Carrageenan is actually a "good glue"

Have you heard about the news in the food industry these days?

Earlier, Zhong Xue Gao was known as the "Ice Cream Assassin". Recently, the "ice cream not melting" incident occurred and was blamed on carrageenan.

Event Review

At the end of June, a netizen tore open the plastic bag of a Zhong Xue Gao sea salt flavored ice cream and placed it at room temperature of 31 degrees Celsius. After half an hour, the ice layer on the surface of the ice cream melted and became creamy. After 50 minutes, the ice cream in the box was a relatively viscous milky substance, not a watery substance, and the overall shape was intact. Zhong Xue Gao responded that it was because carrageenan was added.

On July 5, a video of a netizen using a lighter to light a Zhong Xue Gao ice cream that seemed to fail to melt once again attracted attention.

Originally, Tadpole thought that the matter would be settled quickly. After all, it is not uncommon to add additives to food, and carrageenan is a very common food additive.

Unexpectedly, the topic continued to ferment and carrageenan was pushed to the forefront.

History of carrageenan consumption

In fact, the history of carrageenan consumption is at least several hundred years.

The first people to eat carrageenan were the Irish, who liked to use a kind of seaweed called Chondrus crispus to make jelly (adding seaweed to milk, adding sugar and cooking, and cooling and solidifying to make jelly), which actually contained carrageenan.

In the 18th century, the cultivation technology of red algae spread to New England. With the development of industrial technology, carrageenan separation technology emerged. In 1844, carrageenan was separated from seaweed for the first time.

After that, carrageenan gradually embarked on the road of industrial production and gradually became one of the largest seaweed extracts used in the global food industry.

In the 1980s, my country also began to produce carrageenan for commercial use.

Carrageenan is a "good glue"

As a food additive, carrageenan is mainly extracted from marine red algae (including Chondrus, Eucheuma, Taxodium and Psoralea, etc.) and is a natural polysaccharide.

It is a good food-grade thickener, gelling agent, suspending agent, emulsifier and stabilizer, and can be found in processed meat products, neutral dairy products, ice cream, jelly and soft candy.

Carrageenan is somewhat similar to starch, lotus root starch, etc. When the concentration is low, it forms a low-viscosity sol, which is close to a Newtonian fluid. When the concentration increases, it forms a high-viscosity sol, which is a non-Newtonian fluid.

As a thickener, it can increase the viscosity of food or form a gel, thereby changing the physical properties of food and giving the food a sticky and suitable taste.

Carrageenan can also be used as a stabilizer. In ice cream production, carrageenan can be used in combination with locust bean gum and guar gum. Locust bean gum and guar gum are the main stabilizers, but locust bean gum and guar gum as the main stabilizers are prone to whey separation, and carrageenan can be used as a secondary stabilizer to make up for this deficiency.

The ingredients of Zhong Xue Gao include locust bean gum and guar gum.

Image source: Tadpole Jun

It can be said that carrageenan plays a good role in extending the shelf life of food and improving the appearance and taste of food.

In addition, from a certain perspective, carrageenan is a dietary fiber. Adding it to ice cream can make high-sugar and high-fat ice cream healthier.

The use of carrageenan is a revolution in the food industry and has played an important role in promoting the development of the food industry.

The international community has already reached some consensus on the safety of carrageenan. As early as 1974, the expert committees of the World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations believed that carrageenan was safe and reliable for use in food. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) also listed carrageenan as a GRAS substance very early on, deeming it safe and approving its use in various foods.

A certain brand of popsicles also contains food additives such as carrageenan and pectin. Image source: Tadpole Jun

Can adding carrageenan to ice cream reduce costs?

Many people would question whether adding food additives such as carrageenan to ice cream is to reduce costs.

In fact, carrageenan is a very necessary additive in ice cream. It is hard to say whether it increases or reduces costs. The main purpose of adding carrageenan is to enhance the taste, and too much or too little is not good.

If you don’t add it or add too little, the desired taste cannot be achieved and the product will be unstable (especially when the protein and fat content is high); if you use too much, it will be too viscous.

It's not necessarily a bad thing if the ice cream doesn't melt

In ice cream production, carrageenan can evenly distribute fat and other solid ingredients, prevent the separation of milk ingredients and the increase of ice crystals during manufacturing and storage, and make the texture of ice cream uniform and improve the ice cream's resistance to melting.

In food industry production, good anti-melting properties are also pursued by many manufacturers. Some manufacturers will strive to improve the stability of ice cream when the temperature fluctuates, so that the quality and appearance of such products will be better when they reach the hands of consumers.

In the "ice cream that doesn't melt" incident, carrageenan certainly plays a role, but the important role still lies in the content of solids such as protein, lipids, and sugars. The higher the solid content, that is, the more dry goods in the ice cream, the less likely the ice cream is to melt.

Therefore, there is no need to be afraid of food additives, nor to incite panic about them. Standardized use of food additives will only improve food quality and will not cause food safety problems.

Finally, looking back at the comments of netizens, it seems that not all of them are questioning the safety of carrageenan. Many people are actually more concerned about the cost-effectiveness and the issue of "price assassins".

Zhong Xue Gao has always been positioned as a high-end product, giving people the impression that it is expensive. Of course, the high-end positioning and high price are not a problem (consumers can choose whether to buy it or not), but more importantly, Zhong Xue Gao is often placed together with other cheap ice creams. Consumers pick up a seemingly ordinary ice cream, but when they check out, the price is unexpected, and their hearts are instantly "disheartened" by the payment bill.

In fact, as long as the prices are clearly marked and the product quality and consumer experience are up to par, no matter how expensive it is, there will still be many people willing to pay for it.

Call for comments: What do you think about the Zhong Xuegao incident?

END

Audit expert: Wang Guoyi, Postdoctoral Fellow in Food Safety

Tadpole Musical Notation Comprehensive, Editor/Heart and Paper