Tonight, I was at the store with a friend. She had some prescriptions to fill and to kill the time I was wandering through the vitamin and supplement aisle. Looking specifically at calcium and vitamin d...found what looks like a good one, for only $5
As I passed by one of the aisles, I saw this box stand out at me. It said carrageenan on it. This is one of those moments, you know, that you go...right, I was going to look that one up to see what it is.
I have been noticing, since we are reading labels on a regular basis, that carrageenan is in a lot of our food products. I was curious what it was and meant to look it up...
Meanwhile, I am at Shoppers Drug Mart and it is in this non-food section...hmmm...now I was intrigued.
So, the pharmacist had my friends order ready and we headed over to the counter. I thought, I am going to ask him what it is. He has been in school and all, right? He should know...
Here is how the conversation went:
Me - Do you know what carrageenan is?
Him - Ummm...not really, what is it in?
Me - Food, like cereal bars etc...but I saw a box here with the word on it too.
Him - well, if I could see something with it in, I may be able to figure it out.
Me - Runs over to that aisle and grabs the box off the shelf, and hands it to him.
Him - Hmmm...
Me - (after reading the box) Oh, this is a personal lubricant...um...It is not that I was looking for this...I just saw the word...ummmm.....
Him - Hmmmm....
Me - Oh my goodness, this is so embarassing...
Him - Hmmmm....
Me - Nevermind, I will look it up at home...
Running out of the store red faced...
I think that any ingredient that is used in a personal lubricant, should not be used in food...my opinion, and that is all that matters...
Carrageenan is coming out of my diet!!!
Just because an ingredient is in a lubricant doesn't mean its wrong! Carrageenan is an extract of seaweed that has a long history of use in foods and as a medicinal product. The tradition was bought to the US by Irish immigrants escaping the potato famine.
ReplyDeleteOnly you.
ReplyDeleteThat's hilarious.
Hee,hee... that is funny. I do remember hearing that Carrageenan is a seaweed extract that is used to help keep things "emusified" Like in chocolate milk so the chocolate doesn't settle. I'm not surprised it's in many other things that need to avoid settling of ingredients but still unsettling (wink,wink) none the less. Want to find something else that is in a lot of products? Lethicin!
ReplyDeleteSC
Here's one I found about 10 years ago. OLEAN. It's found in most fat free products in the US, it was banned for sale in Canadian products.
ReplyDeleteBut I'm not sure if it's still being upheld. P & G and Kellogg's produces food with this in it.
Here's one of the side effects:
"This Product Contains Olestra. Olestra may cause abdominal cramping and loose stools. Olestra inhibits the absorption of some vitamins and other nutrients."
This condition (normally occurring only by excessive consumption in a short period of time) became popularly known as "anal leakage".