Carrageenan may harm the stomach and intestines; the U.S. NOSB resolves to ban it from organic food
Last month, the United States National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) made a surprising decision to remove carrageenan, an additive widely used in foods such as yogurt, ice cream, chocolate, jelly and processed meat products, from the list of allowed organic processed foods. In other words, organic processed foods in the United States will no longer be allowed to use carrageenan. However, this decision still has to be finalized by the United States Department of Agriculture, which will determine the final response in 2018.
Carrageenan is banned in infant food in the European Union (whether organic or non-organic). In Taiwan, China, carrageenan is a legal additive; it can be used not only in general foods but also added to organic processed foods.
In the face of the U.S. decision, domestic organic certification bodies including Tse-Xin Organic Certification Corporation and the Taiwan Formosa Organic Agriculture Development Association are currently unaware of it. The Agriculture and Food Agency, which governs the regulations for organic processed foods, said it is reviewing the country's organic certification standards, and processed and organic food additives are also under discussion. This new U.S. decision will serve as a reference indicator. As for whether Taiwan, China will follow suit, it still needs to be discussed by an expert group, and preliminary results are expected as early as late January.
Carrageenan has wide uses; international research suggests it may harm the stomach and intestines
Carrageenan, also known as carrageenin, is a natural product extracted from red algae as a polysaccharide substance. Carrageenan is hydrophilic and viscous; it can dissolve in hot water at 80 degC to form a viscous transparent liquid, and at room temperature it can also form various gels. In food applications it is often used as a thickener or capsule ingredient. Well-known brands such as the U.S. SWISS MISS milk chocolate powder and the major domestic brand Uni-President Pudding, as well as many organic foods, also contain this ingredient.
However, there has been much international discussion of health concerns about carrageenan. According to a report by the Cornucopia Institute, a U.S. nonprofit organization, carrageenan degrades under high-temperature and acidic conditions, producing extremely small molecular weights. Degraded carrageenan is easily absorbed by the stomach and intestines, but because the human body cannot break it down and use it, there are concerns that it may trigger gastrointestinal inflammation and cause gastrointestinal ulcers.
At present, some international animal experiment reports have shown that feeding degraded carrageenan to mice can cause gastrointestinal inflammation and even cancer.
U.S. NOSB decision to remove it; Taiwan, China may reach a conclusion as early as late January
For many years, civil organizations including the Cornucopia Institute have continuously called on the United States to face this issue. Although in the April discussion of the United States National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) this year, there were still many doubts about removing carrageenan from organic processed foods, including insufficient scientific evidence and the possibility that no substitute could be found for vegetarian capsules, after NOSB met again last month, with more than 2/3 of the review committee members agreeing and one abstention, it overwhelmingly decided to remove carrageenan from the organic use list.
It was mentioned in the meeting that in recent years an increasing proportion of the U.S. food industry has begun to remove carrageenan from the options for additives. Even dairy product manufacturers, where it is very widely used, have begun looking for substances such as gellan gum and xanthan gum as substitutes. It can be said that the necessity of carrageenan's application in the food industry has gradually decreased.
In Taiwan, China, carrageenan is not only widely used in foods such as dairy products, beer, soft candy and bread, but is also allowed for use under our country's regulations for organic agricultural processed products. In the face of the carrageenan decision recently issued by the United States, both Tse-Xin Organic Certification Corporation and the Taiwan Formosa Organic Agriculture Development Association said they were still unaware of it and needed further discussion.
Agriculture and Food Agency: whether to follow suit still needs discussion
Lai Ming-yang, section chief of the Organic Agriculture Section of the Materials Division of the Agriculture and Food Agency, the competent authority, said that judging from the decision of the United States National Organic Standards Board (NOSB), the committee's opinions were not entirely unanimous. NOSB may have adopted high-standard specifications in agreeing with some professional voices. As for whether Taiwan, China might follow suit? He said it would be taken as a reference, but it would also depend on domestic dietary patterns.
Lai Ming-yang said that the Agriculture and Food Agency is currently conducting a comprehensive review of the regulations for domestic organic certification standards, including the area of processing and food additives, which is also undergoing a thorough review and revision. The Agriculture and Food Agency will forward this U.S. decision to an evaluation group for discussion, and preliminary results are expected as early as late January.