What Is Wrong with Carrageenan?

Carrageenan may be harmful to human health and may cause bloating, inflammation, and digestive problems.

Carrageenan is a food additive used in various food products as a stabilizing and emulsifying agent. It is derived from red seaweed and is often added to foods such as nut milk, yogurt, cottage cheese, and meat products. It's a controversial and debatable topic of concern due to some researchers claiming carrageenan to be a toxic substance, while some in the food industry and other experts have refuted the claims.

Since the 1960s, there has been a lot of research that has found carrageenan to be harmful for human consumption. However, all of these studies have been in animals or cells outside the body (in vitro). No studies have been conducted on humans. On the other hand, there have been studies that have not found carrageenan harmful, and some studies claim benefits too.

Learn more about carrageenan’s uses, benefits, and side effects.

Even though carrageenan adds no nutritional value, taste, or flavor to food and beverages, it is widely used by the food industry.

The commonly acclaimed uses and benefits of carrageenan include the following:

• It is an acceptable product for vegans and vegetarians because it is a plant-based product and can be used in place of animal fats, or gelatin, which is made from animal collagen.
• It is used as a substitute for fat in low-fat and non-fat products, to provide the fatty texture. Using carrageenan instead of fats can be useful for reducing cholesterol levels.
• It stabilizes chocolate milk and nutritional shakes and prevents them from separating.
• It is used instead of brine to tenderize low-fat and low-sodium deli meats and keep them juicy. This can be beneficial for people on a low-sodium diet.

Some studies suggest carrageenan is barely metabolized in the digestive tract and nearly all of it passes intact in the stools. On the contrary, several lab and animal studies indicate regular consumption of carrageenan may be harmful to humans.

Traditionally, carrageenan was extracted simply by boiling seaweed in water or milk and was used in small amounts in food preparations or for medicinal purposes. Now it is extracted commercially on a large scale, using alkali solutions. Scientists claim that industrial production alters its chemistry and makes carrageenan harmful to consume, although the seaweed in its original form is not.

Is carrageenan bad for you?

According to some lab and animal studies, potential carrageenan side effects could include:

• Intestinal inflammation
• Exacerbation of inflammatory conditions such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis
• Intestinal ulceration
• Growth of colon polyps
• Colorectal and liver cancers
• Glucose intolerance and insulin resistance
• Allergic reaction
• Immune suppression
• Fetal toxicity and birth defects if consumed during pregnancy

Two varieties of carrageenan are available, which include:

1. Food-grade carrageenan processed with alkali that has a high molecular weight
2. Non-food-grade carrageenan (degraded carrageenan) processed with acid which gets degraded into smaller particles, and has a low molecular weight

Effectively, the distinction between the two grades of carrageenan is the pH level of the solution in which they are processed and their molecular weights, but these differences alter their properties hugely. One is considered a safe food additive, although the point is controversial, while the other is a known carcinogen.

Food-grade carrageenan is U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved in the United States for use as a food additive. In November 2016, the National Organic Standards Board voted to remove carrageenan from the list of substances allowed in food items labeled “USDA Organic,” however it continues to be “generally recognized as safe (GRAS)” by the FDA.

Degraded carrageenan, also known as poligeenan, is a proven carcinogen (cancer-causing substance) and is not approved for use in foods. Poligeenan has long been used to induce inflammation in animals for research purposes. However, researchers have found poligeenan labeled as carrageenan in some products. In some of them, it was as much as 25 percent.

A 2017 review said even food-grade carrageenan can cause inflammation and lead to digestive illnesses. However, in a majority of the studies on carrageenan’s potential to cause inflammation, it was administered in water, which is different from being used as a food additive. In food, it is bound to protein and is not significantly metabolized or absorbed in the digestive tract. It was not found to affect nutrient absorption or the immune system significantly. Scientists petitioning for carrageenan to be dropped from the FDA GRAS list believe even food-grade carrageenan can become degraded and turn into poligeenan after it comes into contact with acid in the stomach. Yet, studies have shown that 98-100% of carrageenan is excreted in the stools without significant degradation by the stomach acid or bacteria. It is still probable that a small amount of carrageenan is degraded in the gastrointestinal tract.

A 2018 review found no bad effect of food-grade carrageenan on human health.

Carrageenan-containing products should not be contaminated with more than five percent (considered a safe level) of degraded carrageenan. When the carrageenan manufacturers' trade group was asked to test 12 samples of food-grade carrageenan, every sample had more than the safe level of the degraded carrageenan.

Many people have reported bad experiences with carrageenan on their health. This includes side effects such as bloating and irritable bowel syndrome (manifesting as diarrhea, bloating, belly pain, or cramps). They found relief when they discontinued carrageenan-containing products from their diet. However, the lobby in favor of carrageenan has deemed these reports as inconclusive due to a lack of clinical trials to substantiate the same. Due to potential health risks, researchers are reluctant to conduct human trials to prove their point.

The food industry is against dropping carrageenan from the composition of their products, as it makes organic food tasty and palatable due to its fatty texture and acceptable taste. They believe if such an important additive is removed, it may lead to people completely avoiding eating organic foods.

Research on carrageenan is still ongoing to find the actual impact of its consumption on the human body.

Scientists have been urging the government to ban the use of carrageenan as a food additive. They strongly feel that carrageenan-containing products are highly unsafe for human consumption. But these are animal- and cell-line-based studies, and studies on humans are yet to be carried out to prove the propositions put forward by the researchers.

Scientists believe that carrageenan can induce inflammation and lead to chronic illnesses such as diabetes, digestive disorders, heart diseases, neurological disorders, and even something as serious as cancer. Until more data are available on the effects and safety of carrageenan use as a food additive, it is best to avoid or at least limit its consumption, especially considering there is no way of knowing if it is contaminated with poligeenan, and by what percentage.

Because carrageenan does not have any nutritional value, nor is it low in calories, it does not harm to eliminate it from your diet. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has made it mandatory for food manufacturers to mention clearly on their food products if they contain carrageenan. In the absence of a stabilizer such as carrageenan, your drink may tend to separate, but you can just shake the bottle and drink it.

Some people report eliminating carrageenan from the diet has helped relieve the troubles with their digestion such as bloating and diarrhea. If you experience similar symptoms, see if discontinuing carrageenan-containing products helps you. Some people have experienced allergic reactions, and carrageenan allergy symptoms have included anaphylaxis, a serious reaction that can be a medical emergency.

What foods contain carrageenan?

If you wish to eliminate carrageenan from your diet, foods to avoid can include:

• Non-dairy milks such as soy and nut milks
• Chocolate milk
• Yogurt
• Cottage cheese
• Infant formula
• Protein shakes and powders
• Jelly puddings
• Deli meats
• Ready-to-eat foods such as frozen burritos and pizza
• Popsicles
• Ice creams

Even infant formulas can have them. Look at labels for mention of carrageenan as an additive in the products you buy.

Talk to a doctor if you continue to experience health issues even after discontinuing carrageenan from your diet. This may mean that there is something other than carrageenan that is causing your symptoms.

What is carrageenan used for?

Carrageenan is used as a food additive in a wide variety of foods. It is used by the food industry for thickening, gelling, emulsifying, and stabilizing many foods. It is used to stabilize and provide texture to low-fat and non-fat dairy products such as cocoa milk, yogurt, cheese, and cream. It is used in infant formulas, and other products such as protein powders and shakes, like nut or soya milk. It is used in jams and jellies, popsicles and ice cream, soups and sauces, frozen foods, and meat products. It is used in the process of making wine and beer. It is also used in products such as toothpaste.

Is carrageenan harmful to humans?

Study results on the safety of carrageenan for human consumption are mixed. Some scientific studies show that carrageenan does not get metabolized or altered in the stomach, and almost all of it is excreted without being absorbed or having any effect on the digestive system except for diarrhea or loose stools in some people.

Research by other equally reputed scientists shows it may cause inflammation, and even food-grade carrageenan can get degraded in the stomach acid and become poligeenan, which is known to be carcinogenic. An additional concern is the contamination of carrageenan with poligeenan. Chemical analyses have found that several products contained unsafe levels of poligeenan in them.

Even with food-grade carrageenan, current research does not provide conclusive evidence for either the safety of the ingredient or its harmful effects as a food additive. Occasional consumption by healthy adults may not cause harm, but it is perhaps best avoided until there is definitive evidence that it is not harmful.

What is another name for carrageenan?

The chemical name of the carrageenan group of substances is sulfate esters of polygalactose. There are three major types of carrageenan, namely, iota, kappa, and lambda, all of which are used in the food industry.

Carrageenan's other names include:

• Irish moss
• Red algae
• Sea moss carrageenan
• Seaweed extract

Is carrageenan same as agar?

Both carrageenan and agar are red seaweed extracts, but they are different substances, extracted from different seaweeds, although some of their uses overlap. The two are different in their physical properties such as the temperatures at which they are soluble, their gelling process, and ability.

Some of the differences between agar and carrageenan are:

• Agar forms strong gels. Among the three types of carrageenan, kappa forms strong gels, iota forms weak and elastic gels, while lambda does not form gels and is used primarily for thickening.
• Agar does not need an external agent to form a gel, while carrageenan needs the addition of salts or sugars.
• Agar has a lower calorific count than all other thickeners, including carrageenan.

What is carrageenan made from?

Carrageenan is extracted from the Eucheuma and Gigartina species of red seaweed. In the olden days when it was first used in Ireland, people just boiled the seaweed in water with a little salt, added a bit of alcohol, and put it in a blender to extract carrageenan. Now it is produced commercially by processing the seaweed in an alkaline solution.