Carrageenan in Our Food

So, someone just posted this link over at Herbivore’s fb post about getting in carageenan for folks that want to make vegan cheese. My response to that person is below. I thought you should see it as well. Here’s the link, my comment is below. http://on.fb.me/VjiBH8

So, it turns out the hardest part of being vegan is actually other vegans—vegans that hear one or two bits of information, don’t question the source, don’t do further research, and then repost said info over and over. Come on folks, it took me all of two minutes to do the research the author of Oh She Glows should have done before posting her irresponsible post that cites the Cornucopia Institute’s work on the topic. Did she bother to ask who Cornucopia is or did she just take that their name sounds nice so they must be nice, and honest, and without any financial motivations for turning folks off of vegan products. Did you, Monica, ask any of those questions before posting her link here?

Here’s what I found—in two freaking minutes. And, please let this be a lesson next time you see something suggesting an ingredient in a non-animal based product is problematic. ASK WHO BENEFITS FROM PROMOTING THAT INFO. I’m guessing more often than not, you won’t have to dig too deep before you find a dairy/meat industry connection or a Weston A. Price connection. Stop falling for this crap, vegans! You’re supposed to know—more than the average consumer that nothing is what it appears to be and that money—lots and lots of money—is typically pushing most everything you see on TV and read on the internet. The first time I became suspicious about the milk board using carageenan as their latest scare tactic was when I noticed the emphasis they were placing on it in their current round of idiotic anti non-dairy milk commercials. They’re intending to build steam around this and you’re helping them!

Below are bits and pieces from the bios of Cornucopia’s founders and Board of Directors. Enjoy, suckers!

Mark Kastel is co-founder of The Cornucopia Institute, a populist farm policy research group based in Wisconsin and acts as its Senior Farm Policy Analyst. He directs its Organic Integrity Project.

Mr. Kastel has played a key role in a number of cooperative ventures designed to empower farmers in the marketplace. His development work has focused on creating sustainable farmer-owned businesses with an emphasis on dairy production and marketing.

Kastel, who worked for agribusiness giants International Harvester, J.I. Case and FMC before making the paradigm shift to sustainable farming…

Will Fantle is co-founder of The Cornucopia Institute. He is also the organization’s Research Director.

Mr. Fantle has also worked as webmaster for the Wisconsin Stewardship Network, a coalition of the state’s hunting, fishing and environmental groups.

William Heart, Ashland, Wisconsin Mr. Hart is a hunter and fishermen…

Roger Featherstone, Tucson, Arizona (Treasurer)
Mr. Featherstone grew up on a small family dairy farm in southern Wisconsin that has been operated continuously by the Featherstone family since 1847.

Helen Kees, Durand, Wisconsin
Ms. Kees is an organic beef farmer and fresh-market vegetable producer. She grew up on a dairy farm near Durand, Wisconsin. A tussle with a neighbor’s pesticide overspray in the early 1990s opened her eyes to the health and environmental concerns associated with the use of agrichemicals. She later became the first certified organic beef farmer in the state of Wisconsin.

Amanda Love, also known as “The Barefoot Cook” is a Certified Healing Food Specialist, Natural Foods Chef, Nutrition Educator, Weston A. Price Foundation (WAPF) Conference Chef and recent recipient of the Weston A. Price Food Activist Award.

Dave Minar and his wife Florence live on the farm that Dave’s Grandfather bought 85 years ago. Dave is a third generation dairy farmer.

The farm was converted to a grass based dairy farm in the early 90’s, and a direct marketing meat business was started with grass fed and finished beef, pork, turkeys and chickens. This evolved into an on-farm creamery and retail store where extra value was added to the milk. Currently, Cedar Summit milk is distributed throughout the upper mid-west.

Kevin Engelbert is the owner/operator of Engelbert Farms, the first certified organic dairy farm in the US, certified since 1984. He farms about 1,800 acres with his wife Lisa and three sons, and produces organic milk, veal, beef, pork, pasture, hay, corn, soybeans, and vegetables. Kevin is a fifth generation dairy farmer in New York State…

What really saddens me is that the US allows this in baby formula…. Europe doesn’t

I wanted to stop by and say thank you again for this post. It has changed the way I buy non-dairy products and I have written to Almond Breeze in Australia to let them know I’ll no longer be buying their milks. I’ve also just done a post on the issue in relation to Australian products and have linked back to you; I hope that’s ok.

One more reason we Must read ingredient list
Was made aware of this a few years back…have been making my own milks for quite some time. It is in many items!

I believe there are at least 25 additives that like “Carrageenan” cause imflammation and cause a host of other problems. MSG is a nasty word to most consumers by todays standard. But you need to look up on the internet and learn how MSG is still out there under “New Names”. The food industry is literally getting away with slow murder because of the laws that now protect them. I was raised on Raw Milk. The only “Process” raw milk goes through is the straining of the cows milk prior to pouring the milk into a large stainless steel refridgerated tank. Thats right… “the ONLY process”. Absolutely nothing is added to it. The only problem is the state governments have outlawed raw milk in most states. Not all states. Interestingly enough is the fact that during the Pasteurization process, all but maybe 10 or more enzymes that is beneficial to us are destroyed by this process. The enzymes that we really do need are never consumed because of Pasteurization. Another fact of raw milk and the cream that settles to the top of a gallon jar is that the products made from this raw cream such as yogurt, butter, cheese …etc… all have a more longer shelf life simply because of those important enzymes. Basically, the aging process actually makes these products more healthier.
POINT : It is only my opinion…. but, our government wants us to die by attrition. Meaning we live, work, pay there taxes, and then die just before we retire. Look in your cupboards and refridgerators after looking up those “other names for MSG” and ask yourself why.

I just found your blog recently, and I’m thrilled about what I see! Loved the almond milk recipe, and looking forward to trying my hand at oat milk! I wanted to comment about IBS. I struggled with that for several years, eliminating things from my diet, and nothing seemed to make a difference or show any pattern (except stress). Then, an aquaintence said to try eliminating all BLACK pepper from my diet (which I liked a lot so–no surprise–ate on a regular basis) and surprise, surprise after a week or two all my symptoms completely went away! It was such a simple thing, but it is hard to avoid when eating out. I started getting lax about the pepper this year, without thinking about it, and eventually my symptoms returned. Again I became careful again, and the symptoms left. It could be worth a shot to try.

I’m beyond disgusted that most commercially available almond milks use carrageenan as an ingredient. I’ve researched the major brands and most include it as an igredient. I would wager a guess that most of the people buying almond milk are doing so as a substitute for dairy – either health or ethically motivated. If so, the addition of an unnecessary and possibly harmful ingredient makes no sense at all.

I’ve called the company where I was getting my almond milk and they could give me no good reason for adding it as an igredient. It spurred me into action using your recipe to make my own. It was SO easy – and superior to the boxed store bought brand.

Dear O.S.G.,

“IBS” is NOT an inflammatory condition. Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) includes ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s; but never irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). IBD is an autoimmune inflammatory condition. People with IBS have normal colonoscopies and lab work. However their nervous system has been re-wired, frequently due to continuous low level childhood stressors (such as living with a depressed or addicted parent), resulting in normal stimuli such as stretching of the colon wall, causing stimulation of the pain center of the brain, as well as the area in the brain that perceives unpleasant emotions. Research on this phenomenon assumes the continual bathing of the nerves in corticosteroid hormones released due to stress causes this abnormality in nerve pathways.