This 'inflammatory' additive can turn up anywhere -- even in organic products

Is this cancer-causing ingredient in your favorite ‘natural’ foods?

Study after study — for over 40 years — have shown this common food ingredient to be deadly.

It can cause GI problems, stomach inflammation, intestinal lesions and even colon cancer!

That’s right, colon cancer.

So what is it doing in ice cream, cottage cheese, yogurt, and, believe it or not, baby food? I even found it in one of those almond “milk” drinks.

And because it’s called “all natural” it can turn up anywhere — even organic products!

The FDA has been sitting on its hands about this additive for decades. Top scientists have even asked that it be banned from our food supply, but were ignored.

So before you take another spoon of ice cream, sip of soymilk or pour any more creamer in your coffee, here’s what you need to know about the easy way to get this dangerous additive out of your diet.

It sounds innocent enough — after all, it’s “natural” and is made out of seaweed. What could be wrong with that?

It turns out, plenty. And researchers have been sounding the alarm about carrageenan for decades.

Dr. Joanne Tobacman is a well-respected scientist at the University of Illinois. Over six years ago she sent a petition in to the FDA asking that carrageenan be banned from food. It’s just too dangerous, she said.

And Dr. Tobacman should know. For 20 years she’s been researching how this extract from seaweed can damage the intestines. It does that by causing inflammation, especially in the colon.

After her petition sat at the FDA for almost five years, the agency turned her down. It said that all the studies she submitted — ones showing how carrageenan can cause cancer, inflammation and allergic reactions — just weren’t good enough.

The Cornucopia Institute, a non-profit research group, was outraged at the FDA’s position. It sent a letter to the agency asking it to reconsider.

The group said “When a body of publicly funded scientific literature points to harm from consuming a common, widely used yet unnecessary food ingredient, the FDA should act in the interest of public health.”

The group also said that “carrageenan appears to do to your gut what poison ivy does to your skin.”

Carrageenan is “unnecessary” because it doesn’t add any taste or even extra nutrients to food. All it is used for is to make food thicker. What the industry calls “mouth feel.” For that reason, it’s put in a lot of diet and low-fat dishes to make them seem more appetizing.

But Big Food likes carrageenan — a lot. When it’s used in a beverage, things will stay all mixed together and you won’t have to shake the carton. Well, that’s certainly hard to do!

But while the FDA has pretty much ignored Dr. Tobacman, there’s one group that follows her every move. Wait till you hear this one!

The Seaweed Industry Association of the Philippines (yes, there is such an association!) is hopping mad at her. They claim that all the “fisher folks” there are not going to be able to make a living if people listen to her and stop eating foods with carrageenan in them. They’ve even threatened to sue her.

Are you kidding me! This industry group in the Philippines wants us to risk bowel disease and colon cancer so they can keep selling seaweed?

And despite all the research that shows how dangerous carrageenan is, it’s even allowed to be added to organic foods!

But there is an easy way to avoid it. By law, it has to be listed on a product’s ingredient label. And there lots of brands that have stopped using it — you don’t have to give up ice cream, soup, yogurt or even that almond drink.

Also, the Cornucopia Institute recently issued a shopping guide that lists foods and beverages that don’t have carrageenan in them. It makes avoiding it that much easier. You can find it here.

Sources:
“FDA puts industry profit over public health — defends safety of controversial food additive” The Cornucopia Institute Releases Report, cornucopia.org

“Carrageenan: How a “natural food additive is making us sick” A report by The Cornucopia Institute, March 2013, cornucopia.org