COMPOSITIONS FOR THICKENING, CHARACTERIZED IN THAT THEY CONTAIN A XANTHAN GUM, WITH 0.5 PARTS BY WEIGHT OR MORE OF A METAL SALT, PER 100 PARTS BY WEIGHT OF XANTHAN GUM, BEING ADHERED TO THE SURFACE OF A POWDER OF THE SAID XANTHAN GUM, WHICH CAN RAPIDLY DEVELOP VISCOSITY BY ADDING SMALL QUANTITIES TO TARGET SUBSTANCES CONTAINING WATER AND WHICH CAN DRASTICALLY SHORTEN PROCESSING TIMES BY CONSUMERS.