TIC Gums: Sticking To Success

Founded in 1909 as the Tragacanth Importing Company, TIC Gums, Belcamp, MD, was purchased in 1949 by Ashod Andon to focus exclusively on water-soluble gums, placing particular emphasis on food and pharmaceutical applications. While the company started out with just one gum, over the years it expanded its offerings to include a complete hy­drocolloid product line to serve all its customers’ formulating needs.

Discussing the range of nutritional benefits inherent in gums was Frances Bowman, marketing manager. “Gums are excellent sources of soluble dietary fiber, providing 85% soluble dietary fiber on a dry weight basis,” she explained. “According to numerous independent studies, soluble dietary fiber from gums has been shown to maintain healthy cholesterol glucose levels.” She added that gums are also prebiotic, providing nourishment to the healthy flora in the human intestine.

According to Ms. Bowman, TIC Gums started supplying gums to the functional foods and nutraceuticals markets before they became mainstream. “Since the 1980’s, we’ve been sought after to speak on the topic of the soluble dietary fiber provided by gums,” she said.

TIC Gums’ products have several functional food applications. TIC Pretested® GuarNT® Bland is available in a range of viscosity and mesh characteristics and is formulated to have low odor properties to make flavoring products easier. TIC Pretested Pre-Hydrated® gum arabic spray dry is an emulsifier that provides mouthfeel and adhesive properties and can be used as a replacer for high fructose corn syrup in applications such as meal replacement bars. TIC Pretested Pre-Hydrated Nutriloid® 010 is a guar gum-based soluble fiber system that boosts fiber levels without drastically altering the viscosity of the finished product. Even at a concentration as high as 2.0%, Nutriloid 010 still maintains a low viscosity, which makes it a good fit for meal replacement beverages. TIC Pretested Inulin LV-110 is intended for use in products like high protein sports bars, meal replacement bars and breakfast bars. The high solubility of LV-110 in water allows the products to better retain their shape and integrity and also helps extend shelf life and reduce flavor problems. It can also be added to high fiber beverages. TIC Pretested Colloid 601 Powder is often used in nutritional products sold to institutions like nursing homes where the product must “hold” constant viscosity for long periods. Lastly, TIC Pretested Colloid Ultrasmooth creates thick and creamy instant beverages and boosts viscosity in nutritional meal replacers and rice or soy beverage products.

In 2001, TIC Gums added TIC Pre­tested TICorganic® organic certified gum arabic spray dry to its product lines, while this year it added organic certified locust bean gum. In the first quarter of 2004 it will be offering organic certified guar gum.

Speaking about recent happenings at the company, Ms. Bowman said TIC Gums is currently installing a new state-of-the-art spray dryer at its headquarters. “Once this equipment is online, we will have the largest installed capacity for gum arabic in North America,” she said. In addition, TIC Gums installed a dairy pilot plant with UHT/HTST capabilities in 2002, which it uses to work with customers as they optimize their stabilizer usage levels.

As for the state of the industry, Ms. Bowman said the functional foods category has moved from being a niche market to a mainstream food trend. As a result, she said, “This market will continue to grow as re­searchers and consumers learn more about the impact one’s diet can have on health, fitness and longevity. We expect the attention on improving the modern diet to turn toward providing more healthful children’s diets and school meals.”

She continued, “We are seeing more and more requests from formulators to help them accomplish their most difficult tasks, from fortification to lowering carbohydrate levels, and we will continue to design specialty gum systems that address these concerns.”—T.W.

TIC Gums
4609 Richlynn Drive
P.O. Box 369
Belcamp, MD 21017
Telephone: 800-221-3953; 410-273-7300
Fax: 410-273-6469
E-mail: info@ticgums.com
Website: www.ticgums.com