CARRAGEENAN AND ITS USE AS A FOOD ADDITIVE

Carrageenan and its Use as a Food Additive:

A Review of Animal Studies and Safety for Human Consumption
Katherine Kern

CARRAGEENAN AND ITS USE AS A FOOD ADDITIVE

Russell Sage CollegeCarrageenan and its Use as a Food Additive:

A Review of Animal Studies and Safety for Human Consumption
Carrageenan is a storage polysaccharide that is extracted from species of red seaweeds
(McKim, 2014). Its viscosifying properties have led to its use as a food additive, primarily as a
gelling, thickening, and stabilizing agent (McKim, 2014). For centuries, whole seaweed plants
have been used in recipes for making jellies and puddings (Stanley, 1987). In fact, the word
carrageenan was derived from the Irish word carraigeen, meaning Irish moss (Stanley, 1987).
Irish moss is a common term for the Chondrus crispus species of seaweed, from which
carrageenan may be extracted (Stanley, 1987). Historically, carrageenan-producing species of
seaweeds have also been used for food in Asian countries (Stanley, 1987). It has continued to be
used to the present day as a food additive.
According to the Food and Drug Administration, carrageenan is a Generally Recognized
As Safe (GRAS) food additive. It has been used in the food industry for decades in products
such as ice cream, milk, cottage cheese, whipped cream, yogurt, and jellies (McKim, 2014). It
is also used in infant formula and foods labeled Kosher, Halal, and organic (Weiner, 2014). Its
use is not limited to the food industry, as it is also used in personal care products and oral
medications. In addition to the GRAS status granted by the FDA, the European Commission
(2003) concluded that up to 75mg/kg body weight is an acceptable daily intake of carrageenan,
and noted that intakes are well below this threshold. JECFA noted in 2002 that the estimated
intake in the United States and Europe ranged from 28-51 mg per day, below the ADI set by the
European Commission (European Commission, 2003). Despite the decades of use as a food
additive and consensus about its safety among government bodies and regulatory agencies, many
consumers believe carrageenan is unsafe for consumption.
The purpose of this paper is to review the chemical structure of carrageenan, its
relationship to poligeenan, and the plausibility of the degradation of carrageenan in the human

CARRAGEENAN AND ITS USE AS A FOOD ADDITIVE

digestive tract. It will also review past and present animal studies of the safety of carrageenan,
and discuss considerations that must be taken into account when evaluating animal studies and
their relationships to humans. This review will support the safety of carrageenan as a food
additive for human consumption.
Chemical Structure
Carrageenan is a polysaccharide composed of repeating units of galactose, some of which
are sulfated (Weiner, 2014). The galactose units are linked by alternating alpha (1-3) and beta (14) glycosidic bonds (McKim 2014). Different forms of carrageenan vary in sulfation and
conformation, and the three major forms of carrageenan are lambda, kappa, and iota
carrageenan (McKim, 2014). The negatively charged sulfate groups on the galactose backbone
interact with and bind to protein side chains which have a positive charge (Weiner, 2014). They
may also interact with other cations (Weiner, 2014). In addition, carrageenan molecules interact
with each other to form helices (Weiner, 2014). These interactions give carrageenan its functional
properties in food, such as forming sols and gels.
Carrageenan takes on forms when dissolved in water, as there are no proteins or cations
to bind with. Because of this, carrageenan takes on a random conformation with free sulfate
groups (Weiner, 2014). This conformation of carrageenan may have an effect on the
gastrointestinal mucosa as the free sulfate groups may cause irritation (Weiner, 2014). In contrast
to this, when carrageenan is bound to protein the molecular bondsare strong and difficult to
break (Weiner, 2014). This becomes an important consideration for research as the way
carrageenan is administered, in water or in substances with protein or cations, may have an effect
on the outcomes.
Carrageenan vs. Poligeenan
Carrageenan and poligeenan are related substances, but have important differences.
Poligeenan is produced from carrageenan by subjecting it to acid hydrolysis at a low pH (0.91.3) at high temperatures (>80C) for extended periods of time (McKim, 2014). Poligeenan

CARRAGEENAN AND ITS USE AS A FOOD ADDITIVE

differs from carrageenan in its molecular weight; carrageenan has a molecular weight between
200,000-800,000 Da, while poligeenan has a molecular weight between 10,000-20,000 Da
(McKim, 2014). Poligeenan, although not a food additive, is also known as degraded
carrageenan and has been shown to be responsible for the inflammatory responses in the
intestine (McKim, 2014). It is theoretically possible that carrageenan could be broken down in
the low pH of the stomach, or possibly by intestinal flora, however this has not been shown to
happen (McKim, 2014). The use of the term degraded carrageenan to refer to poligeenan may
have led to confusion about the safety of carrageenan.
Enzymatic Degradation
Carrageenan, due to its large size and high molecular weight, is unlikely to be absorbed in
the human gastrointestinal tract without enzymatic degradation. The enzymes carragenases and
galactosidases are needed to enzymatically break down carrageenan (McKim, 2014). As with
other structural polysaccharides, humans do not have the necessary enzymes to accomplish this.
Humans do have the enzyme amylase, which cleaves alpha (1-4) glycosidic bonds in starch, but
does not recognize the beta (1-4) bond found in carrageenan. However, humans do have the
enzyme lactase, which cleaves the beta (1-4) bonds in lactose. Lactase may be capable of
recognizing and cleaving other molecules with beta (1-4) bonds (McKim, 2014). However, this
cleavage has only been shown to happen in vitro, and is unlikely to happen in the human
intestine especially due to the large size of carrageenan molecules (McKim, 2014). In addition,
humans do not have any known enzyme that can cleave the alpha (1-3) bonds found in
carrageenan (McKim, 2014). The large size of carrageenan combined with the lack of necessary
enzymes in humans makes it unlikely to be digested or absorbed.
Considerations for Animal Studies
The safety of carrageenan has been evaluated in scientific studies of its effects on
animals. For safety issues, rats, mice, dogs, and monkeys are commonly used as surrogates for

CARRAGEENAN AND ITS USE AS A FOOD ADDITIVE

humans (McKim, 2014). However, differences between digestive tracts of different species may
lead to different outcomes. Humans and rodents are similar in their inability to break down
structural polysaccharides (McKim, 2014). Differences between the digestive tracts of humans
and rodents include transit time, absorption, digestion, and bacterial flora (McKim, 2014). In
particular, the stomach pH is higher in rats and mice than in humans, allowing them to have a
higher bacterial population that could aid in the breakdown of materials that could not otherwise
be digested (McKim, 2014).
In addition to anatomical differences, the way carrageenan is administered to animals
must be considered. In many studies, carrageenan is administered to animals in drinking water.
As previously discussed, carrageenan has different conformations in water because there are no
proteins for it to bind to (Weiner, 2013). However, humans do not consume carrageenan in this
manner. Since humans consume carrageenan in foods where it is bound to proteins,
administering it to animals in the same way is likely to give more accurate results (Weiner,
2014). In addition, the molecular weight of the samples used in studies should be measured and
disclosed, as food grade carrageenan has a molecular weight in the range of 200,000-500,000 Da
(McKim, 2014). This helps to determine whether food grade carrageenan or poligeenan was used
in a particular study.
Effects on the Gastrointestinal Tract of Animals
In some early animal studies, carrageenan was shown to have different effects on the
gastrointestinal tract of different species of animal. In one study involving guinea pigs, fourteen
guinea pigs were given a 5% degraded carrageenan solution in drinking water, and four guinea
pigs received no carrageenan as a control group (Watt & Marcus, 1971). The results showed the
entire experimental group lost 10-15% body weight and tested positive for fecal occult blood
after 30 days (Watt & Marcus, 1973). The molecular weight was not specified so the degraded
carrageenan used in this study was likely poligeenan. In another study involving two groups of

CARRAGEENAN AND ITS USE AS A FOOD ADDITIVE

guinea pigs, one group was given 1% poligeenan in water and the other group was given 5%
carrageenan in food (Grasso et. al., 1973). The intestines of the animals were then examined
histologically. The results of this study showed both groups developed colonic ulcerations after
3-5 weeks of treatment (Grasso et. al., 1973). However, another experiment in the same study
examined the effect of 5% carrageenan in diet on ferrets, squirrel monkeys, rabbits, hamsters,
and rats (Grasso et. al., 1973). The results of this experiment showed ulceration in the
gastrointestinal tract of the rabbits only, and the development of slight diarrhea in the rats given
carrageenan (Grasso et. al., 1973). The results of this study show there may be differences in
susceptibility to carrageenan between species, and that guinea pigs and rabbits may be more
susceptible.
Some modern experiments are still examining the safety of carrageenan. In one relatively
recent study, groups of rats were fed carrageenan in their diet at concentrations of 25,000 or
50,000 parts per million for 90 days, and a control group was given a diet with no carrageenan
(Weiner et. al., 2007). The molecular weight of the carrageenan was also verified. A
histopathological examination of the gastrointestinal tract provided no indication of induction of
any inflammatory or proliferative changes (Weiner et. al., 2007). Another more recent study
examined the effects of carrageenan in infant formula on pigs. This study was conducted due to
questions about the safety of carrageenan in infant formulas and a lack of data on the potential
side effects of carrageenan on the gastrointestinal tracts of infants (Weiner et. al., 2015). In this
study, three groups of piglets were fed infant formula with either 300, 1000, or 2250 parts per
million of carrageenan, with a fourth group receiving infant formula with no carrageenan to
serve as a control (Weiner et. al., 2015). The results of a histopathologic evaluation showed no
differences between the gastrointestinal tissues of the control and experimental groups (Weiner

CARRAGEENAN AND ITS USE AS A FOOD ADDITIVE

et. al., 2015). These newer studies add to the evidence that for many species, carrageenan does
not induce ulceration or other gastrointestinal changes.
Conclusion
In conclusion, a review of the literature shows that carrageenan is likely safe for human
consumption as a food additive. This is supported by a review of the chemical structure of
carrageenan and enzymes necessary to degrade, revealing that it is not plausible for humans to
digest or absorb carrageenan (McKim, 2014; Weiner, 2014). Poligeenan, a different but related
structure, has been shown to be harmful to some animals, however poligeenan is not approved
for use as a food additive. Early animal studies showed detrimental gastrointestinal effects in
guinea pigs (Watt & Marcus, 1971; Grasso et. al., 1973). However, this was likely a species
specific effect (Grasso et. al., 1973). More recent animal studies have shown no adverse
gastrointestinal effects in either rats or piglets (Weiner et. al., 2007; Weiner et. al., 2015). In
addition, regulatory bodies such as the FDA have deemed carrageenan to be safe for use as a
food additive. This evidence supports the safety of the use of carrageenan as a food additive, and
recommends that there is no need for human populations in general to avoid food products
containing carrageenan as an ingredient.

CARRAGEENAN AND ITS USE AS A FOOD ADDITIVE

References
European Commission. (2003). Opinion of the scientific committee on food on carrageenan.
Retrieved from http://europa.eu.int/comm/food/fs/sc/scf
Grasso, P., Sharratt, M., Carpanini, F. M. B., & Gangolli, S. D. (1973). Studies on carrageenan
and large-bowel ulceration in mammals. Food and Cosmetics Toxicology, 11(4), 555-564.
McKim, J. M. (2014). Food additive carrageenan: Part I: A critical review of carrageenan in vitro
studies, potential pitfalls, and implications for human health and safety. Critical Reviews
in Toxicology, 44(3), 211-243.
Stanley, N. (1987). Production, properties, and uses of carrageenan. In D. J. McHugh (Ed),
Production and utilization of products from commercial seaweeds. Rome, Italy: Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Retrieved from
http://www.fao.org/docrep/x5822e/x5822e00.htm#Contents
Watt, J., & Marcus, R. (1971). Carrageenan-induced ulceration of the large intestine in the guinea
pig. Gut, 12(2), 164-171.
Weiner, M. L. (2014). Food additive carrageenan: Part II: A critical review of carrageenan in
vivo safety studies. Critical Reviews in Toxicology, 44(3), 244-269.
Weiner, M. L., Ferguson, H. E., Thorsrud, B. A., Nelson, K. G., Blakemore, W. R., Zeigler, B., . .
. Mahadevan, B. (2015). An infant formula toxicity and toxicokinetic feeding study on
carrageenan in preweaning piglets with special attention to the immune system and
gastrointestinal tract. Food and Chemical Toxicology: An International Journal
Published for the British Industrial Biological Research Association, 77, 120-131.
Weiner, M. L., Nuber, D., Blakemore, W. R., Harriman, J. F., & Cohen, S. M. (2007). A 90-day
dietary study on kappa carrageenan with emphasis on the gastrointestinal tract. Food and
Chemical Toxicology, 45(1), 98-106.

CARRAGEENAN AND ITS USE AS A FOOD ADDITIVE