Can you tell me what is the reason for the more and more frequent nasty practice of ruining yogurt, ice cream, etc with agar/xanthan gum additives? I guess the purpose is more profits and more Krohn disease.
My guess would be that to keep the fat down (that is, to manufacture an ice cream with no cream) it is needed to make it smooth and a solid.
I actually don't mind it when guar gum is added. It was used by dieters as a supplement until it was taken off the market for some reason or another.
Xanthan gum is one of the more benign additives in foods, and it's there strictly as an emulsifier - to keep ingredients from separating, as in oil/vinegar salad dressings. The amount of xanthan gum required to perform its job is really tiny - a mere pinch will "suspend" over a quart of salad dressing. In other products, xanthan gum is used as a stabilizer, to keep ingredients from losing the texture they acquired during the preparation process.
Xanthan gum is, essentially, seaweed.
One of the funniest incidents in my life occured in a bar in San Diego where crowded conditions forced me to take the sole remaining barstool next to a nerdy plump guy in a green polyester leisure suit far past its - and his - prime. Asked him what he did, and he said, "I sell seaweed."
I said, "Oh, you mean like xanthan gum to food companies?" Had to pick the guy up off th' floor. No one in his adult life had EVER heard of the products he sold, mainly xanthan gum. He asked me how I knew about xanthan gum and I replied that I read a lot of labels and got curious.
Believe me, xanathan gum is the LEAST of your worries.
Michael