Indeed, xanthan gum’s primary role as a food additive is to make solutions more viscous, and a little bit goes a long way.

Xanthan gum takes its name from Xanthomonas campestris, the bacteria used in the additive’s fermentation. Take some sugar (glucose or sucrose), mix with Xanthomonas, clean it up, and boom! You’ve got xanthan gum.

In American food products, the sugar used to create xanthan gum is typically corn syrup or a derivative of corn syrup.

Xanthan gum can be okay

My general philosophy regarding ingredients is to avoid stuff you can’t pronounce or picture growing in nature. Practice and repetition solves the former problem for me, but the latter is impossible for xanthan gum to get around. Without any doubt, xanthan gum is a second-order natural, refined product.

On a personal level, I’ve come to accept xanthan gum in salad dressing (though I try to skip dressings that contain it) and elaborate pre-made sauces. I’m also okay with xanthan gum in ice cream.

Some gluten-free baked goods use xanthan gum to add volume, which is one of the reasons you can find xanthan gum at most healthy foods stores.

But sometimes, xanthan gum can be a bad sign

Of course, there are some products that scare me off when I see xanthan gum on the label. Chief among them is salsa: really cheap salsa manufacturers cut corners with xanthan gum (and often artificial colors/flavors). They water down the salsa, add some xanthan, and then sell it for less. Xanthan gum’s presence in pickle relish also frightens me.

Do you need to avoid xanthan gum?

No, you don’t need to avoid xanthan gum, but it’s helpful to be aware of what products you consume that contain it. Sometimes, the presence of xanthan gum (like in salsa) can be a sign that the manufacturers were more concerned with overhead cost than product quality.

So you reach this point of the year, and while you could go out and purchase grocery store tomatoes, you know that they will not work. They will throw your homemade salsa’s taste off just enough.

This is when canned salsas become very useful. And canned salsa is what we used the other night while enjoying buffalo fajitas.

Specifically, this was Salpica Rustic Tomato Salsa, made by Frontera Kitchens.

Ingredients: Tomatoes, filtered water, tomato paste, mild red chiles, garlic, onion, apple cider vinegar, salt, cilantro, citric acid, calcium chloride.

The only iffy ingredient is calcium chloride; but calcium chloride is naturally-occurring and quite common. In this case it is being used as a natural preservative (and perhaps also to give the salsa a slightly salty kick).

Taste-wise, the Salpica salsa was a bit watery but full of flavor; it worked very well as an additive to the fajitas but not well as a tortilla chip dip. In this way, the Salpica was very similar to another canned salsa I tried last year from Green Mountain Gringo.

Real Food Grade: B [Natural, but not organic]

There’s very little in the world I enjoy more than good salsa. I will go to the end of the Earth to find the perfect blend of spice and texture.

Unfortunately, I didn’t find a great salsa tonight.

While perusing the shelves of the local food cooperative, I noticed that Green Mountain Gringo salsa was on sale. So I bought a can of mild. Usually I’d go hotter, but I was sharing and didn’t want to risk it.

Here are the ingredients (according to the bottle):

Ripe Tomatoes, Fresh Onions, Fresh Tomatillos, Fresh Jalapeño Peppers, Fresh Pasilla Peppers, Apple Cider Vinegar, Fresh Cilantro, Fresh Parsley, Fresh Garlic, Sea Salt, Spices

It was good, but not great. I tried it with standard natural salted tortilla chips, and then as a quesadilla topping. Green Mountain Gringo’s salsa reminded me of the chunky Tostitos and Pace brands I used to eat (ugh). Perhaps I would have enjoyed a spicier variety more (like their medium or roasted garlic flavors).

Also, I imagine it would be quite tolerable as part of a taco. For chip-dipping, however, I will pass next time.