevent solid particles from settling and/or separating. Fracking entails the pumping of sand-laden fluids into
Gellan gum gel after churning. The benefit of using gellan gum is that the ice cream or sorbet can be set in a dish of flaming alcohol or heated with a propane torch without actually melting. Refer to these websites for more details: Gellan was discovered and developed as a commercial biogum hydrocolloid product by Kelco, then a division of Merck & Co. In the United States, Kelco was responsible for obtaining food approval for gellan gum worldwide. In other markets that are fond of innovative food ingredients such as Japan, the process for obtaining food approval has been undertaken by local