JECFA approves carrageenan for use in liquid infant formula
The best news for carrageenan producers and users came at the end of June, 2014. That was when the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), the UN expert committee providing safety assessments of food additives for its members, released its summary report approving carrageenan for use in liquid infant formula (at levels up to 1000 mg/L).
This is the most sophisticated and politically charged application for carrageenan. The JECFA’s decision was supported by a feeding study on neonatal piglets. (The gastrointestinal tract of the neonatal piglet is the closest toxicology model for the human neonate.) The study found no observed adverse effects to the gut or immune system at feeding levels up to 2,250 mg/L—the highest level studied. The study was supported by a consortium of carrageenan and liquid infant formula producers.