Carrageenan in organic foods

Cornucopia Institute has just published a Shopping Guide to Avoiding Organic Foods with Carrageenan , recently approved for use certified organic foods. According to Cornucopia:

Carrageenan, a seaweed derivative used as a stabilizer and thickener in foods, has been found to be contaminated with a substance (degraded carrageenan) that is classified by the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer as a “possible human carcinogen.” Research funded by the National Institutes of Health raises serious concerns about harmful effects of carrageenan as an inflammatory agent on the human gastrointestinal tract.

The shopping guide lists products that do contain carrageenan side by side with similar products that do not.

In addition to the shopping guide, Cornucopia has published a detailed report of the recent National Organic Standards Board held in Albuquerque, NM, earlier this month (May 2012).  The report describes conflicts of interest and a strong role for corporate organics. 

Wildfires Rage at New Mexican Organic Meetings

 ALBUQUERQUE, NM: Passions flared at the semiannual meeting of the USDA’s National Organic Standards Board (NOSB), last week in Albuquerque, New Mexico, as the federal advisory panel approved a number of synthetic ingredients for use in organics, over the objection of the majority of industry participants. 

The meeting came on the heels of the release of a report by an organic industry watchdog, The Cornucopia Institute, outlining corrupt practices in the constitution of the board and their past approval processes. The NOSB, created by Congress, is legally mandated to ensure that no substances are allowed in organic foods that pose a threat to human health or the environment.

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Posted by Donna M. Byrne, William Mitchell College of Law