Gellan gum was first discovered by food researchers in the 1970s when it was found to be growing naturally on lily pads.
It was introduced to the food market as a substitute gelling agent for other stabilizers, especially agar agar or gelatin. Researchers realized that gellan gum had two added benefits over other similar products: It could be used in very small amounts but still produce the same texturizing results, and it wasn’t very sensitive to heat.
It’s also plant/bacteria-based and therefore suitable for vegan products, while some thickeners derived from animal products (including gelatin) are not. Gellan gum became approved for food use in the United States in 1992 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Today, different gellan gum products are available for food or industrial use that go by a variety of brand names, most produced by the company C.P. Kelco.
