What gum should I use to increase creaminess?
Creaminess is actually an integrated term built of three basic attributes – thickness, mouth-coating, and mouth-clearing. Most gums contribute to thickness, but specific gums are required to manipulate the other two attributes. Also, it depends on the application. Our demonstrations rely on different agents to build the texture of each product; each gum system affects these three attributes in different ways. While they all may be “creamy,” they are all different from each other.

What’s unique about TIC Gums role in texture?
TIC Gums is unique in that it has over 100 years of experience in designing texture systems. Also, texture is our daily job; we’re able to devote extensive resources to developing texture tools like the lexicon we provide here.

How do gums compare to starch?
Both gums and starches can be used to manipulate texture, either separately or in combination. Each starch and each gum is going to affect certain attributes differently. For example, starch can impart a very specific short texture to a sauce or dairy product, while gums like carrageenan can contribute very noticeable mouth-clearing effects.

Which gums provide which attributes?
There isn’t a simple answer to this question. Each gum can behave differently depending on finished product formulation, processing, and storage environment. We have a wide range of products and we would be happy to work with you on a specific application or project to identify the best solution. We are happy to help customers build their set of formulating guidelines.

What is the relationship between texture, gums, and flavor?
At TIC Gums we believe that texture plus flavor equals taste. It’s the combination of these two components that ultimately determines how satisfying a food is. While TIC Gums tends to emphasize the impact that gums have on texture, there is a high degree of interaction. There are some gums that will dampen flavor, and the product developer may have to compensate for this by altering the use level of flavor. On the flip side, there are some gums that seem to accentuate flavor notes. This simply means that the texture design process and the flavor design process must be done in an integrated manner.

What is unique about TIC Gums’ texture program?

• TIC Gums provides tools and methodologies to the food industry to help developers with their product design efforts. The lexicon is a good example of this.
• TIC Gums is well-known for its accessible and responsive customer support.
• TIC Gums has a broad portfolio of texturizing and stabilizing ingredients when it comes time to formulate the texture of a product.
• TIC Gums has over 100 years experience in the texture industry.

How is this different from product formulation in the past?
Texturizing ingredients have been around for a long time. However, user friendly tools and methods haven’t. Through our Texture Revolution program, we’re reaching out to developers to provide a structured framework for developing texture.

Can you send me the ingredients to formulate the prototypes you’d showed at IFT?
Yes. We’re happy to provide the finished product formulas and samples of the texturizing systems.

How do I get an attribute map for my product?
First, check the Texture Attribute Maps we already have available.  If you don’t find your specific application there, just let us know. We’d be happy to create one for you. Or, we can help you create your own. 

How do I get a Texture Revolution demo?
Speak with any TIC Gums sales person. We will make every effort to accommodate the frequent requests we get for Texture Workshops. Please keep in mind, they take a lot of time to prepare for, so your workshop will likely need to be scheduled well in advance.

Will this add cost to my product?
It’s difficult to say without using a specific example or project. Yes, adding a gum will increase cost of goods for your product, but it’s very likely you already have some other ingredient incorporated into your prototype that’s providing some level of texture. Perhaps it’s not the right ingredient  and it’s not giving the right texture. Perhaps by substituting this ingredient with a better one that your costs remain neutral or perhaps even go down.

How does texture impact likability?
Think about your favorite foods and what you like most about them. Think about the foods you like least, and what you dislike about them. Now, what do you think? Does texture impact your personal satisfaction when eating? Texture has a big impact on liking.

If I send my soup, can you texture map it?
Yes, of course. We’d be happy to create a texture attribute map for your application. We’d also be happy to facilitate a session over the phone or in person to teach you how to create one yourself.

What specific formulations can you share?
We can provide you the formulations for all finished products we demonstrated at IFT. If you’re interested in a different application we can very likely provide that as well.

Sounds like sensory analysis – do I need a sensory analyst/department to do this?
Yes, sensory science is a big component of what we’re presenting here. However, the methodology we’re suggesting will enable you to move forward with deliberate texture design, even if you don’t have a sensory department. But if you already have a sensory department, there is nothing we’re proposing that can’t be integrated with your existing methods. We’d be happy to help with this.

Can you teach me how to do this myself?
Yes. Ideally, we would conduct a 1.5 hour Texture Design Workshop at your location but you are, of course, welcome to come to our Texture Innovation Center in Maryland.

How have you helped other customers in the past?
We have conducted dozens of Texture Design Workshops at customer locations around the world. These workshops have been well received and customers have found them very educational. We also conduct mini-workshops at major trade shows like RCA and Supply Side West.

Why should I put so much work into texture?
The food industry is a very competitive place, and it is still true today that most new product launches fail. We at TIC Gums feel that careful and thoughtful design of texture during the overall product development process can only increase the odds that your product launch doesn’t become a statistic.

Who are other customers who have this?
We have conducted Texture Design Workshops with companies ranging from Fortune 500 companies to small family businesses. Many of them work with us after the workshops to better understand the texture design process and to take advantage of the ride range of texturizers that we market.

Are there any finished products on the market using this system?
Yes.

Why can I not use creamy, gloppy, snotty terms?
These terms are consumer-type terms and are by their very nature ambiguous and difficult to define consistently. Instead, TIC Gums suggests developers use basic terms that can be associated with actual physical interactions in the mouth or on your fingers. Many times, if a development team is having trouble agreeing on the evaluation of a given texture attribute, it’s because they’re using a consumer term rather than a basic term. All of the terms on the TIC Gums texture lexicon are basic.