Fda Bans Use Of Guar Gum In Diet Drugs; Health Risk

Guar gum may not sound very tasty, but it's a popular ingredient in modern food. Whether they're aware of it or not, Americans gobble up guar gum in an array of processed foods, from ice cream to salad dressings - and it looks as if they'll keep doing so.

Last week, the Food and Drug Administration said it will ban 111 ingredients used in non-prescription diet drugs, and one of them is guar gum. However, guar gum still will be allowed in food.

Guar gum is obtained from the seed of the guar plant, which is used as cattle food in India and Pakistan. In this country, guar gum is used not only in ice cream and salad dressings, but in such other foods as certain cheeses, puddings, baked products and sauces. It serves as a thickener or stabilizer and contributes to smooth texture.

About 100,000 pounds of guar gum goes into American food products every year, according to a Purdue University expert on vegetable gums.

The FDA said it was banning guar gum in diet drugs because it poses a potential safety hazard; it has been known to cause a blocking of the esophagus. (The other diet-drug ingredients were banned because they had not been proven effective in weight control, the agency said.)

FDA spokeswoman Bonnie Aikman said guar gum makes up nearly 100 percent of some diet pills. Because guar gum is water soluble, the pill can swell up when swallowed, blocking the esophagus, she said.

Aikman said guar gum isn't being banned in food because the amounts allowed in any particular food product are very small - too small to cause a similar problem.