Carrageenan is a food additive which has caused a lot of controversy and confusion, It is in a lot of brands of soy milk, and I wanted to get the facts after reading a magazine article stating there was a concern of ulcers; possibly cancer; suppresses immunity; inflammatory bowel disease and allergies.
Carrageenan is a gelatin-type substance derived from a red seaweed often called Irish Moss. It is used in products to give them more substance and texture
to make them thick and creamy. Sounds safe enough. But studies and many people's personal experiences indicate otherwise.
There are two types of carrageen, undegraded (food grade) and degraded (hydrolyzed with acid). which cannot be used in food.
As a starting point, I checked out some research done by America carrageenan expert, Joanne Tobacman, who teaches clinical internal medicine at the University of Iowa College of Medicine. She has found that there is evidence of human trials that might show carrageenan to be a danger for human consumption.
Dr. Tobacman shared studies that demonstrate that digestive enzymes and bacterial action convert high weight carrageenans to dangerous low molecular weight carrageenans and poligeenans in the human gut. These carrageenans have been linked to various human cancers and digestive disorders. Again, Tobacman's evidence and conclusions are based upon human tissue samples, not animal studies.
In her 1997 publication , Tobacman studied the effect of carrageenan on the growth of cultured human mammary epithelial cells over a two week period. She found that extremely low doses of carrageenan disrupted the internal cellular architecture of healthy breast tissue, leading her to conclude: "The widely used food additive, carrageenan has marked effects on the growth and characteristics of human mammary myoepithelial cells in tissue cultures at concentrations much less than those frequently used in food products to improve solubility."
In another website, I have found evidence of a man who has been suffering with
Dyshidrotic Eczema and digestive problems for almost 15 years .
Recently, he had managed to get his skin and stomach under control. Then all of a sudden he had a major outbreak from only one new thing that he added to his normal foods, which was a new flavor of coffee creamer. The good thing about this was it had only a dozen or so ingredients so it was easy to compare to foods he had been eating for quite some time with no reaction and eliminate the common ingredients. One ingredient stood out - CARRAGEENAN.
It is in Soy Milk, almost all dairy products, cheeses , jellies and jams, cherry pies,
toothpastes, prescription pills, and a myriad of other things. In some cases, it is also called AGAR and for most people, it is harmless and causes no problems for them. For others the stomach acid is a little stronger than other people and so their stomach breaks the molecule down further, allowing it to be passed into the blood when it normally wouldn't be, and as a result it turns into a carcinogen that the body attacks with an immune response, which in my case is inflamation of the digestive tracks and then inflamation of the skin.
10 Things to Know About Food Allergies in the Classroom 
8 Safe Halloween Candies for Kids with Food Allergies 
7 Tips for Dealing with Seasonal Allergies 
Are You Allergic to These 10 Everyday Items? 
I am highly, highly allergic to Carageenan. It took years to figure this out through process of elimination. The problem still is that so many food processors hide it in their products without including it on the label. I know, my immune system is like a blood hound in finding it in my system. The first alarm is a little itch that ultimately leads to a boil that is so very painful. My head aches and my body aches as if I were catching the flu. Sometimes it is incapacitating. The boil comes to a head and after it is fully drained, only then do I get relief. The doctors have cultured the discharge and said its only Staph. Sometimes I need antibiotics to get over it because another boil can pop up right next to the old one. Guess what, it runs in families too. So its information you want to share with them so those with the same condition don't suffer alone for years trying to figure out what the cause is. I wish this issue would get more exposure so that something would be done to abolish this ingredient altogether. I guess not until more people are affected will it be properly addressed. Thank you for this article. I don't feel so alone.
I get those boils as well (in very annoying places) and have had to go through a month of antibiotics. Suddenly it was back. Why? I was out here doing research. I compared the ingredients of the things that seems to cause it (slim fast, instant breakfast, and now this specific brand of frozen yogart). The ingredients they have in common were cocoa (but I can eat chococate with no problem), maltodextrin (which I found is in Splenda which doesn't give me a problem) and this carageenan. When I read your reply I had an AH-HA moment. I will now avoid this ingredient. Thank you for your post. It was most helpful.