Have you ever tried to make ice cream from simply cream and sugar at home? If so, you'll notice that it is a little grainy and icy, not like store-bought ice cream. Some ice cream contains naturally-occurring, non-digestible carbohydrate ingredients like guar, carrageenan, carob bean, xanthan, cellulose, tara gums, etc. These ingredients bind with water and distribute it during freezing, so that the frozen ice cream maintains a smooth texture. These added ingredients all have varied plant and microbial origins, but carrageenan gum itself is truly isolated from red seaweed!
Carrageenan is a soluble fiber extracted from Irish moss, or red marine algae seaweed. It is a mixture of carbohydrates that cannot be digested or broken down in your intestines. It is not absorbed and probably provides no calories.
So, when you buy your ice cream, look to see if you are really eating seaweed!
Find other food STEM tidbits in Chef Cappy's Kitchen family cookbooks at
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