An additive used in ice creams, sauces and even salads could raise your risk of cancer-causing gut problems, a study suggests.
Xanthan gum, a stabilizer also used in wallpaper and oil drilling, has been added to foods since the 1960s to help make fluids thicker and to stop ingredients from separating.
Though it’s common in hundreds of processed foods, mounting research suggests it may be linked to lasting health harms.
In 2011, it was linked by some researchers to necrotizing enterocolitis, a life-threatening condition in premature newborns where intestinal tissue starts to die.
Now, researchers in Brazil say they have found that the additive can cause inflammation in the gut – at any dose.
In their study, rats were fed diets containing xanthan gum at a dose compared to that for someone on a typical gluten-free diet and above.
After analyzing gut tissue, they found there was inflammation in the gut tissue after consuming any dose of the additive. There were also more immune system cells present in the gut tissue, suggesting the body had registered something in the diet as a threat.
Additionally, in rats fed the highest dose, researchers found they had a surge in the population of a normally rare gut bacteria, although it wasn’t clear whether this could cause any health problems.
An additive used in ice cream, sauces and other products has been linked to potentially cancer-causing inflammation in the gut
Gut inflammation has consistently been linked to numerous health disorders, including a higher risk of irritable bowel syndrome and colon cancer, as inflammation can cause mutations in cells that make cancer more likely to occur.
The new research comes as the number of young people diagnosed with colon cancer continues to rise, with the condition now being the leading cause of cancer deaths among people under 50.
Experts have partly blamed the rise in colon cancer on ultra-processed foods that contain additives such as xanthan gum. These foods make up about 70 percent of the US food supply.
Xanthan gum is also commonly found in gluten-free diets, where people consume less gluten to avoid a gut sensitivity, because it is often used as a thickening agent in gluten-free products. About a quarter of Americans say they want to eat less gluten.
In the new study, published in the journal PLOS One, researchers split the rodents into four groups and fed them diets with varying levels of xanthan gum.
One group received none of the additive, while another received levels that the researchers said were similar to those of someone on a gluten-free diet. The rest received higher doses.
The amount of xanthan gum in the rodents diets was calculated using a formula from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that converts human exposure to a product into an equivalent dose.
The rodents were on the diets for 10 weeks before researchers examined their gut tissues for any signs of complications.
They found that all the rats that had consumed the gum had higher levels of immune cells in their intestines and higher inflammation levels.
The bacteria that surged in the gut were Elusimicrobiota, also found in soil, although it was not clear whether more of these bacteria would negatively impact the gut.
The study was not carried out in humans, meaning it was not clear whether xanthan gum would have the same effect when consumed by people.
It was not clear why the rodents had the inflammation, but the researchers suggested that xanthan gum had irritated the gut’s lining. If the gut barrier is damaged, this raises the risk of microbes and pathogens entering tissue or the blood, potentially triggering an infection.
In the study, the researchers, led by Dr Alessandra B Silva Rischiteli at the Federal University of Sao Paulo, wrote: ‘In conclusion, dietary xanthan gum induced moderate-grade inflammation and modified the colon gut barrier.
‘Recent advances in the study of xanthan gum underscore the need for translational research bridging experimental findings and clinical practice.’
In addition to colon cancer, the researchers said their work confirmed suggestions that xanthan gum had caused necrotizing enterocolitis in newborns.
In 2011, the FDA issued a warning against the use of SimplyThick, xanthan gum-based thickener for formula and breast milk, after it was linked to 15 cases of the condition in infants, including two deaths.
In all those cases, the FDA says SimplyThick gel was added to the formula or breast milk fed to babies who had trouble swallowing because of complications from their premature birth.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr has railed against additives being added to modern products, including food dyes, but has not yet commented on xanthan gum.
