The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) has reportedly voted 10-3, with one abstention, to remove carrageenan from the national list of substances allowed in organic processing and handling. Held November 16-18, 2016, in St. Louis, Missouri, the NOSB’s semi-annual meeting included a review of carrageenan on the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances that identifies “the synthetic substances that may be used and the nonsynthetic (natural) substances that may not be used in organic crop and livestock production.” Other substances slated for sunset in 2018 include agar-agar, animal enzymes, calcium sulfate-mined, glucono delta-lactone, tartaric acid, cellulose potassium hydroxide, silicon dioxide, and beta-carotene extract for use as a coloring agent. According to news sources, NOSB did not impugn the safety of carrageenan but took into account the availability of other substances to replace the seaweed-based thickening agent. If it accepts NOSB’s recommendation, the National Organic Program…
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A study commissioned by the International Food Additives Council (IFAC) has claimed that when used as a gelling or thickening agent in foods, carrageenan (CGN) causes no adverse effects in human cells. James McKim, Jr., et al., “Effects of carrageenan on cell permeability, cytotoxicity, and cytokine gene expression in human intestinal and hepatic cell lines,” Food and Chemical Toxicology, July 2016. After testing three forms of carrageenan in vitro to evaluate “intestinal permeability, cytotoxicity, and CGN-mediated induction of proinflammatory cytokines,” researchers evidently concluded that intestinal cells did not absorb CGN, which, in turn, was not cytotoxic and did not induce oxidative stress or inflammation. “This study was unable to reproduce any of the previously reported in vitro findings. As a result, it is unlikely that CGN causes inflammation or that it disrupts insulin signaling pathways reported by Bhattacharyya et al. (2012),” note the study’s authors. “This work also demonstrates that…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Organic Program (NOP) has published revised National List Petition Guidelines for requesting amendments to the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances (National List). According to NOP, the National List not only identifies “the synthetic substances that may be used and the non-synthetic (natural) substances that may not be used in organic crop and livestock production,” but designates “a limited number of non-organic substances that may be used in or on processed organic products.” Clarifying the petition process as well as “the information to be submitted for all types of petitions requesting amendments to the National List,” the guidelines address, among other things, (i) who can submit a petition, (ii) what types of substances can be petitioned, and (iii) the criteria by which the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) evaluates petitions. These criteria include: (i) “the potential of the substance for detrimental chemical interactions…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has published a final rule addressing the recommendations submitted by the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) as part of the 2013 sunset review of substances on USDA’s National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances (the National List), which governs the use of synthetic and non-synthetic substances in organic crop and livestock production and handling. In addition to renewing for five years multiple exemptions (uses) and one prohibition on the National List in accordance with NOSB’s recommendations, AMS has removed an exemption for the synthetic form of tartaric acid made from malic acid, thus prohibiting its use in organic handling. Effective November 3, 2013, the final rule also includes the agency’s response to comments on the renewals of two synthetic substances—EPA List 3 Inerts and cellulose—and one non-synthetic substance—carrageenan—that are currently permitted in organic crop production, handling and processing. In particular,…
The Cornucopia Institute (CI) has issued a report that questions the safety of food-grade or undegraded carrageenan, “a common food additive extracted from red seaweed.” Titled “Carrageenan: How a ‘Natural’ Food Additive is Making Us Sick,” the report claims that animal studies “have repeatedly shown that food-grade carrageenan causes gastrointestinal inflammation and higher rates of intestinal lesions, ulcerations, and even malignant tumors.” Distinguishing between undegraded and degraded carrageenan—which the report describes as “a potent inflammatory” processed with acid instead of alkali—CI emphasizes that even the food-grade version poses a health risk to consumers who ingest the additive in a wide variety of products, including dairy and dairy alternatives, deli meats, and prepared soups and broths. In particular, the report points to a 2001 literature review published by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences that purportedly warned against “‘the widespread use of carrageenan in the Western diet’ due to evidence…
A poultry producers coalition has reportedly launched a campaign to end “natural” labeling claims for chickens enhanced with water, salt or binding agents such as carrageenan. Sanderson Farms, Inc., Foster Farms and Gold’n Plump Poultry have asked USDA, which is currently redrafting its rules on “natural” claims, to exclude chicken products that are mechanically injected or tumbled with a marinade solution to improve appearance and moisture retention. The current definition specifies only that products cannot contain artificial ingredients and must be “minimally processed.” The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) contends that “some unscrupulous poultry producers add as much as 15 percent saltwater–and then have the gall to label such pumped-up poultry products ‘natural.’” U.S. Representatives Dennis Cardoza (D-Calif.) and Charles Pickering (R-Miss.) claimed in a recent press release that approximately 33 percent of fresh chicken sold to consumers was altered via injection or “vacuum tumbling.” They also argued…
