Post by CollieSlave on Apr 25, 2017 9:50:11 GMT
Just seen this on 'All about dog food' website -
Carrageenan is an extract of seaweed that has been used as a food additive for hundreds of years. It is widely used in the pet food industry, especially in wet foods, as a gelling, thickening, and stabilising agent. Despite it's widespread use and long heritage, though, carrageenan is cited by many as one of the most potentially problematic additives out there.
A whole host of studies have linked food grade carrageenan (also known as un-degraded carrageenan or just CGN) to gastrointestinal inflammation as well as higher rates of intestinal lesions, ulcerations, and even malignant tumours. Degraded carrageenan, though, is far more potent and is routinely used to induce inflammation in lab animals so that scientists can test anti-inflammation drugs. There is some concern that the acid environment of the stomach may degrade food-grade carrageenan to form the widely recognised carcinogen dCGN.
While food grade carrageenan is still permitted as a food additive for both animal and human consumption, it has been banned from infant formula in the EU for precautionary reasons.
As far as we're concerned, the pros of carrageenan could never outweigh the potential cons so we recommend giving it a wide berth.
It's apparently used in some Lily's Kitchen food (e.g. Organic Supper). Dunno what other dog foods (or, come to that, human foods) contain the stuff.
It is, I find, used as a thickener and emulsifier to improve the texture of ice cream, yogurt (including organic yogurt), cottage cheese, soy milk, almond milk, and other processed foods.
Carrageenan is an extract of seaweed that has been used as a food additive for hundreds of years. It is widely used in the pet food industry, especially in wet foods, as a gelling, thickening, and stabilising agent. Despite it's widespread use and long heritage, though, carrageenan is cited by many as one of the most potentially problematic additives out there.
A whole host of studies have linked food grade carrageenan (also known as un-degraded carrageenan or just CGN) to gastrointestinal inflammation as well as higher rates of intestinal lesions, ulcerations, and even malignant tumours. Degraded carrageenan, though, is far more potent and is routinely used to induce inflammation in lab animals so that scientists can test anti-inflammation drugs. There is some concern that the acid environment of the stomach may degrade food-grade carrageenan to form the widely recognised carcinogen dCGN.
While food grade carrageenan is still permitted as a food additive for both animal and human consumption, it has been banned from infant formula in the EU for precautionary reasons.
As far as we're concerned, the pros of carrageenan could never outweigh the potential cons so we recommend giving it a wide berth.
It's apparently used in some Lily's Kitchen food (e.g. Organic Supper). Dunno what other dog foods (or, come to that, human foods) contain the stuff.
It is, I find, used as a thickener and emulsifier to improve the texture of ice cream, yogurt (including organic yogurt), cottage cheese, soy milk, almond milk, and other processed foods.
