A new study has shown that a common thickening agent used in food including tomato ketchup and salad dressing can be digested after all and does have an effect on our nutrition.
Previously, it was thought that cellulose-based food thickeners were indigestible and that they pass through the digestive system unaltered.
Now researchers from the University of British Columbia have demonstrated that these common additives can be digested by gut bacteria, through enzymes activated by natural dietary fibres.
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While the results don’t contest the safety of these type of food thickeners, the findings suggest that more research is needed to evaluate the effects on the body of digesting them.
Lead author Dr Deepesh Panwar said: “Researchers assumed that these thickening agents, which are artificial derivatives of natural cellulose, just pass right through the digestive system unaltered.
“But our study provides a first glimpse at how these food additives are actually digested by our gut bacteria thanks to natural polysaccharides in our diets.”
The complex structure of these cellulose-based thickeners makes them hard to break down. This new study, however, demonstrated that using natural polysaccharides – long chains of sugars found in fruits, vegetables and cereals – to prime gut bacteria can enable the cellulose derivatives to be digested.
- Ultra-processed foods tied to greater risk of depression and anxiety
- Weight gain associated with high intake of ultra-processed foods
- Accelerated biological ageing associated with ultra-processed foods
Dr Harry Brumer, a professor in the Michael Smith Laboratories and Department of Chemistry, commented: “It was really unexpected for us to see that these cellulose derivatives are in fact used as a source of sugar for bacterial growth.
“It is always a surprise when a new finding goes against the conventional wisdom, in this case showing that these common additives are not just inactive thickeners.”
Read more in Journal of Bacteriology
