Carrageenan: should it be in your cat’s food?
Carrageenan is a common food addivitve both in pet food and human food. It is extracted from seaweed through the use of a chemical solvent. It is used as thickener and binder in canned pet food, as well as in many human foods such as ice cream, yogurt, and soy milk.
You would think something that comes from seaweed is natural and healthy, right? Think again. There are two kinds of carrageenan – degraded and undegraded. According to the Cornucopia Institute, the International Agency for Research on Cancer recognizes degraded carrageenan as a “possible human carcinogen,” based on research showing that it leads to higher rates of colon cancer in lab animals. Carrageenan processors claim that food-grade carrageenan falls entirely in the undegraded category; however, one study showed that not a single sample of food-grade carrageenan could confidently claim to be entirely free of the potential cancer-causing material.
All of this has me increasingly concerned about feeding food that contains carrageenan. Even though foods without this ingredient may be a little harder to find, I think it’s well worth reading your labels and finding alternatives if your cat’s current food contains it.
Sadly, even some of the really good grain-free cat food brands that I otherwise like contain carrageenan. I recently took Wellness off my list of recommended brands for that reason.
At this point, I recommend three brands of canned food which (as of this writing) do not contain carrageenan: Weruva, Nature’s Variety Instinct Canned and Nature’s Logic Canned. I’ve fed these brands, and have been happy with how my cats do on them.
Take the time to scan your cat’s food for this ingredient. Unless your cat absolutely refuses to eat the brands that do not contain carrageenan, I would make the switch.
Photo ©Robin Olson, used with permission. See more of Robin’s adorable foster kittens on her blog, Covered in Cat Hair.
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Thanks, Ingrid. Been wondering about it. Ugh, another thing to worry about! Wish that all companies would just look out for the kitties!!
Wouldn’t it be nice if companies did that, Jenny!
My cats were on Nulo (has carageenan) and Life’s Abundance Instinctive (doesn’t have carageenan) and am just letting the Nulo run out and stay with the LA. I subscribe to truthaboutpetfood.com and it’s a big help in finding good food choices, too. I always remember when I used to say to my husband ‘I’m running out to get cat food’ and he’d say ‘See you in 3 hours’ because I spent so much time reviewing labels, hahameow!
I can totally relate to the 3 hours of cat food shopping, Teri. I think I spend more time reading cat food labels than worrying about what’s in the food I eat!
Hi Teri,
My little kitty won’t eat Life’s Abundance wet cat food. Could I sell you a case? I’ve been trying to get rid of it because I can’t return. Let me know!
Ellen
I’ve been hearing a lot about this lately. I didn’t even know what it was.
There has been a lot more information about this lately, Julia. I think it’s because pet parents are asking more questions, which is a good thing.
Great post, Ingrid.
Watch out, and read the label on EACH FLAVOR of a canned food you’re interested in purchasing. I routinely find carageenan in one flavor of a single brand’s food, but then it’s not in some other flavor of the same brand.
Unfortunately, you have to read every single label on every single can if you’re serious about avoiding carageenan, which I am!
Thanks, Pam. I did not realize that even different flavors within the same brand may or may not contain carrageenan. I just scanned the Nature’s Variety and Nature’s Logic canned foods I recommend, and all flavors are without carrageenan. I’ll have to go through all of the Weruva flavors to be sure, but the ones I feed (the poultry based ones) are all carrageenan-free.
I checked the ingredients in Nature’s Logic. It contains kelp. The amount is probably small enough that it’s not an issue, but kelp contains carageenan.
Good find, Laurie. I’ll try to find out from Nature’s Logic how that kelp is processed.
Laurie, I heard back from Nature’s Logic. According to their quality assurance person, the kelp (seaweed) is solar dried and minimally processed through grinding, milling and screening, ensuring it remains natural through to the finished product.
But Nature’s Variety contains Montmorillonite Clay, another source of concern regarding dioxin.
Montmorillonite clay is a caking agent. Nature’s Variety has told me that theirs is Hydrated Sodium Calcium Aluminosilicate and is sourced from deposits in southern Utah.