Disclosed herein is a composition (composite thickener) that generally contains about 1 wt % to about 99 wt % (e.g., 1 wt % to 99 wt %) corn fiber gum (CFG) and about 99 wt % to about 1 wt % (e.g., 99 wt % to 1 wt %) polymer thickener. The polymer thickener may be anionic polysaccharides, cationic polysaccharide, neutral polysaccharides, or mixtures thereof. When applied to aqueous solutions, CFG produced synergistic effects with one or more polymer thickener components and showed a superior thickening effect than individual CFG and other polymer thickener components.
