You might want to know is carrageenan a carcinogen or not since there are a lot of
controversies surround this item. Furthermore, you can easily found many kinds
of food that contains carrageenan, everywhere since this item is used as additive
on those foods. Even some natural, healthy and organic food items also contain
this substance as the ingredient. This rise a question whether the substance
really good and healthy as it claims or not. of course, it is exceptionally
important for those of you who maintain your diet because you want to take care
of your health. Thus let us discuss about this topic more to know the real
answer on this subject.
Know Is Carrageenan a Carcinogen?
Before you know is
carrageenan a carcinogen or not, you should firstly know what this substance
really is. The carrageenan is actually a product which still in the same group
as the polysaccharides. This product is extracted from edible type of red
seaweed which is a plant that grows inside the sea. This is why; the extract
can be eaten by people who are vegan and vegetarian.
The extract itself is used inside different
kinds of food because of its unique properties that can make the food become
thicker, more stabile and become gel like. The reason is because the carrageenan
can bind into the protein well, thus the food that made using carrageenan
addition can be made without adding too much protein ingredient. The
consistency, texture and appearance of that food will still be the same even
without too much protein ingredient, with carrageenan addition. That is why;
the food can be made using less protein ingredient thus the price can be
reduced significantly. That is also the reason why, it is mainly used on dairy
or meat product which need to be made in more affordable price so the
availability of this food can be spread wider. With wide spread of the products
that contain this substance, it is highly important to know is carrageenan a carcinogen or not.
Because of the same curiosity, there are
many controversies regarding the substance is quickly arise. One of the controversies
is on the carrageenan which said to be carcinogen. For those who do not know,
carcinogen means that the substance can trigger the development of cancer in
our body. Thus this controversy is about whether carrageenan can trigger the
development of cancer or not when consumed by human.
To know more is carrageenan a carcinogen or
not, then you should also know there are two types of carrageenan that you can
found today. The first type is degraded carrageenan which created using method
which soaks the edible red seaweed inside acid solution. This process result a degraded
carrageenan product that formally known as poligeenan by the industry people. Meanwhile
the second type is undegraded carrageenan which created using alkaline method.
This process result a carrageenan product that is formally used by the food
industry.
Because the two carrageenan types are
created using different method, then the chemical structure of those two types
are different. Sadly people often mix the two types from one another which
result on question is carrageenan a carcinogen
or not that create the controversies. Actually the poligeenan is the one that
has possibility to be carcinogen because it can cause inflammation on animal
test. If the inflammation happens in long duration, it will increase the risk
of cancer development, thus the possibility to be carcinogen is exist in this
type of carrageenan.
But you should not have to worry since poligeenan
is actually not used in any food product. The one that is used in food product
is the undegraded carrageenan which is the ‘real’ carrageenan that is known by
industry people. Sadly people often mistake undegraded carrageenan as poligeenan
even though both are different which make people wonder is carrageenan a carcinogen due to the controversies.
The undegraded carrageenan is not carcinogen
thus it is safe to be used in food product. so the answer to question is carrageenan a carcinogen, actually carrageenan
is not carcinogen but poligeenan which is different type of carrageenan that is
not used in food has possibility to be a carcinogen. So you should be more
informed to know the difference of the two.
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