A process for forming a silver halide photographic emulsion is disclosed comprising precipitating silver halide grains in an aqueous dispersing medium to which has been added silver and halide salt solutions while agitating the dispersing medium, wherein the precipitation is done in the presence of an antifoamant which comprises a hydrophobic group containing nonionic mono- or di-saccharide compound having an HLB number of between 2 and 12. The antifoamant material may be delivered to the aqueous dispersing medium as a small particle dispersion, made with the same peptizer used for manufacturing the emulsion or another stabilizer. A further embodiment of the invention is directed towards a silver halide photographic material comprising a support upon which is coated at least one light sensitive silver halide emulsion layer, comprising a silver halide emulsion precipitated in accordance with the described process.