FDA will propose to approve acacia gum as a fiber

WASHINGTON The US Food and Drug Administration is to suggest adding acacia gum, popularly referred to as gum Arabic, to its list of foods that qualify as dietary fibre. The response to the citizen petition was provided by Importers Service Corp., Nexira, and Alland & Robert.

Certain naturally occurring fibres that are “intrinsic and intact” in plants, as well as added isolated or synthetic non-digestible soluble and insoluble carbohydrates that the FDA has determined have physiological effects that benefit human health, are examples of dietary fibre that can be declared on the Nutrition and Supplement Facts labels. When the FDA announced the acacia gum announcement on December 17, it stated that there is scientific evidence to support the claim that acacia gum, when eaten with a meal that contains a carbohydrate that elevates blood glucose levels, can help lower insulin and blood glucose levels.

Efforts to convince the FDA to grant dietary fiber status to acacia gum began several years ago. The FDA denied the first petition dated April 19, 2019. The second petition, dated Dec. 28, 2020, was successful. It focused solely on the beneficial physiological effects on human health for postprandial blood glucose attenuation and/or insulin levels, and it contained a discussion about an additional study that was not included in the first petition, according to an FDA letter dated Dec. 17, 2021.

The second petition contained 10 publicly available studies that evaluated the effect of acacia gum consumption on postprandial blood glucose and insulin. The FDA drew conclusions from five of the studies.

Acacia gum may be used in applications such as beverages, cereal bars, baked foods and dairy products, according to Importer Services Corp. (ISC), Edison, NJ. It is a crucial ingredient in the production of a stable beverage emulsion. When spray dried, it prevents evaporation and oxidative deterioration of flavor/fragrance oils.

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“Acacia fiber is easy to use in a large array of nutritional applications, and we are convinced it has a huge potential for food and drink developers who want to formulate healthy, natural and organic products,” said Mathieu Dondain, managing director of Nexira, which has a US office in Somerville, NJ. “As the first Carbon Neutral brand of ingredients, inavea (Nexira’s branded acacia gum ingredient) now carries additional claims, to satisfy the demands of manufacturers and end consumers. Nexira would like to thank all of its customers for their patience and for believing in our acacia fiber and its multiple benefits. We extended our capacity in prevision of this promising outcome and are hoping to soon manufacture acacia products in the USA.”