Is Carrageenan Gluten Free? Menu Verywell Fit Nutrition Weight Management Nutrition Facts Nutrition Basics Diets Meal Plans Meal Delivery Services View All News Fitness and Nutrition What to Buy How We Test Products Fitness Gear Nutrition Products Tools Recipe Nutrition Calculator Weight Loss Calorie Goal BMI Calculator Body Fat Percentage Calculator Calories Burned by Activity Daily Calories Burned Pace Calculator About Us Editorial Process Meet Our Review Board Search Diets Gluten-Free Is Carrageenan Gluten Free? By Jane Anderson Jane Anderson Jane Anderson is a medical journalist and an expert in celiac disease, gluten sensitivity, and the gluten-free diet. Learn about our editorial process Updated on September 17, 2020 Fact checked Verywell Fit content is rigorously reviewed by a team of qualified and experienced fact checkers. Fact checkers review articles for factual accuracy, relevance, and timeliness. We rely on the most current and reputable sources, which are cited in the text and listed at the bottom of each article. Content is fact checked after it has been edited and before publication. Learn more. by Sean Blackburn Fact checked by Sean Blackburn Sean is a fact-checker and researcher with experience in sociology and field research. Learn about our editorial process Print GUIZIOU Franck / hemis.fr / Getty Images Carrageenan, a fibrous ingredient found in a wide variety of foods, is made from red seaweed. In its pure form, it is considered gluten-free. The food additive is used in a variety of products, including products labeled as "gluten-free." How Carrageenan Is Used Manufacturers use carrageenan as a thickener in foods from ice cream to diet soda. It can be found in baked goods, baby formulas, and in many soy, almond, and coconut milk products. Carrageenan also helps to stabilize or "gel" a wide variety of foods including hot dogs and lunch meat. It's also approved for use in organic foods. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) considers carrageenan to be safe when used in the amount necessary to act as an emulsifier, stabilizer, or thickener in foods. Like other food additives, it must also be included in the ingredients list on the food product label. Carrageenan on a Gluten-Free Diet Since carrageenan is made from seaweed and seaweed is not a gluten grain, you might assume carrageenan would be perfectly safe for a gluten-free diet. But some experts—particularly natural foods advocates—have raised questions about carrageenan's overall safety, especially for people with gastrointestinal disorders. They maintain the ingredient is linked to inflammation and isn't safe for anyone to eat. Carrageenan and Inflammation Research indicates that carrageenan may spark inflammation in the body. In fact, researchers have routinely used forms of the seaweed-derived substance to cause inflammation in mice and rats so they could then test anti-inflammatory pharmaceuticals in those animals. However, the forms used for that purpose aren't the same as those used as food additives. One researcher, Dr. Joanne Tobacman, associate professor at the University of Illinois College of Medicine, published a study in 2001 that linked both the forms of carrageenan used in food products and the forms used in rodent experiments to ulcers and cancer in the large intestines of rodents. "Because of the acknowledged carcinogenic properties of degraded carrageenan in animal models and the cancer-promoting effects of undegraded carrageenan in experimental models, the widespread use of carrageenan in the Western diet should be reconsidered," Dr. Tobacman wrote. Others investigating carrageenan's safety—including the World Health Organization —disagreed that carrageenan can have a harmful effect when eaten. They noted that carrageenan can cause inflammation when injected (as it historically was in experiments with rats and mice), but doesn't have the same effect when eaten. The Bottom Line Some natural health advocates and physicians still urge those with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) to steer clear of carrageenan. However, there's been no research into the safety of carrageenan for those who have celiac disease or non-celiac gluten sensitivity. So, should you eat products that include carrageenan or not? Carrageenan should be safely gluten-free when it's included in products that are labeled "gluten-free," so gluten isn't the issue here. It's an issue of ingredient safety. Unfortunately, given the lack of research on carrageenan in gluten-related conditions, you'll need to decide for yourself, potentially in consultation with your doctor, whether or not you should consume products that include it. 4 Sources Verywell Fit uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. CFR - Code of Federal Regulations Title 21. Consumer Reports. USDA decides to allow carrageenan in organic food despite health concerns and vote by the National Organic Standard Board. Martino JV, Van Limbergen J, Cahill LE. The Role of Carrageenan and Carboxymethylcellulose in the Development of Intestinal Inflammation. Front Pediatr. 2017;5:96. doi:10.3389/fped.2017.00096 Tobacman JK. Review of harmful gastrointestinal effects of carrageenan in animal experiments. Environ Health Perspect. 2001;109(10):983-994. doi:10.1289/ehp.01109983 Additional Reading Cohen SM, Ito N. A Critical Review of the Toxicological Effects of Carrageenan and Processed Eucheuma Seaweed on the Gastrointestinal Tract. Crit Rev Toxicol. 2002;32(5):413-444. doi:10.1080/20024091064282 Tobacman JK. Review of Harmful Gastrointestinal Effects of Carrageenan in Animal Experiments. Environmental Health Perspectives. 2001;109(10):983-994. doi:10.1289/ehp.01109983 World Health Organization. Evaluation of Certain Food Additive and Contaminants. World Health Organization Technical Report Series. 2011;(960):1-226.. By Jane Anderson Jane Anderson is a medical journalist and an expert in celiac disease, gluten sensitivity, and the gluten-free diet. See Our Editorial Process Meet Our Review Board Share Feedback Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! What is your feedback? 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