A stabilizer is a food additive that keeps a product’s physical state steady: it stops ingredients from separating, settling or crystallising and helps the texture last through the shelf life. Most stabilizers are carbohydrates that bind water, such as plant gums and modified starches, though some salts and proteins also do this job.
In ice cream, stabilizers hold water so that large ice crystals do not form during storage. Corner Chocolate Flavoured Ice Cream In Sandwich Wafer uses guar gum (INS 412), locust bean gum (INS 410) and xanthan gum (INS 415). In chips they help seasonings and doughs hold together: Lay’s Stax Original lists acetylated starch (INS 1420), while some other Lay’s flavours use starch sodium octenyl succinate (INS 1450) and gum arabic (INS 414).
Stabilizers in the Codex INS list are approved for food use. Because “stabilizer” only names a function, labels follow it with the specific substance or its INS number.
