Interesting comments on Carrageenan, I checked it out as I drink a lot of Almond milk etc.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrageenan
Regulatory status[edit]
In the U.S., carrageenan is allowed under FDA regulations
[11] as a direct food additive and is considered safe
[12] when used in the amount necessary as an emulsifier, stabilizer, or thickener in foods, except those standardized foods that do not provide for such use. FDA also reviewed carrageenan safety for infant formula.
[13] The European Food Safety Authority concluded "there is no evidence of any adverse effects in humans from exposure to food-grade carrageenan, or that exposure to degraded carrageenan from use of food-grade carrageenan is occurring",
[14]Furthermore, the Joint
FAO/
WHO expert committee on food additives stated in a July 2014 review of carrageenan "that the use of carrageenan in infant formula or formula for special medical purposes at concentrations up to 1000 mg/L is not of concern".
[15]
Although the
National Organic Program (NOP) had added carrageenan to its National List of additives allowed to be included in organic foods in 2003,
[16] and reviewed and reauthorized it in 2008,
[17] noting it as "critical to organic production and handling operations",
[18] on November 18, 2016 the NOP's
National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) voted to recommend carrageenan be removed from the National List of additives allowed in organic food production.
[19] The NOSB’s recommendation is under review by the United States Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS).
[20] If the AMS accepts the NOSB’s recommendation, a proposed rule to remove carrageenan from organic foods will be published to the Federal Register no later than November 2017.
[21]
In the most recent review by an independent panel, the Joint Expert Committee of the
Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations and
World Health Organization on Food Additives released a technical report in 2015 on the use of carrageenan in
infant formula and found that the additive was ‘not of concern’ in infant formula as food for special medical purposes at concentrations up to 1000
milligrams per
litre.
[22] The use of carrageenan in infant formula, organic or otherwise, is prohibited in the EU for precautionary reasons, but is permitted in other food items.
[23]
Toxicity research[edit]
Carrageenan has been studied in laboratory animals for its potential effects on intestinal and immune functions following oral intake or
gavage, with no effects on organ pathology, clinical chemistry,
hematology, or normal health.
[24] Dietary carrageenan had no
carcinogenic,
genotoxic, developmental, or reproductive effects in laboratory animals, and was found to be safe in one study on human infants.
[24]
