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An Introduction to Carrageenan

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Introduction

Carrageenan is the name given to a family of linear sulfated food grade

polysaccharides obtained from the red seaweeds. They have the unique

ability to form an almost infinite variety of gels at room temperature,

rigid or compliant, tough or tender with high or low melting point. The

gelation requires no refrigeration and the gels can be made stable through

repeated freeze-thaw cycles. Carrageenan solutions will thicken, suspend

and stabilize particulates as well as collodial dispersions and water/oil

emulsions. The solutions shear thin (providing ease of pumping), but

quickly rebuild viscosity and suspending power on standing.

The carrageenan family has three main branches named kappa, iota and

lambda which are well differentiated in terms of their gelling properties

and protein reactivity. Kappa carrageenans produce strong rigid gels while

those made with iota products are flaccid and compliant. Although lambda

carrageenans do not gel in water, they interacts strongly with proteins to

stabilize a wide range of dairy products.

Following World War II, expansion in the food industry coupled with the

need for convenience foods and an increased awarenesss of quality,

produced a demand for stabilizers capable of modifying and controlling

texture and rheology. Development of carrageenan and the harvesting and

farming of the raw seaweeds sent hand in hand with these demands. An

intimate relationship quickly developed between the food and stabilizer

industries. It is true to say that neither could exist in their present

form without the other and this close relationship continues to the

present day. As technology improves, so new applications become viable and

novel uses by the food industry. Of the remaining commercially used

products, the major applications is in the dentifrice industry.

To understand why current markets for carrageeenan are concentrated in the

food and entifrice industries, it is necessary to consider the history of

the carrageenan produce rs and their relationship to other gums and

stabilizers. Commercial carrageenan production ates from the suspend cocoa.

The early carrageenan industry was dominated by two Producers, Marine

Colloids of Rockland, Maine USA and Litex located in Denmark. The early

years were marked by a struggle for these two companies to establish

themselves. They achieved this by concentrating their efforts into a few

profitable markets. Marine Colloids expanded their business beyond

chocolate milk by specializing in toothpaste and Litex in cake glazes

(tortenguss) leaving a vacuum for industrial applications and the cosmetic

industry which was filled by (carboxy-methyl cellulose). From a technical

standpoint, there is no reason why carrageenan cannot be used for a wide

range of cosmetic and industrial applications.

 

The Future of the Carrageenan Industry

Historically, the use of carrageenan for food has grown, in the

industrialized countries, by at least 5-7% per annum. Carrageenan has

unique properties which cannot be substituted by other gums and its future

is assured in all areas of the world that demand convenience foods.

Countries such as China are already developing convenience foods and the

trend will accelerate in the coming decade expanding the demand for

carrageenan beyond the traditional annual growth.

Industrial , pharmaceutical and cosmetic applications await new dynamic

companies such as Shemberg Biotech with an outlook which extends beyond

the food and dentifrice industries.

 

An Overview of Current Carrageenan Applications

.. FOOD APPLICATION

 

 

 

Beer/Wine/ Vinegar -accelerates and improves clarity.

 

Chocolate Milk Drink -stabilizes and improves viscosity.

 

Ice cream -prevents ice crystals formation.

-enhances excellent mouthfeel.

 

Flans/Dessert Gel -enhances flavor release and excellent outhfeel

 

Sauces and Dressings -thickens and improves viscosity.

 

 

PROCESSED MEAT

 

Beef Patty -substitutes fat, retains moisture and increase

yield.

 

Luncheon Meat -prevents fat separation serves as a meat extender.

 

Poultry and Ham -controls dehydration of frozen poultry, enhances

juiciness and increase yield.

 

 

NON-FOOD APPLICATION

 

Petfood

 

Canned meat and fish -gelling and stabilizing agent. Moist, solid

petfood -binder.

 

Toothpaste -stabilizer.

 

Air freshener -gelling agent.

 

GROWTH AREAS

 

As third world countries industrialize and the need for high quality, easy

to prepare foods increases, so will the demand for carrageenan. This

increase will encompass the whole spectrum of applications. In addition to

this blanket increase in demand , specific applications can be identified

which are currently expanding the market for carrageenan.

 

Meat and Poultry

 

The meat and poultry industry is the fastest growing, and of the mosty

profitable markets for carrageenan world wide. In the USA, its use has

grown exponentially since the standard of identity was changed to include

carrageenan.

 

Pumping, massaging and emulsion systems require salt to cause the meat

protein to unwind (denature) enabling them to bind water, form a

continuous network and solubilize and emulsify fat. Denatured protein is

limited in its water holding capacity and ability to stabilize fat

emulsions. Various materials from modified starches to oat flakes have

been used to increase water retention. All must be used at high use level

and degrade product quality for a marginal inccrease in yield which often

does not cover the added costs. None provide emulsion stabilization or

freeze thaw stability.

 

Carrageena is unique in its ability to bind cosiderable quantities or

water to form a gel network which, in meat applications, compliments

rather than disrupts the protein network.

Furthermore, the charged nature of carrageenan stabilizes water/fat

emulsions during preparation, cooking and storage. The net result is an

increase in product quality and yield which more than offsets the cost of

the carrageenan. Many meat producers report that their profit margins are

now coming from the use of carrageenan to increase yield.

 

Dentrifice

Carrageenan stabilizes toothpaste preparations by a combination of

viscosity, continuous phase gel formation and specific interactions with

the abrasive. The continuous phase gel matrix enhances viscosity

stabilization and provides emulsion stability by trapping abrasive and

flavor oil miscelles within the gel matrix. The gel structure also imparts

a desirable short texture to the toothpaste providing a clean (non-

stringy) break on extrusion from the tube or pump. Specific interactions

between carrageenan and the surface of abrasives both disperses and

stabilizes the solids preventing hardening, caking and drying out. Other

binders that are now available have one or the other of the properties of

carrageenan but not the combination which makes carrageenan unique in the

dentifrice industry. Coupled with this is the fact that carrageenan is

stable to enzymes either and can be used in areas of the world where

binders such as CMC cannot. It does not contain enzymes either and can

safely be used in combination with CMC. Xanthan gum, an expensive binder

for toothpaste preparations, contain enzymes which attack CMC rendering it

impossible to use them in combination.

The high cost of xanthan gum makes it prohibitive for new, smaller

producers who naturally turn to carrageenan. The new producers of

toothpaste fall into two categories, those which manufacture specialty,

niche market, products such as " Natural toothpaste " and those who produce

cut-price products. Carrageenan is easier to work with than xanthan and

can be used with local water and without the careful handling that CMC

systems demand. It is natural ingredient and can be used in products

bearing " All Natural " labels.

 

Dressing

 

Traditionally, the dressings market has been dominated by Kelco's xanthan

gum which displaced PGA (propylene glycol alginate) in the seventies.

Xanthan gum develops a weak structure in water which enables it to thicken

dressing systems and suspend spices. However, it also imparts a stringy

texture to the products and cannot be tailored to meet specific

requirements. The market for carrageenan in traditional and low fat

dressing applications is expected to double within the next two years.

 

Low Fat Systems

 

Low fat systems on the ability of a gum to provide the sensation of fat an

oil emulsions. Carrageenan dipersions in water form collodial systems

which can be designed with flow properties which are very similar to fat

and oil in water emulsions. Typically, when fats are removed, carrageenan

is added to maintain viscosity and mouth feel.

 

Kappa and lambda carrageenan have unique interactions with protein,

especially kappa in which case makes it indispensable in dairy

applications including processed cheeses, cheese analogs and cream cheese.

The current market for these products is expanding rapidly, especiallu in

Latin America.

 

NEW FOOD MARKETS

 

Bread

There is a strong functional synergism with starches can be exploited in

starch-based foods to improve product quality through moisture retention.

Carragenan intended for farinaceous foods swell during the cooking cycles

to form a gel matrix, binding moisture and providing additional structure.

The carrageenan does not add to the viscosity of the dough during

kneading. The soft gel matrix blends with the dough and is invisible, even

under microscopic examination. Carrageenan is unique in its ability to

bind considerable quantities of water to form a gel network which

reinforces the gluten structure for an improved air cell matrix. The net

result is improved product qualitly and yield which more than offsets the

cost of the carrageenan. Carrageenan gels are inert and do not affecct

yeast and can be added to an existing formulation for immediated benefits

in the form of increased yield and products which retain a fresh texture

and taste on storage. Even more benefits can be obtained by increasing the

water content of the bread.

 

Noodles

The reinforced gluten structure allows the use of soft flour in place of

high gluten hard flours providing considerable savings for the producer.

For products containing egg solids, the use of carrageenan allows the

producer to substantially cut the number of eggs used without a

deterioration in product quality. All noodles made with carrageenan show

improved resistance to over cooking.

 

Other Farinaceous Foods

Starch is perhaps the most widely used thickener in the food industry. It

is cheap but generally gives rise to pasty poor quality products,

particularly when used at high levels. Mixed carrgeenan/starch systems

have unique properties which are a cost-effective answer to improving the

quality of high starch formulations. The strong functional interaction

between starch and carrageenan allows the starch content of soups, pie

fillings and pudding to be reduced whilst improving the organoleptic

properties of the system. Additionally, starch/carrgeenan combinations

offer resistance to shear degradation and low processing viscosity while

maintaining excellent stability during thermal cycling.

 

Surimi and Kamaboko

One of the major problems in formed fish products is hoe to use second

grade protein to produce products which match the quality of those made

with expensive first grade material. Carrageenan added to fish protein

before processing supports and augments the mechanical properties of

poorer quality raw materials to give products which look, feel taste the

same as their expensive counterparts.

 

Extruded Foods

Extrusion cooking is used extensively for the preparation of many

different kinds of food from breakfast cereal to confectionery. The high

temperatures, pressures and shear conditions encountered in an extrusion

cooker make it ideal for carrageenan which readily swells in the cooker. A

major problem in extrusion processing (food and industrial) is to have the

formed product rapidly attain structural integrity. The high gelling

temperature of carrageenans intended product is maintained improving yield

and quality.

 

NEW INDUSTRIAL MARKETS

Industrial Suspension and Slurries

Carrageenan inteacts strongly with pigments such as calcium carbonate,

dicalcium phosphate, silica and alumina. In fact ,oita carrageenan will

act as a dispersant for calcium-based pigments at high solids (79-72%) and

is a more effective dispersant than industrial standards such as Dispex N

40 (Allied Colloids Ltd.) polyacrylate up to aqueous gum concentrations of

around 0-3% w/w. At higher gum levels,a continuous -phase gel structure

becomes apparent and the sysytem resembles a well-stabilized soft-floc,

with a low yield point. Iota carrageenan is well suited to the

stabilization of pigment dispersions and slurries both for tank car and

pipeline transportation.

The idea of the tank car transportation of solids in the form of an

aqueous high-solids slurry is not new. Currently, tank car transportation

is a major distribution methos for chalk and ion oxides in the USA and

Canada. Coal is pumped in slurry form through long pipe lines across the

USA, Canada and Siberia. The design of a slurry storage and distribution

sustem is relatively straightforward, so long as the slurry charcteristics

are taken into consideration. Slurries are centrifugal pumps have a 400

liter/min capacity against a 15 m head through a 10 cm. loading line.

Storage tanks are stirred intermittently, about 15 minutes each hour at 30

rev/min. Distribution to use point is done at a velocity of 0-5-2 m/s via

recirculation loops with long radius bends and no vertical standpipes.

Slurries are not allowed to stand in the circulation loops. The

hydrocolloid used for viscosity reduction and stabilization be shear

stable under the conditions encountered during transfer and in the

distribution loops. Carrageenan is an ideal dispersant and stabilizing

polymer for a wide range of solid-in-water dispersions. It is resistant to

shear degredation, lubricates particulates and has excellent shear

thinning characterstics.

Black iron oxide is currently transpoeted in tank cares from the pigment

manufacturers to the makers of black bricks and tiles. Carrageenan

interacts veryl strongly with transition metals and very evvectively coats

and stabilizer than CMC which, though an industry standard for many years,

has significant deficiencies particularly during hot weather. Carrageenan

systems can have an aqueous re-healing gel structure which, although

resistant to vibration encountered in transportation, thins rapidly on

pumping. The nature of the gel and thinning properties depend on the

carrageenan and ionic environment, with sol-gel transitions which can be

well above the maximum temperature likely to be experienced in a tank car.

Many industrial applications require polymer molecules to be stable during

pumping operations. Although all polysaccharides will undergo degradation

at sufficiently high shear rates (for example, under the sonic shearing

conditions of ASTM D2603-76), carrageenan is one of the most stable and is

not degraded in centrifugal or displacement pumps.

 

Liquid scouring cleansers

There is an active interest by major brand name manufacturers and private

label houses in poducing new liquid scouring cleanser product for use on

fiberglass, plastics, tiles, and other easily abraded surfaces. The

concepts of such a cleanser dates from the late 1970's when Lever Brothers

test marketed 'Liquid Vim' and then withdrew the product. Since the,

several other liquid cleansers have appeared. Liquid scouring cleansers

are basically suspensions of a dense but mild abrasive such as calcite

with detergents and suspending and dispersing agents. They are low solids

slurries and free of oxidizing agents can be stabilized with a

polysaccharide such as a carrageenan. Iota-based carrageenan stabilizers

impart good functional properties such as temperature and storage

stability outperforming other gums such as CMC and xanthan. The Iota

systems form thixotropic gels with a rapid buildup of structure after

shearing which contrast with the lower yield point of xanthan systems. The

yield points of a carrageenan system result from disruption of the

three-dimensional polymer network which serves to maintain particle

separation aiding stability. CMC slurries (including dentifrice) often

show a yield point whose origin lies in the energy required to disrupt

settled solids. With non-gelling polymers, the appearance of a yield point

indicates instability and is most undesirable.

 

Ceramic coatingss and etrusion products

Carrageenan has been used by at least one major spark plug company as a

carrier for ceramic coating during the manufacture of automotive spark

plugs.

Catalytic converterd for the automotive industry are currently

manufactured using extrusiqon technology. The reject rate is very high due

to collapse of the honeycomb ceramic after extrusion. Carrageenans

designed for extrusion technology, with their high gelling temperature,

are able to support the honeycomb, significantly decreasing the reject

rate.

 

Anti-icers

Ethylene glycol and other polyols have long been used inaqueous solutions

of various strengths for removing ice and snow accumulation from machinery

and functional surfaces such as aircraft wings. In the absence of a

thickening polymer, the glycol solutions soon drain from the surfaces and

thus provide no long -term protection. An anti-icing fluid, on the other

hand, contains a polymer to thicken the fluid so that it remains on the

treated surface. Two types of fluid in current use for aviation

applications are the non-thickened de-icer (type I fluids) and the

thickened anti-icers (or type II fluids). An anti-icer designed for

aircraft should form an essentially continuous film coating, after its

application by conventional spraying devices, even on non-horizontal

surfaces and should provide long-term protection against ice or snow

accumulation. It is essential that the anti-icer fluid is blown off the

wings during the airdraft's run-up to take off (prior to aircraft rotation)

.. Carrageenan is fully soluble in the hot water/glycol mixes used for

aviation machinery. It interacts with glycols to give a weak network with

flow propeties which make it an ideal thickener for typeII fluids. The

shear field experienced during take off is more than enough to causethe

carrageenan thickened fluid to thin and drain fromthe tale offo is more

than enough to cause the carrageenan thickened fluid to thin and drain

from the wing. Carrageenan is compatible with all additives currently used

in these fluids.

 

The protection of exposed heavy machinery requires a thick coating which

is resistant to wind shear over long periods of time and yet will not clog

or interfere with moving parts. Ideally, such a coating should also

contain corrosion inhibitors and lubricants and be easy to apply and

remove. Kappa carrgeenan in water/ethylene glyco forms a gel with ideal

characteristics for protecting exposed machinery.

For all anti-icing applications, the system must be non-toxic and harmless

to the environment, which puts severe limitations on the types of

thickening polymers which can be used. The carrageenan family is composed

of non-toxic food grade materials and pose no treat or hazard to the

environment and are thus ideally suited to thickening polyol systems.

Technically glycol-water-carrageenan ststems are said to exhibit a

definite yield point followed by marked shear thinning and and thixotropy

which can be utilized togive very effective industrial (spray-applied)

de-icers. Carrageenan gel matrices readily entrap a wide variety of oils

from heavy hydrocarbon to light and volatile food flavor systems thus

enabling the easy inclusions of corrosion inhibitors and lubricants.

 

Humidity Controll

The concept of humetically sealed package is somewhat of a misnomer since

almost all commercially produced leak to some extent. For most purposes,

the loss of moisture is unimportant but there are some applications where

this is not the case as, for example, in advanced instant film packages.

When it is necessary to control the humidity within a package, a small

nugget of carrageenan gel can be used. Moisture lost by leakage is

replaced at the expense of the gel which merely shrinks in size.

 

Paper

Quality paper production requires the cellulose fibers to be strengthened

and the surface sized for specific applications. Carrageenans are

excellent film formers and will reinforce cellulose fibers to give added

wet and tear strength and to control ink bleed. University tests have

demonstrated the benefits from sizing and coating with carrageenan in

writing, printing and release papers.

A small but very profitable market is the production of specialty marbled

papers. Marbling is probably one of the oldest techniques used for

decorating, perhaps originating in the 15th century to prevent the forging

of legal documents. In Turkish marbling, water-based inks or pigments are

floated on a gelatinous surface and then moved around with picks and combs

until a desird pattern is achieved. Mordant paper or fabric is laid on the

surface of the solutions to absorb the color and is then lifted away. A

gelatinous surface is made using a cold water swelling carrageenan powder

sprinked into water and mechanically dispersed. The inks, if added at the

correct viscosity (which must be determined by trial and error), adhere to

the soft swollen gel particles and float to the surface of the bath

allowing marbling to be achieved in a cost effective fashion.

 

Textile and carpet printing

Although screen printing is used for both textile and carpet production,

there is a trend to move (in the case of carpet printing) to jet printers.

Both screen and jet printing technologies require the flow properties of

the print paste to be closely controlled in order to achieve high

definition and the required degree of penetration into the fabric or

carpet pile. The wide thixotropic flow behavior of carrageenan makes it

ideally suited for this purpose.

 

Within the next five years, jet printing technology is expected to advance

into textiles largely driven by the need to be able to produce short runs

of fabric with complex patterns. Screen printing requires expensive

screens, (one screeen per colour for process colour and four for half tone)

.. Jet printing on the other-hand, only requires computer instructions for

controlling the jets with considerable savings in down time, cleaning and

screen production. The development of jet printing machines capable of

handling textiles fabrics is being carried out in cooperations with the

producers of rheological control agents, including carrageenan.

 

Flame retardants and foams

Aqueous fire retardant fluids and foams require thickeners to ensure that

the retardant adheres to the structures being sprayed. Th ethixotropic and

gel characteristics of carrageenan make them ideal for flame retardants

and foams. During pumping, the fluids have very low viscosity but after

application , the carrageenan builds structure so that treated surfaced

remain coated.

Foams are also being used in the concrete industry for protecting freshly

poured concrete from drying. The film properties of carrageenan stabilize

the air cell structure of foams to give systems which do not collapse even

on partial drying. Tests on freshly poured concrete used in highway

construction projects in California have shown the worth of using foams

and foam stabilizers to prevent premature drying.

 

Oil Well completion fluids

To avoid damage to the production stratum, clear water fluids as

distinguished from drilling muds are used on completion and reworking

operations as a standard oil well drelling practice. The clear water

fluids are concentrated high density water solutions of ZnBr2 or another

high density salt. The actual salt selected and concentration employed are

determined by the desired density of the fluid. Additives are used with

clear water fluids to control and increase the viscosity. The increased

viscosity enhances the carrying capacity of the fluid, reduces fluid loss

and tends to promote conditioning of the formation to minimize caving and

water damage in water-sensitive formations. Polysaccharide gums are

commonly employed for this purpose. It has water-sensitive formations.

Polysaccharide gums are commonly employed for this purpose. It has been

found that carrageenan can be more effective than HEC because of the

ability of the carrageenan to form a network for drilling applications,

the gel network must be sufficient to suspend the drilling lines but the

weak enough to allow free passage to the surface. Work has demonstrated

that carrageenan can be used effectively with high-density completion

brines to maintain a predictable viscosity over the wide temperature

ranges encountered during drilling completion operations and is much more

cost effective than xanthan gum, another commonly used polysaccharide.

 

AGRICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE

Hydraulic seeding

Grass seed, mixed with fetilizer, cellulose, water, a tackifier agent and

a hydrocolloid, is sprayed onto banks and large projects as an efficient

means of seeding during landscaping operations following major

construction work. The hydrocolloid is present to suspend the grass seed

and fertilizer prior to pumping and to help retain the seed on the soil.

Carrageenan is especially useful in this application and has been found

much easier to work with than guar gum used previously.

 

Pesticides

Major problems in the delivery of fluid pesticide preparations are misting

and retention. Carrageenan, being a gelling agent and excellent film

former will prevent misting and run off from plant foliage. Carrageenan is

a food grade material, there are no toxicological hazards associated with

its use and it degrades harmlessly.

 

BIOTECHNOLOGY

Cell Immobilization

The area of immobilized cells and organelles has expanded very fast. Many

new techniques for the preparation of immobilized cells have been

developed during the past decade and a broad spectrum of applications has

been investigated. Increasingly more gentle immobilization procedures have

evolved to the point when it now seems possible to hold any cell structure

and keep it alive and viable. Carrageenan is especially useful for

trapping seeds, cells and microorganisms with or without nutrients and

other active materials. The immobilized seed, cell moisture during

germination and critical stages of development. One of the chief

advantages of carrageenan over the gelling temperature, well within the

tolerance range of the organism being immobilize. Enzyme activity of

immobilized cells entrapped in carrageenan is generally high.

The applications for cell immobilization techniques are varied in the

extreme and can range from ethanol production as a potential source of

liquid fuel to the prolonged survival of transplanted islets of Langerhans

encapsulted in biocompatible membranes.

 

PERSONAL CARE AND PHARMACEUTICAL

Drug delivery systems

Many pharmacologically active ingredients are destroyed in the stomach or

gastrointestinal tract but can be safely absorbed through the buccal

linings (for example, isoprenaline sulfate, an adrenaline-like compound).

The problem is to maintain the drug in the mouth long enough for

absorption to take place, which is exacerbated if the drug has a bad taste.

There is a considerable body of patent literature on the use of gums,

carrageenan in particular, for entrapping the active ingredients in a

hydrocolloid matrix to give a delivery system which will release the

active ingredient in a prolonged and controlled fashion when incorporated

into a variety of vehicles such as chewing gums. If the trapped material

is tabletized, the technique can be used to administer drugs orally which

would taste too bad to be given dispersed in conventional vehicles. This

is particularly important for children or geriatic patients.

 

Wound dressings

There is a high demand for stable, biodegradable wound dressing materials

which can aborb body fluids and deliver medications to keep wounds clean

and healthy. Although alginate fibers are used at the moment, they have

severe limitations on their ability deliver medications and absorb body

fluids.

Carrageenan forms a water insoluble complex with an extract from the shell

of crabs and other crustacea called chitosan. Insoluble carrageenan-

chitosan fibers can be spun with active pharmaceutical agents trapped

within the fibers. The resulting systems, although water insoluble, will

absorb considerable quantities of body fluids enabling wounds to be kept

clean and dry speeding the healing process.

 

Cosmetics

The unique interactions between carrageenan and polyols can be exploited

to control textural properties of any formulation or preparation

containing polyols. This is especially true of complex hand lotions and

conditioners which are subject to considerable constraints on the

ingredients and their concentration.

 

Hand Lotions and Shampoos

It has been known for centuries that fisherman who handles Irish Moss tend

to have soft skins. The folk lore led scientists to discover that

carrageenan interacts with human carotene to give soft skin and silky hair.

In hand lotions and shampoos, carrageenan not only thickens the product

but also promotes healthy skin and hair. In addition, carrageenan is a

natural product and can be incorporated into formulations which rely on

natural ingredients for their promotion.

 

Contraceptive gels

Existing products suffer from a lack of gel structure and typically drain

from the vagina causing embarrasment and reducing efficacy. Carrageenan

gels in contrast, can be tailored to have rapid re-healing characteristics

ideally suited to maintaining protection during intercourse. Spermicidal

actives such as nonoxy-9 can be incorporated into the gel during

manufacture. There is evidence that molecules such as carrageenan complex

strongly with the protein coat of the HIV virus suggesting that

contraceptive gels made from carrageenan may reduce the probability of

infection.

 

Conclusion

Carrageenan is a natural food grade material obtained from red seaweeds

with applications which span the whole of the consumer and industrial

markets. Its use in industrialized countries is well established and will

rapidly spread into third world countries as their economies and demands

for quality foods, cosmetics and industrial goods grow.

Carrageenan has unique properties which cannot be replaced by other food

grade, safe and non toxic materials. The producers of quality carrageenan

products look forward to assured growing markets throughout the world

displacing carrageenan. This is especially true since to commercialize a

new food gum within the USA alone now takes around 15 years and in excess

of $30 Million in safety and toxicological testing alone, not counting

marketing and promotions.

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Once out of nature I shall never take

My bodily form from any natural thing

But such a form as Grecian goldsmiths make

Of hammered gold and gold enamelling.

--W. B. Yeats, " Sailing to Byzantium "