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| Carrageenan in soya milkAngela 14 12 2002 Carrageenan in soya milk Dear Sir/madam, I regularly purchase Alpro Soja Milk for my 5 year old son as I always considered Soja milk to be a healthier option. I have, however noticed that one of the ingredients in some of the flavours is carrageenan, which I have found is linked to cancer (see below) This worries me immensely, but I really do not want to revert to cow? milk, so please can you read the article about carrageenan and alleviate my concerns. Yours sincerely Angela "Carrageenan is a common food additive that comes from red seaweed also known as Irish Moss or Chondrus Crispus. Carrageen has long been used as a thickener and emulsifier in ice cream, yogurt, cottage cheese and other processed food products including soy milk. However, results of a study published this past October suggest that carrageenan may not be as safe as once thought. Findings from animal studies and a review of the scientific literature showed that degraded forms of carrageenan can cause ulcerations and cancers of the gastrointestinal tract. The researcher who made the connection between carrageenan and cancer, Joanne Tobacman, an assistant professor of clinical internal medicine at the University of Iowa College of Medicine, noted that as long ago as 1972 the FDA determined that there was enough evidence from animal studies to limit the type of carrageenan that could be used in foods. However, in 1979, the FDA rescinded its proposed limitation and since then, no action has been taken. Concerns about carrageenan have centered on the "degraded" type which is distinguished from the "undegraded" type by its lower molecular weight. Most of the studies linking carrageenan to cancer and other gastrointestinal disorders have focused on degraded carrageenan. But Dr. Tobacman thinks that undegraded carrageenan the kind most widely used as a food additive might also be associated with malignancies and other stomach problems. She suggests that such factors as bacterial action, stomach acid and food preparation may transform undegraded carrageenan into the more dangerous degraded type. Dr. Tobacman's findings were published in the October 2001 issue of Environmental Health Perspectives, a publication of the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), a branch of the National Institutes of Health. So far, no government action has been taken as a result of Dr. Tobacman's findings. She is currently looking into the possibility of an association between carrageenan and breast cancer risk. Given this new information on carrageenan, I would recommend avoiding regular consumption of products containing it. While some brands of soy milk do contain the additive, others do not. With a little research you should be able to find a product that suits your taste and doesn't contain carrageenan. Dr. Andrew Weil" Hildegard 14 12 2002 Carrageenan in soya milk This new scare is not based on new work but from a couple of review articles published by Dr Joanne Tobacman from the University of Iowa. The type of carrageenan that can be added to food (and to soya milk) in the EU is very specific. It must comply with the strict specifications of purity set out in EU legislation, and must not be in a chemically degraded form. The safety of carrageenan has recently been reviewed in 2001 by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA). The experts on this Committee did not find evidence to suggest that the levels of carrageenan in foods posed any hazard to health. The JECFA even recommended an Acceptable Daily Intake of "not specified", and confirmed thus the most favourable status a food additive can get. |
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