avoid
Carrageenan
Also known as: Irish moss extract, chondrus crispus extract (related marketing)
A seaweed-derived thickener that many label readers specifically exclude.
01. What it is
What it is
A polysaccharide gum used to thicken foods and some toothpastes.
02. Why it’s used
Why it’s used
Texture and stability.
03. The concern
The concern
Inflammation debates in food literature and a strong cultural avoid among natural consumers. Toothpaste exposure differs from food, but shoppers still screen for it.
04. Our take
Our take
We treat it as avoid for this audience. Plenty of pastes thicken with xanthan or cellulose gum instead.
05. Found in
Brands we reviewed
These ranked pastes list or rely on this ingredient in the formula we evaluated.
- Tom's of Maine Anticavity Fluoride Toothpaste (various)
Rank #10 · Score 73.7
06. Sources
Further reading
Third-party citations, not studies we ran.