Evaluation of the Safety of Tara Gum as a Food Ingredient: A Review of the Literature

Tara gum is a potential replacement for locust bean gum for use as a formulation aid, stabilizer, and thickener for food applications. In addition to biochemical and digestibility data, studies assessing the toxicity of tara gum are reviewed. The latter includes three 90-day feeding studies, two in rats and one in dogs; two 2-year feeding studies in rats and one in mice; a 3-generation reproduction study with rats and a reproductive toxicity and teratogenicity study with rats; an Ames reverse mutation assay with five Salmonella typhimurium strains; and a micronucleus test in mice. The feeding studies did not indicate any significant adverse effects attributable to tara gum at the maximum dietary level of 5%. The results of the genotoxicity studies were negative. It is concluded that tara gum meets the scientific standards required for classification as a GRAS food ingredient.