Gellan gum shows up in plant milks to keep added calcium and cocoa evenly suspended, and in vegan jellies and desserts as a gelling agent. Being a fermentation product, it is vegan, and it was quickly adopted as an agar substitute in both food and laboratory settings.
Xanthan gum (E415)Xanthan gum is a thickener grown by bacteria on sugar. It is almost always vegan, with a rare asterisk over what the bacteria were fed.
Agar (agar-agar, E406)Agar is the vegan answer to gelatin, a firm jelly set from seaweed. It has been doing this job in Asian kitchens for a very long time.
Carrageenan (E407)Carrageenan is a thickener pulled from red seaweed. It has its critics on other grounds, but the vegan question is not one of them.
Frequently asked
Is E418 vegan?
Yes. E418 is gellan gum, produced by bacterial fermentation, so it is plant-compatible and vegan.
Why is gellan gum in plant milk?
It suspends added minerals and cocoa so they do not settle at the bottom, and it adds body. It is a vegan ingredient.
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