Gellan Gum

What it is

Gellan gum is a high molecular weight polysaccharide grown rather than extracted: it is made by aerobic fermentation using the bacterium Pseudomonas elodea, then recovered by alcohol precipitation, dried and milled. Its trick is setting a clear, soft gel at tiny concentrations - reported cosmetic use runs from 0.0004 to 0.5% - which is exactly what a jelly or hydrogel mask needs to hold its shape without feeling heavy.

What it does well

• Sets a shape-holding gel at a fraction of a per cent

  The gelling behaviour is well characterised and unusually efficient, which is why the reported use range tops out at 0.5%. Treated with alkali it thickens much less, so formulators can dial the texture from a firm slice to a soft gel. None of this is a claim about skin.

  Strong evidence

Worth knowing

• Texture only, with no effect of its own on skin

  Gellan gum's recorded functions are all structural - viscosity, film forming, binding, emulsion stabilising. Whatever a jelly mask does for you comes from the water it holds against the skin and from the rest of the list, not from the gum.

Where the EU stands

Sources (2)

Every link goes to the original: a journal, a PubMed record or an EU document.

1. [1]
   Safety Assessment of Microbial Polysaccharide Gums as Used in Cosmetics

   Cosmetic Ingredient Review, International Journal of Toxicology 35:5S-49S · 2016 · doi:10.1177/1091581816651606

   Gellan Gum is named in the Expert Panel's safe list; the assessment covered 34 microbial polysaccharide gums and found them safe in cosmetic formulations in the present practices of use and concentration, with reported functions including emulsion stabiliser, film former, binder, viscosity-increasing agent and skin-conditioning agent. The supporting report describes gellan gum as a high molecular weight heteropolysaccharide produced by fermentation with Pseudomonas elodea. Checked 16 August 2026.

2. [2]
   Quick Reference Table: ingredients found safe in the present practices of use and concentration

   Cosmetic Ingredient Review · 2017

   The Cosmetic Ingredient Review quick reference table lists Gellan Gum with an S conclusion - safe in the present practices of use and concentration - over a reported use range of 0.0004 to 0.5%. Checked 16 August 2026.