Vegan. Carrageenan (E407) is extracted from red seaweed, so it is vegan. It is used to thicken and stabilise plant milks, dairy-free desserts and many processed foods.
Carrageenan is a thickener pulled from red seaweed. It has its critics on other grounds, but the vegan question is not one of them.
Made fromRed seaweed
E numberE407
VerdictVegan
Where it hides
Plant milks and creamers
Dairy-free desserts and ice cream
Deli meats and alternatives
Toothpaste and supplements
What it is
Carrageenan is a family of gelling and thickening polysaccharides harvested from seaweed, used for centuries in the form of Irish moss.
Because it comes from seaweed, carrageenan is vegan, and it is one of the ingredients that makes plant milks and dairy-free desserts behave like the originals. It has drawn debate over digestive effects, which is a separate question from whether it is animal-derived. On the vegan test, it passes.
Agar (agar-agar, E406)Agar is the vegan answer to gelatin, a firm jelly set from seaweed. It has been doing this job in Asian kitchens for a very long time.
Alginate (algin, E401 to E404)Alginate is seaweed turned into a gelling powder, the trick behind those little juice pearls. It is plant-based from the tide up.
Xanthan gum (E415)Xanthan gum is a thickener grown by bacteria on sugar. It is almost always vegan, with a rare asterisk over what the bacteria were fed.
Fibre on a vegan dietThe Evidence · Fibre is the nutrient almost everyone under-eats, and it is the one plant-based diets deliver in abundance. Vegans eat the most of anyone, and the payoff shows up across the body.
Gelatin substitutes: agar, carrageenan, and pectin, with the ratiosGuides · Agar, carrageenan, and pectin all set a liquid without gelatin, but none of them sets the way gelatin does, and spooning one in at the same amount is how a dessert turns to rubber or never sets.
Making vegan cheese at home: two different crafts wearing one nameGuides · One method gelatinizes starch into something that melts in twenty minutes, the other cultures a nut paste into something with real depth over days, and they are not substitutes for each other.
Frequently asked
Is E407 vegan?
Yes. E407 is carrageenan, extracted from red seaweed, so it is plant-based and vegan.
Is carrageenan the same as agar?
Both are seaweed extracts used to gel and thicken, but they come from different seaweeds and behave differently. Both are vegan.
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