What Is Carrageenan in Cat Meals?

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Synthetic colours, flavoring brokers, and different artificial meals components have the potential to hurt your cat’s well being. Nevertheless, it’s essential to distinguish between truth and fiction when making selections about cat meals based mostly on elements.

Carrageenan usually seems in lists of cat meals elements to keep away from. However is it actually that unhealthy? I used to be stunned to be taught that a lot of what pet homeowners take into consideration this additive appears to be based mostly on outdated proof. Let’s focus on carrageenan’s position in cat meals, the controversy surrounding this ingredient, and a few alternate options to carrageenan.

The Function of Carrageenan in Cat Meals

Carrageenan is a typical additive in meals made for each pets and other people. It thickens, stabilizes, and emulsifies mixtures. Principally, it improves the product’s stability and retains particular person elements from separating.

In human meals, you’ll discover carrageenan in ice cream, yogurt, and even soy milk. It’s additionally used as an emulsifier in private care merchandise like toothpaste, liquid soaps, and hair merchandise. In pet meals, carrageenan is usually utilized in high-moisture merchandise like canned cat meals.

Although it could sound like a chemical additive, carrageenan is derived from purple seaweed. Carrageenan is essentially the most generally used time period for this ingredient, however it could additionally seem on pet meals labels as vegetable gum, vegetable gelatin, or purple seaweed extract. Most cat meals include carrageenan.^[1]

Undegraded vs. Degraded Carrageenan

Carrageenan is discovered in lots of cat meals, each canned and dry kibble. Nils Jacobi / Shutterstock.com

A fast Web seek for carrageenan yields some complicated outcomes. Numerous web sites point out that carrageenan is linked to immune reactions, irritation, and digestive points. Some even name it a carcinogen. Nevertheless, the U.S. Meals and Drug Administration (FDA) and quite a few regulatory our bodies worldwide acknowledge carrageenan as a protected meals additive. So, what’s the reality?

A more in-depth look into these search outcomes reveals that a lot of what’s written about carrageenan in pet meals has been debunked.^[2] Early research have been carried out utilizing a type of carrageenan that isn’t utilized in pet meals. There are two kinds of carrageen: undegraded carrageenan (food-grade) and degraded carrageenan.

Carrageenan is a pure substance present in purple seaweed. Its excessive molecular weight prevents it from being absorbed throughout digestion.^[3]

When carrageenan is subjected to excessive warmth and acid in a lab, it degrades into one thing with a totally totally different molecular construction—poligeenan. Poligeenan is an artificial substance with a low molecular weight, so it may be absorbed within the intestines.^[4]

Most of the early research used poligeenan as a substitute of food-grade carrageenan, however they don’t seem to be interchangeable. Poligeenan does set off gastrointestinal irritation, immune reactions, and digestive points like inflammatory bowel illness. Research haven’t proven that food-grade carrageenan acts the identical approach.

Outdated Carrageenan Analysis

In the event you’re questioning how one thing like this might go unnoticed for therefore lengthy, you’re not alone. I requested Dr. Jo Myers, DVM, a veterinarian at Vetster, to assist me perceive. Right here’s how she defined it:

“Amongst different elements, the early research confused the related terminology and didn’t design their experiments to mirror real-life conditions, so the conclusion that carrageenan is harmful was finally debunked.”

A 2018 overview revealed in Crucial Critiques in Meals Science and Diet helps this suggestion. “Partly, this confusion was because of the nomenclature utilized in early research on [carrageenan], the place poligeenan was known as ‘degraded carrageenan’ (d-CGN) and ‘degraded carrageenan’ was merely known as carrageenan.” Whereas the nomenclature has been up to date, misinterpretation of that early information has led to the “subsequent dissemination of incorrect info concerning the protected dietary use of [carrageenan].”^[5]

Regardless of new research supporting the protection of carrageenan, a small inhabitants continues to unfold unsupported claims about its risks. A lot of them cite analysis carried out by Joanne Tobacman. Tobacman’s analysis centered on the inflammatory results of carrageenan. She advised that even low-level irritation linked to carrageenan consumption might, over time, contribute to severe ailments like coronary heart illness, Alzheimer’s, and most cancers.^[6]

Different researchers have tried to duplicate Tobacman’s outcomes—and so they’ve all failed. This calls into query the validity of Tobacman’s analysis. In 2008, the FDA even despatched a letter on to Tobacman refuting her claims towards the protection of carrageenan. The FDA additionally denied Tobacman’s 2012 petition to ban using carrageenan in america.

So Is Carrageenan Protected for Cats?

Carrageenan is a typical meals ingredient and is mostly accepted to be protected. Roman Sansonov / Shutterstock.com

Sure, the final consensus amongst scientists is that pure carrageenan is a protected meals additive. The FDA continues to incorporate food-grade carrageenan in its checklist of “Typically Acknowledged as Protected” (GRAS) human meals components. The World Well being Group (WHO) and United Nations Meals and Agriculture Group (FAO) have additionally authorised its use in animal meals.

All this being stated, extra analysis is required. Quite a few research have debunked the idea that carrageenan triggers detrimental well being results like irritation and toxicity. However a number of scientific evaluations have additionally famous a lack of definitive information on the long-term security and results of carrageenan.^[7]

Dr. Neus Torrent, DVM, a veterinarian and animal nutritionist for Out of doors Bengal, says “The proof concerning carrageenan’s security stays inconclusive, with some research indicating potential hurt and others suggesting it’s protected for consumption.”

The scientific neighborhood appears to be of the thoughts that, until severe well being results are found in future research, carrageenan must be thought-about protected. Dr. Myers places it this fashion: “There isn’t a scientific proof backing up any security considerations about carrageenan in cat meals, so there’s no must keep away from it.”

Carrageenan Alternate options

Texturizing elements like carrageenan are unlikely to influence your cat meals’s total make-up. However we don’t have conclusive information on the long-term results of carrageenan consumption in cats. In the event you and your vet resolve it is best to keep away from it, search for a cat meals model that advertises carrageenan-free merchandise.

Listed here are just a few manufacturers that supply carrageenan-free moist meals formulation:

Pet meals producers that don’t use carrageenan could use various elements to thicken or emulsify their merchandise. Among the commonest alternate options are plant-derived polysaccharide hydrocolloids like guar gum or sodium alginate.^[8]

Nevertheless, animal-derived alternate options like animal plasma or gelatin could also be extra species-appropriate for cats. “Gelatin serves comparable functions [to carrageenan] when it comes to texture and stability, however it’s 100% protein,” says Dr. Torrent, “So, it’s extra digestible and will increase the dietary worth of the meals.”

To wrap issues up, Dr. Myers affords the next recommendation to cat homeowners: “In the event you’re not sure whether or not a nutrition-related query is truth or fiction, contacting a licensed veterinary skilled is essential.”