A rapid, simple procedure is described for the separation and identification of the individual components of a mixture of common stabilisers, including agar, alginate, gum arabic, carrageenan, carboxymethylcellulose, methylcellulose, pectate, pectinate, gum tragacanth, guar gum and locust bean gum. Separation of the anionic stabilisers from the neutral stabilisers is effected initially by precipitation with cetylpyridinium chloride. Complete fractionation of the two major groups is then performed by using selective precipitation techniques. Reliable confirmatory tests are reported for all the stabilisers.