What is carrageenan? ?!
I've been a vegetarian for several months now, and I'm going full vegan in a couple weeks. I noticed this ingredient in a product that I was eating, so I was just wondering what it is so that I know if I can continue to eat that product.
Answers:
Best Answer - Chosen by Voters
Carrageenan is used as a thickener. You'll find it in a lot of commercial soy milk, ice creams, toothpaste, and many other products. It's from red seaweed, and okay to eat for vegans. But it may not be a good idea to eat too much of it if you can help it, for health reasons. http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/id/QAA44833
Both of the others are right, carragenan and agar are seaweed based gelling agents, I am a former chef and we used it in Nova Scotia Canada when I was a chef, as a seasoning, in soups as a flavouring, it is also known in Canada and the US east coast as "Dulse" it is sun dried or heat done in some areas, and sold in packages, it has loads of iodine, iron, calcium and phosphorus, I use to chew it years back, but it does get caught in your teeth, try using it in foods to, dry it further, buzz it with salt and pepper into a seasoning for foods and it goes nice with beans in soups or add it to salads like lettuce, you can not overdue it.
it is derived from seaweed and used as a gelatin substitute in veggie foods