Emulsifiers & Stabilizers

Texture, suspension and stability systems across bakery, dairy, sauces and beverages.

1 emulsifiers · 1 currently in North America stock

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How to choose

Selecting the right emulsifiers

Diagnose thermodynamic versus kinetic instability

If the oil and water phases genuinely want to separate and you have no continuous shear in the pack, a small-molecule emulsifier will only slow separation. Combine an emulsifier to reduce interfacial tension with a viscosity-increasing stabiliser to slow droplet migration.

Match the hydrocolloid to the shear profile

Shear-thinning gums such as xanthan are easy to process but lose perceived thickness in the mouth, which suits dressings and shakes. For products that must stay thick on the palate, a non-shear-thinning or co-processed blend is usually the better choice.

Build hydration time into the process

Most gum failures are hydration failures, not quality failures. Pre-mix the powder with a dry carrier, add under moderate agitation, and allow 30 to 60 minutes before evaluation. Test at your actual process temperature, since hydration rate is temperature-dependent.

An emulsion fails for one of two reasons: it becomes thermodynamically unstable, which means the oil and water phases want to separate, or it becomes kinetically unstable, meaning the phases could separate but something is preventing it. Emulsifiers address the second case. The first requires stabilisers and, sometimes, a change to the formula itself. Choosing between a small-molecule emulsifier and a stabiliser is therefore not a preference — it follows from the physics of your product. If the phases are genuinely thermodynamically unstable and you have no continuous shear in the pack, a small-molecule emulsifier will slow separation but will not stop it. Hydrocolloids work through a different mechanism. They increase the continuous-phase viscosity, which slows droplet migration. Combined with an emulsifier that reduces interfacial tension, this is usually sufficient for a product that would otherwise fail after a few weeks. Hydration discipline separates good results from poor ones with hydrocolloids. Most gums disperse as fine particles before they hydrate, and most of them are shear-thinning during that process, which means vigorous mixing slows hydration rather than speeding it up. Pre-mixing with a dry carrier and allowing adequate hydration time is the single highest-return habit in this category.

Matching the hydrocolloid to the shear profile

The single most useful piece of information when specifying a hydrocolloid is the shear condition it will face. Products that are mixed, pumped and poured aggressively — dressings, shakes, sauces — favour shear-thinning systems such as xanthan, because viscosity recovers once processing stops. Products consumed from a spoon or eaten straight from the pack need perceived thickness, which is a different requirement and often a different gum.

Blend systems exist for this reason. A processed starch combined with a gum gives a profile neither delivers alone, and in many cases costs less than pushing a single hydrocolloid to a level that would be objectionable on the palate.