Ian - carrageenan/carrageen/sea salt redux

[Guest guest]

Dear Ian,

You have written so much on this subject that I hate to bring it up again, but

I'd love to get your opinion on one particular product.

In December, you wrote:

" I have looked a little further and I believe now that the refined extracts,

as used to thicken foods, ice-cream and toothpaste, are OK on a LID, but the

'Health Food' products based on seaweed MUST be avoided. "

I have found a product that I think might be acceptable as a coffee whitener.

Problem is, it has a few questionable ingredients, albeit in small amounts.

Here's the list:

Purified water, organic unbleached cane sugar, organic canola oil,

organic whole oats, oat flour, natural flavor and color, carrageenan.

When I wrote to the manufacturer, I discovered, to my dismay, that " natural

flavor and color " includes some sea salt and titanium dioxide.

I'm pretty sure the titanium dioxide is okay.

For these purposes, I'm going to assume the highest iodine content of the salt

(equal to iodized salt, 4mg iodine/10 gm or 1/3 ounce).

According to the owner of the company, 12 ounces of this product contains 3/8

teaspoon carrageenan and 1/4 teaspoon sea salt.

I'm not sure how much 1/4 teaspoon of salt weighs, but I'm assuming it's not

more than 1/3 ounce, meaning 4 mg iodine. (Am I too hypo to be attempting

these calculations?)

Do you think that, for example, 6 ounces (4?) a day would be safe on the diet?

Or should we just forget the whole thing?

Thank you so much -

PS to list members: the product I'm referring to is like a frozen Cool Whip;

if Ian gives the okay, I'll give you all the details :-)

[Guest guest]

Hi

My answers to this have to be, of necessity, vague and unconvincing. Sorry.

The carrageenan PROBABLY contains very little iodine PROVIDING that it is the

purified polysaccharide (used as a thickener) rather than the unrefined

seaweed.

Sea salt contains less iodine than iodized. Assuming that the extraction/

purification process doesn't favour iodine over chlorine (reasonable), and

that no iodide is added, then the ratio of chlorine to iodine in sea salt

should be 325000:1, or sea salt should be about 3 micrograms per gram of

salt, 25 times less than table salt.

Knowing the amount of carrageenan doesn't help without knowing the amount of

iodine present.

Titanium dioxide is the white powder that is used in many white products

(white paint, toothpaste, white paper etc) and is OK on the LID.

My view is that it is likely to be OK, but I cannot be more certain than this.

You must make your own judgment on this, but I would suggest that you treat

it with caution and, if you cannot live without it, use it in strictly

limited amounts in the early part of the LID, but drop it altogether for the

last 4 or 5 days.

Ian

> Dear Ian,

>

> You have written so much on this subject that I hate to bring it up again,

but I'd love to get your opinion on one particular product. >

> In December, you wrote: > " I have looked a little further and I believe

now that the refined extracts, > as used to thicken foods, ice-cream and

toothpaste, are OK on a LID, but the > 'Health Food' products based on

seaweed MUST be avoided. " >

> I have found a product that I think might be acceptable as a coffee

whitener. Problem is, it has a few questionable ingredients, albeit in small

amounts. >

> Here's the list: > Purified water, organic unbleached cane sugar, organic

canola oil, > organic whole oats, oat flour, natural flavor and color,

carrageenan. >

> When I wrote to the manufacturer, I discovered, to my dismay, that " natural

flavor and color " includes some sea salt and titanium dioxide. >

> I'm pretty sure the titanium dioxide is okay. > For these purposes, I'm

going to assume the highest iodine content of the salt (equal to iodized

salt, 4mg iodine/10 gm or 1/3 ounce). >

> According to the owner of the company, 12 ounces of this product contains

3/8 teaspoon carrageenan and 1/4 teaspoon sea salt. >

> I'm not sure how much 1/4 teaspoon of salt weighs, but I'm assuming it's

not more than 1/3 ounce, meaning 4 mg iodine. (Am I too hypo to be

attempting these calculations?) >

> Do you think that, for example, 6 ounces (4?) a day would be safe on the

diet? Or should we just forget the whole thing? >

> > Thank you so much -

> >

> PS to list members: the product I'm referring to is like a frozen Cool

Whip; if Ian gives the okay, I'll give you all the details :-) >

Ian Adam

Radiation Safety Officer The Institute of Cancer Research

Cotswold Road

Sutton

Surrey

SM2 5NG

Tel: 020 8722 4250

Fax: 020 8722 4300

EMail: iana@...