The situation with agar-agar seems more unclear than carrageenan, for which there's already a fair bit of research indicating that it can cause gastrointestinal inflammation. It doesn't seem like much has been done with agar-agar: I wonder if that will change because of concerns about carrageenan and food manufacturers (for humans and pets!) switching to agar-agar.
What you say about Japanese ice cream is interesting, @Willowy! I've cut most of the carrageenan out of the human diet in our household, with the occasional exception of Dove Minis. Since you mentioned carrageenan desserts, this seems like a good place to say that I have a British cookbook with a recipe for carrageenan pudding! Hmm.
In any case, like duckpond , I stay away from agar-agar because our cats already have weird digestive systems. And (also like duckpond!) I wish that pet food companies would lay off the thickeners anyway because cats just don't need them! duckpond and I have very similar lists.
What you say about Japanese ice cream is interesting, @Willowy! I've cut most of the carrageenan out of the human diet in our household, with the occasional exception of Dove Minis. Since you mentioned carrageenan desserts, this seems like a good place to say that I have a British cookbook with a recipe for carrageenan pudding! Hmm.
In any case, like duckpond , I stay away from agar-agar because our cats already have weird digestive systems. And (also like duckpond!) I wish that pet food companies would lay off the thickeners anyway because cats just don't need them! duckpond and I have very similar lists.