Carrageenan only the lambda form (and the sodium salts of the other two) are soluble. When used in food products, carrageenan has the EU additive E numbers E407 or E407a when present as "processed eucheuma seaweed". Technically carrageenan is considered a dietary fibre. In parts of Scotland and Ireland, where it is known by a variety of local and native names, "Chondrus crispus" is boiled in milk and strained, before sugar and other flavourings such as vanilla, cinnamon, brandy, or whisky are added. The end-product is a kind of jelly similar to panna cotta, tapioca, or blancmange. Although carrageenans were introduced
Carrageenan committee on food additives stated in a July 2014 review of carrageenan "that the use of carrageenan in infant formula or formula for special medical purposes at concentrations up to 1000 mg/L is not of concern". Although the National Organic Program (NOP) had added carrageenan to its National List of additives allowed to be included in organic foods in 2003, and reviewed and reauthorized it in 2008, noting it as "critical to organic production and handling operations", on November 18, 2016 the NOP's National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) voted to recommend carrageenan be removed from the National List of additives