Guar gum
Ground guar beans that thicken ice cream, sauces and gluten-free bread. A large French study linked it to type 2 diabetes.
How common it is in UK food
UK supermarket foods declare E412 in their ingredients, by its code or its name. That is 4.3% of the 43,325 food products we hold an ingredient list for.
Where it turns up most
- Ice cream and frozen desserts501 products66% of 762 in this aisle
- Fresh meat, poultry and fish255 products5.3% of 4,835 in this aisle
- Ready meals and pizza216 products4.5% of 4,833 in this aisle
- Yoghurt, milk and dairy164 products7.2% of 2,273 in this aisle
Only 8.3% of these labels print “E412”. Most use the name: look for “guar gum”.
Counted by NutraSafe from UK supermarket ingredient lists, September 2026. How we counted
Scan a barcode to check a food for guar gum.
We name each additive in the ingredients and say what it does, with the source.
High-dose guar gum slimming tablets were taken off sale after they swelled up and blocked people's throats and guts. That was concentrated supplement doses, not the small amounts used to thicken food.
What is it?
Guar gum is ground from the seeds of the guar plant, a bean grown mainly in India and Pakistan. It is a long chain of sugars that swells and turns very thick when it takes up water. It is off-white, with no smell or taste.
What does it do?
A small amount turns water into a thick, stable gel. That stops ingredients separating, keeps textures smooth and slows starchy foods going hard after baking. The body does not digest it higher up the gut, so it also acts as soluble fibre, slowing how fast sugar is absorbed and adding bulk.
Where you will see it
Ice cream, yoghurt, cream cheese, salad dressings, soups, sauces, gluten-free bread and pasta, diet foods, thickeners for infant formula and processed meat. Labels call it guar gum or E412.
What the science says
Linked to type 2 diabetes in a large French study
The NutriNet-Santé study asked more than 100,000 French adults to record everything they ate, then followed their health for about 7 years. People who ate more guar gum were more likely to develop type 2 diabetes. This shows a link, not proof that guar gum causes diabetes, and the researchers called for more research.
Among 104,139 French adults followed for an average of 6.8 years, each extra 500mg of guar gum eaten a day was linked to an 11% higher risk of type 2 diabetes.
The slimming tablets that caused blockages
Guar gum is not absorbed. It reaches the large bowel, where bacteria ferment it, like other fibre. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, guar gum tablets sold as slimming aids swelled in the throat and gut and caused blockages, and they were taken off sale. Amounts used as a food additive are far lower.
High-dose guar gum slimming tablets caused blockages of the gullet and intestine in several case reports in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and were taken off sale in several countries.
At food additive amounts, usually well under 1g a portion, guar gum is fermented in the bowel like other soluble fibre, without clinically important harm in healthy adults.
Reviewed again for young babies
In 2024 European reviewers looked specifically at guar gum in foods for babies under 16 weeks, as a follow-up to their 2017 review. A thickener behaves differently in a baby's formula than in an adult's food, so it was assessed as a separate question.
The 2024 opinion looked at guar gum in foods for babies under 16 weeks, and followed up the 2017 review, to check whether current uses raise a safety issue in any age group.
Ethylene oxide found in some batches
In 2020 and 2021, testing across Europe found ethylene oxide in several additives, guar gum among them. It had been used to fumigate the seeds after harvest. Ethylene oxide damages DNA and causes cancer. The problem was with how some batches were grown and handled, not with guar gum itself, and affected batches were recalled.
Ethylene oxide, which damages DNA and causes cancer, was found in several guar gum batches sold across EU countries in 2020 and 2021, leading to recalls and alerts.
The UK Food Standards Agency proposed a maximum of 0.1mg per kg for ethylene oxide in food additives including guar gum.
Guar dust and allergy
Guar is a bean. A few case reports describe allergy, including asthma, in factory workers who breathed in guar gum dust. Cross-reactions with other beans, such as peanuts, soya and lentils, are possible in theory, but the evidence for this from eating it is limited. It is not one of the allergens UK law makes labels declare.
Asthma and a runny nose have been reported in food workers who breathed in guar gum dust.
Guar gum is not one of the 14 major allergens under UK labelling law, so it does not need a bold allergen declaration.
Where it stands with the regulators
Who should be careful
People with known allergies to beans or pulses, particularly guar or locust bean, should check for guar gum or E412 and talk to a health professional about cross-reactions.
The honest read
Guar gum has been used in food for decades, and how it thickens is well understood. Most of the recent regulatory attention was not about the gum but about ethylene oxide used on the seeds after harvest, a supply-chain problem. Its use in formula for very young babies has had its own review. The 2024 French study adds a link with type 2 diabetes, which shows a link rather than proof, and is the newest open question.
Related additives
Common questions
Is E412 banned in the UK?
No. Guar gum is approved in the UK in a wide range of foods and is on the Food Standards Agency's list.
What was the ethylene oxide problem with guar gum?
In 2020 and 2021, testing across Europe found ethylene oxide, which damages DNA and causes cancer, in some batches of imported guar gum. It came from fumigating the seeds after harvest, not from the additive itself. The affected batches were recalled, and the UK FSA proposed a limit of 0.1mg per kg for ethylene oxide in food additives. Guar gum's approval was not withdrawn.
What foods contain E412?
Ice cream, yoghurt, cream cheese, salad dressings, soups, gluten-free bread and pasta, processed meat, infant formula and diet products. Labels call it guar gum or E412.
Is E412 vegan?
Yes. It comes entirely from the guar bean, with nothing from animals.
Sources
- UK FSA: Approved additives and E numbers - E412
- UK Food Standards Agency: Approved additives and E numbers
- EFSA ANS Panel: Re-evaluation of guar gum (E 412) as a food additive, EFSA Journal 2017
- EFSA FAF Panel: Re-evaluation of guar gum (E 412) for infant foods and follow-up, EFSA Journal 2024:8748
- European Commission RASFF Portal: ethylene oxide in food additives
- Malo JL et al., Occupational asthma caused by guar gum, Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology
- Salame et al. (2024) Food additive emulsifiers and the risk of type 2 diabetes: analysis of data from the NutriNet-Santé prospective cohort study, The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology
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