"This has got what in it?!"

The July issue of Food and Wine (foodandwine.com) waxes rhapsodic about the addition of "xanthan gum" to various foods.  Xanthan gum has long been used in commercially-made salad dressing and is an essential tool in molecular-gastronomy kitchens.

Chef Fox, of Commonwealth, San Francisco, says "With xanthan, you can change the texture of a liquid without changing its flavor."  Chef Jesse, of Recette, New York City, uses it to blend oil, lemon juice and water into a vinagrette that won't separate.

It's a whitish powder that can thicken sauces and liquid dressings in an instant, at any temperature.   Old-fashioned thickeners include flour (gravies, rouxes and sauces) and corn starch which is more finely-ground than flour.

But what, exactly,  is this "whitish powder"?  Wikipedia to the rescue!

"Xanthan gum is a polysaccharide, derived from the bacterial coast of Xanthomonas campestris is used as a food additive and rheology modifer, commonly used as a food thickening agent and a stabilizer in cosmetic products to prevent ingredients from separating."

"It is produced by the fermentation of glucose, sucrose or lactose by the Xanthomonas campestris bacterium.  After a fermentation period, the polysacchaaride is preciptated from a growth medium with isopropyl alcohol, dried and ground into a fine powder.  Later, it is added to a liquid medium to form the gun." 

What I learned here is that hit "Control" + "I" and italic type will appear.  what