Throughout 2012 and looking into 2013, food manufacturers remain engaged with the dilemma of working with guar gum in their formulations. This proven hydrocolloid offers many advantages to food product designers who need texture, viscosity and stability in a wide variety of creations. Guar gum has a lot to offer; it is naturally derived, performs well, and until recently, was an economical choice.

Demand for Guar Gum Grows

However, ongoing demand from the oil and gas industry has turned guar into something of a wild card. As overall demand for guar gum rose from 250,000 metric tons per year to 480,000 metric tons per year (350,000 metric tons for the energy industry alone) over the past 24 months, food manufacturers and developers need substitutes for what was once a relatively inexpensive and readily available hydrocolloid. It was this need that was the catalyst for new guar gum replacements and extenders from TIC Gums.

By Frances Bowman, social media specialist

Replacing the sweetness of sugar in a beverage with artificial sweeteners is relatively easy but there are important textural attributes associated with sugar that must also be replaced, as these influence the way foods and beverages are experienced by the consumer.

In the latest episode of the YouTube video series "Does This Have Gum in It?" we explore the ways food scientists can use hydrocolloids to mimic the textures of a fully sugared drink. Read the transcript

Maureen Akins, technology manager, explains how using the Texture Revolution^® process to map the texture of the full sugar beverage makes it easier to define the sensory experience that needs to be re-created in a reduced sugar version. "Right from the beginning we're going to take a control and we're going to look at it visually, we're going to look at it mechanically, and we're going to look at it from an oral perspective--first in your mouth, a few times in your mouth, and then how you swallow it."

Make Your Own Texture Map

Our Beverage Syrup Texture Pack includes everything you need to articulate the texture attributes of your beverage:

• Prototype formulations for both full sugar and reduced sugar mandarin orange beverage syrups
• Texture Revolution lexicon for describing the texture of the syrup
• Texture attribute map for the syrup
• Texture profile--our comparison of the textures of the two beverage syrup variations

Happy holidays from the Gum Gurus at TIC Gums!

Our offices will be closed for the holiday on 12/25/12 and 1/1/13.

Due to the unavailability of trucking, we are unable to commit to shipping on 12/24 and 12/31.

Mike Flemmens, applications manager, practices lab safety, and a new dance move, with the Gum Guru.

Connie Harris,customer relationship manager, follows the Gum Guru's lead after correcting an office safety hazard.

by Ana-Marie Wilbert, marketing intern

TIC Gums hosted its first company-wide safety fair this August and the Gum Guru helped us spread the word on safety by using a song by a one-hit wonder from the ‘80’s.

Led by safety manager, Tony Honig, the fair aimed to refresh employees on  safety policies in a fun and positive environment and increase safety conversations.

Members of each department took the lead and created booths to educate employees on health safety, school safety, and company safety policies. Employees had the opportunity to enjoy cool treats, play games, compete in a slogan competition, and enter a raffle.

Prior to the fair, Tim Andon, business development manager, worked with TIC Gums’ summer marketing interns, Tom Nicholson and Ana-Marie Wilbert, to develop a video that reinforced the spirit of the fair in a memorable way. The video featured the Gum Guru visiting facilities in both Belcamp and White Marsh and correcting employees’ unsafe habits. The Gum Guru ensured people wore personal protective equipment properly when going into the pilot plant, showed manufacturing how to safely lift a heavy bag, and kept the office orderly by closing file drawers and clearing up outlets. After each demonstration, employees joined the Gum Guru in a dance to the tune of “Safety Dance,” by Men without Hats.

Art of cheese-making is 7,500 years old