It’s almost twenty years since SimplyThick came onto the market. The thickener was granted approval by the Food and Drug Association (FDA).
SimplyThick Gel arrived on the market in 2001 as a Food and Beverage Thickener for Dysphagia, a disorder characterised by difficulty swallowing. John L. Holahan – a chemical engineer – invented the gel-based thickener using xanthan gum while studying at Washington University.
Unlike typical starch-based thickeners that mostly come in powder form, SimplyThick is marketed as having no impact on taste, as well as no congealing, and no residue is left at the bottom of a glass.
It was considered a revolution in thickening agents and could be used for a variety of food and beverages, more so than most other thickeners could.
The company’s new EasyMix thickener designed for geriatric patients was launched in February 2018.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwmntpU_iCI
As SimplyThick is based on xanthan gum, it is a huge improvement over other thickeners that clump to cause lumps in the liquid. Those lumps caused by other products are not only unappealing, they are concentrated thickener, which is hard to swallow.
The product is easily added to the fluid to be thickened, either hot or cold. It can even be added to hot coffee, as long as it is below the recommended maximum temperature.
According to the company’s own blind taste tests, SimplyThick is preferred by nearly 90% of people who took the tests. A big part of the reason is that it is unnoticeable in foods and beverages. Another reason is that, unlike other thickeners, it maintains its thickness and does not separate out
Now, after 16 years of development, SimplyThick is the premiere thickener brand, because it is smooth, flavorless, and reliable. People who use the product say it provides a pleasant eating experience and cuts fluid preparation time in half.
It has been noted that some dry beverage mixes may not thicken properly when they are mixed with water, and SimplyThick is added to the mix to thicken them. For those products, it is recommended to first add SimplyThick to the water, and after the water is properly thickened, add it to the dry beverage mix. One product that may require this order of application is hot chocolate powder.
