If a box, wrapper or carton extolls its contents as “all natural,” it probably isn’t. Since it doesn’t fit under a strictly regulated definition, the word “natural” covers a myriad of sins (including beaver’s butt and pesticide drenched GMOs… yeah).
One such sin in “natural” and even certified organic food is carrageenan.
A Unnatural Awakening
I first awoke to this sneaky additive years before my passion ignited for whole foods. At the suggestion of a naturopath, I had given up cow dairy and instead tried a switch to non-dairy milk. During one shopping trip at Whole Foods, I innocently picked up four varieties of these uber-processed fake foods for a taste test.
Back at home, I sampled each and decided one brand of hemp milk tasted the least offensive. But a day later, I was experiencing excruciating heartburn after each meal. Two painful days later, I realized my heartburn only occurred shortly after drinking the hemp milk!
Analyzing the ingredients with a fine tooth comb, I pinpointed carrageenan as the problem. Since then, I have avoided this sneaky additive like the plague. And you should, too, even if you don’t feel its corrosive properties.
What is carrageenan?
A seaweed-derived ingredient, manufacturers use this additive to thicken and emulsify everything from cottage cheese to juice. Since seaweed is a low-allergy, non-animal derived source, natural and organic companies tend to favor it.
Perhaps the most notorious source of this thickener is non-dairy milks, everything from hazelnut milk to oat milk. But it also commonly appears in everything from cottage cheese to frozen pizzas!
Why is carrageenan harmful?
How is carrageenan harmful, since is it just seaweed? Seaweed is good for us, right? Nope, not this seaweed.
Just because something is natural, like seaweed, doesn’t mean it is beneficial to eat in the first place (want a plate of Death Cap mushrooms, anyone?). But the processing of carrageenan as an additive adds to its toxicity.
Carrageenan falls into two main categories: degraded and undegraded:
- Degraded carrageenan causes cancer in lab animals, it is considered a “possible human carcinogen.”
Animal experiments may provide the most shocking example of the internally corrosive properties of degraded carrageenan. Not because these studies test the toxicity of this additive, but because scientists give rats degraded carrageenan to induce colitis! (Source)
- Undegraded carrageenan is considered “food grade” and is used as an additive. Many companies choose to believe that this type of carrageenan doesn’t carry the toxic effects of the degraded variety. It does.
First, every sample of undegraded carrageenan tested shows the presence of degraded carrageenan… as much as 25% of the sample! Undegraded carrageenan also can turn into degraded carrageenan in the intestinal tract (source).
Dr. Tobacman, an associate professor at the University of Illinois College of Medicine, conducted numerous studies and found that undegraded carrageenan leads to malignancies, inflammation and stomach problems. Even the small amount in a serving of processed food is enough to cause inflammation (source).
How do I avoid carrageenan?
- Don’t place unwavering trust in marketing. Unfortunately, many advertisers will tell you their product is healthy and natural, even when that is far from the truth. The responsibility to protect your body lies with you… not so-called “natural” food companies.
- Find homemade alternatives to carrageenan-laden, processed options. You will have full control over ingredient quality and save money. If you want some safe dairy-free milk options, try homemade nut or seed milk. You just need a nut milk bag and a recipe! If you’re looking for non-dairy ice cream, just grab a can of quality coconut milk and my Pinterest board chock full of easy ice cream recipes.
- Explore the Cornucopia.org list for companies who use or avoid carrageenan in their specific products. You may wish to print this out and take it on your shopping trips.
Do you avoid carrageenan? Have you noticed it on the ingredients list of products in your health food store?
I was getting excruciating colitis like cramping and pain… doubled over in pain, couldn’t move. Took me a while to figure out it was the carrageenan in the Almond milk I was drinking. Thank GOD I discovered that it was the carrageenan otherwise I would have been sick all the time and probably would have ended up with a colostomy!
That stuff is nasty!
Carrageenan is even in some processed frozen chicken breasts, beware!
Nasty stuff is right! It’s hiding everywhere, I’ve seen it in frozen chicken breasts and sliced deli meats.
Had anyone bothered to be tested for nut or seed allergies ? After ‘Dr’ Tobacmans faux par in the miss information of carrageenan. It’s a shame that instead of an allergen test, one can simply jump on the miss information band wagon of ‘Dr’ Tobacman. Simpler I suppose. Jen
No other allergies here. Carrageenan gives me MONO like symptoms including very fast swelling of the throat. I carry an epi pen for it. Doctor ran an allergy test for it at my request, and it was positive, but they really had no way of measuring danger levels, etc. because other things get blamed.
For those of us out there that have a shell fish/sea salt/iodine allergy this ingrediant is deadly Carrageenan is the thing that nearly killed me this past August I had to use my epi pen because of the closing of my throat I have tried contacting the companies about this, fda canada and health canada (at least health canada are looking into it now and are looking to change the wording on the lables and did not laugh at me about this) I tried even contacting the television news stations and they all laughed at me problem is this use of my epi pen costs over $104.00 and how many others are there out there I only had one spoonful of sour cream Yes I am serious what do we need to do a class action suite against all the companies and instutions who use this ingredent in our foods?
Is there any almond milk out there that doesn’t have carrageenan in it?
I’ve found quite a few almond milks without carrageenan. Where I live, brands like Almond Breeze have even taken it out of their products (Trader Joe’s still has it in theirs, though). I do want to try making my own, though, but if you’re unable to/don’t want to, just check the ingredient list. Coconut milk, on the other hand, is a bit harder for me, personally to find a carrageenan-free version.
Our almond breeze in Canada still contains it. Bummer. I make my own at home now but I do miss the creaminess of it.
Now what about guar gum? I can’t find coconut milk without it. Do I have I make that too? Lol.
Megs, I recently found a coconut brand at my local health food store (Vancouver Island) called Natural Value that doesn’t have any nasty additives and comes in a BPA free can.
Megs, refrigerated Silk True Almond has no carrageenan added, although it does contain gums as emulsifiers.
Friendly Farms (brand at Aldi) does not have it.
I want to thank you for doing this as such a *complete* article. When I lived in Ireland we bought Carageenan whole and dried and we used it in a medicinal drink whenever anyone had colds and flues (with honey, orange innards and lemon peel)… when I returned to the U.S. I was in a used book store and found a book on cancer which listed Carageenan as a carcinogen and that got me to finding out what was happening to it before it was added into our food. Mind you, I think there is a difference between using Carageenan as an occasional medicinal drink (the seaweed was removed after the hot water cooled) and eating a little bit of the ground version every day hidden away in the other foods that we eat — but we also need to understand that when we process foods we change fundamental things, just like we need to understand that food is also chemistry… for example, black tea may be rich in antioxidants but when you add milk to the tea you are blocking their absorption (the Brits did a big study on tea since it’s such a major drink there, as in Ireland).
I’m so glad this post was helpful to you! And thanks for sharing your perspective as someone who lived in Europe, in regards to how carrageenan is used there.
Will it say carageenan on the label or is it on label under another name?
Although I would like to take your advice on avoiding over processed foods such as carrageenan I do have a few issues. You have said that carrageenan can cause cancer in lab rats. Once a study is conducted in animals it needs to be done on human cells, then if significant findings, it will go to a Phase 1 trial. Even after a Phase 1 trial is conducted, it still has to go through rigorous standards (random control trials) before someone can say there is causation between one thing and another. I just wanted to post this, before anyone gets scared and avoids an ingredient without the proper evidence. There may be an effect, but much much more research needs to be done. With no statistics or significant findings, the article lacks credibility. Even the doctor that you cited would agree.
Though I agree, Jill, that several more steps need to be taken before causation can be proven, shouldn’t that perhaps incline us to fully test a product BEFORE we add it to so many of our foods? This is the problem with us. We forget how young our developed world is as a whole, and we get impatient with waiting, and we want everything now now now, and we rush things through from creation to distribution without proper testing happening. We claim health, we claim “no causative links have been shown between this thing and cancer”, but that’s usually simply because we haven’t taken the time. We need to slow things down, and force companies to do the same, because otherwise they will simply continue pushing things out in the name of profit. We are bouncing boards to dollar bills for these companies, so let’s at least make them work for it in our defense.
Great comment, thanks Dan!
Amen on the slowing down!
Excellent comment Dan! I went through school and now have an MSc and a PhD. So I really respect the scientific process and the need for further testing. But I completely agree that this should be done BEFORE an ingredient is deemed safe.
And since this was not in the right order, kudos to you, Lauren for bringing awareness to the issue. Even if it isn’t scientifically proven, you have given people something to consider for their OWN health. 🙂
It’s an easy trap to fall into when we have health issues, but don’t throw the baby out with the bath water. Carrageen (but not the processed junk) does have health benefits in moderation, for those who don’t react to it.
Sally Fallon Morell wrote in Nourishing Traditions (p. 594) about carrageen and the gel it contains, carrageenan: “Unfortunately, some individuals have adverse reactions, particularly in commercial preparations. This may be because, like all seaweed, carrageen moss contains long-chain sugars that some people have difficulty digesting. . . . used in moderation as a tea, Irish moss seems to be helpful for digetive disorders, including ulcers, kidney ailments, heart disease and glandular irregularities. It is high in carotenoids, iodine, iron, sulphur, sodium, copper and numerous trace elements.”
I am (obviously) a huge proponent of Nourishing Traditions and Sally’s work, but in this case, I don’t mind throwing the baby out with the bath water. The carrageenan that 99% of us will ever consume is the processed variety from processed food… and this doesn’t have any redeeming properties. And in regards to the carrageenan plant, I think we can get the benefits from other whole foods/supplements instead of this widely problematic option.
Have you checked to see if carrageenan goes by other names? I’m pretty sure I read that there are some accepted variations and to make sure we know what they are when selecting food products.
The link at the end of my comment was very helpful…quite detailed….I’m wondering if some people react strongly due to the sulfates present. I am trying to avoid ingesting Carrageenan due to the fact I have been diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis and am experiencing relief through dietary changes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrageenan
I can’t consume this nasty additive either! Everytime I try a milk with this ingredient, my stomach acts up for days! Even just 1 tbsp. in coffee sends me for a tailspin. I have found my FAVORITE carrageenan-free brand to be Silk Pure Almond Unsweetened Vanilla. It is the ONLY non-dairy milk that has no gums, inulin, carrageenan, msg, soy, etc. I love it! It also tastes much better than other brands if you ask me, and has more calcium and magnesium than other brands. Thanks for sharing this! I find it a little tough to not be able to enjoy so many foods that others can too, and some people don’t seem to understand, but listening to your gut is SO important. Thanks for reminding us all of this:) You’re not alone!
Heather,
I once thought the Silk brand almond milk was the better choice because it didn’t contain carageenan, however, it’s far from “pure”. After closer examination of the ingredients, I noticed it contains gums (locust bean and gellan) plus “natural flavors” which always concern me because that could mean anything and lord knows where the natural flavors were derived from (I read recently that beaver’s butt was common!).
INGREDIENTS: Almondmilk (Filtered Water, Almonds), Sea Salt, Locust Bean Gum, Sunflower Lecithin, Gellan Gum, Natural Flavor.
I do appreciate the non GMO Verified label on their almond milk though.
I have been making my own almond milk for a few weeks now and while I love that I control the ingredients, I have to admit that for me, it’s a cumbersome process (soaking, rinsing, blending, straining) and the convenience of the packaged stuff is always enticing. If only I could find a brand whose ingredients read: almonds and water!
Carageenan seems to be everywhere, even reputable organic companies use it – I just looked at my package of sliced turkey packages from Applegate and Heidi’s Organics and they both have it!
That’s why we switched from Applegate lunch meat to Organic Prairie – no carageenan.
I’m not familiar with that brand. I’ll have to see if my local WholeFoods carries it. Thanks Beth!
Thanks for this article as I have been having trouble also. This isn’t going to be a pleasant post but here it goes…I had all this itching on my bottom. I went to the doctor at the women’s center where I live and they couldn’t figure it out..it was like a very bad yeast infection on my anus. It was going on for a month! I told them what things I did to fix it including, vaginal meds, hemorrhoid meds, washing without soap, rinsing and rinsing, using unscented TP, the list goes on…Finally out of frustration I went to my regular MD. He concluded I was allergic to toilet paper. Which apparently many people are. Nuts! That’s what I thought too. So he had me use a prescription hemorrhoid medication and only rinse with water to see what would happen. Most of the time the inflammation went away but I noticed it came back when I had the almond milk the day before. So I did a test the next couple of weeks and sure enough it kept coming back. I looked on the carton and there it was….carrageenan. I was very ticked to say the least. So now I do not buy anything with it in it and I am feeling much better. I am still scared to put toilet paper to my rear end just in case as I have multiple allergies. Hope this helps someone else if they are going through the same problem and don’t want to talk about it. It makes you think that YOU ARE crazy.
You are not crazy and your body is not crazy… it was telling you something was not right and good for you for being a detective and finding what this was!
Right. Consider your body and its messages like a wise teacher.
Can I just ask, if like you said you have a “yeast infection”. Why would any MD prescribe haemorrhoid cream. I mean, to a yeast infection ? Have you been allergy tested for nuts and seeds ? Have you been tested for candida , which IS a yeast infection that can affect skin anywhere on or in the body and can easily be treated holistically. Good luck, Jen
Carrageen is even in Tom’s of Main NATURAL toothpaste! Do you think it would affect someone with UC even if you just spit it out?