Vegan. Gum arabic (E414), also called acacia gum, is the dried sap of acacia trees, so it is vegan. It stabilises soft drinks, emulsifies flavours, and glazes sweets.
Gum arabic is hardened sap from acacia trees. It is the quiet stabiliser behind fizzy drinks and gummy sweets, and it is entirely plant-based.
Made fromAcacia tree sap
E numberE414
VerdictVegan
Where it hides
Soft drinks and flavour emulsions
Gummy sweets and marshmallows
Icing and glazes
Watercolour paint and supplements
What it is
Gum arabic is the hardened sap that acacia trees exude, harvested and dried into a soluble stabiliser and emulsifier.
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is a tree gum exuded by two species of Acacia sensu lato: Senegalia senegal and Vachellia seyal
Because it is tree sap, gum arabic is vegan. It keeps flavour oils evenly dispersed in soft drinks, gives chewy sweets their structure, and forms glazes. As always with sweets, the gum is vegan, but it pays to scan the rest of the list for gelatin, carmine or shellac.
Locust bean gum (carob gum, E410)Despite a name that sounds like an insect, locust bean gum is pure carob seed. It gives ice cream its scoopable chew.
Guar gum (E412)Guar gum is a thickener ground from a legume. Bean to powder, there is no animal step anywhere in it.
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.
Frequently asked
Is acacia gum the same as gum arabic?
Yes. Acacia gum and gum arabic are the same ingredient, the sap of acacia trees, and it is vegan.
Is E414 vegan?
Yes. E414 is gum arabic, a plant tree sap, so it is vegan.
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