INS 407 is the code for carrageenan
Extracted from red seaweed. Stops cocoa settling in flavoured milk, and gels ice cream, desserts and processed meat.
- What it does
- Thickens it A thickener
- Also printed as
- Irish moss extract
- Vegetarian?
- Vegetarian From plants
- In the Zabel score
- 6 of the 20 additive points Method 1.0.0
- In our catalogue
- 159 packs List it in their ingredients
Is INS 407 vegetarian?
INS 407 is from plants, so it does not by itself make a food non-vegetarian. The green or brown mark on the pack is still the declaration to go by, because it covers every other ingredient too.
| Food category | Share | Percent |
|---|---|---|
| Ice cream and frozen desserts | 53% | |
| Milk and dairy drinks | 23% | |
| Other beverages | 4% | |
| Biscuits and cookies | 4% | |
| Fruit juices and nectars | 3% | |
| Everything else | 12% |
Counted from the 159 packs in Zabel's catalogue that list INS 407, 138 of which have a food category so far. Counted 4 Nov 2026.
What does the evidence say about INS 407?
We grade an additive by the evidence about it, not by whether it sounds like a chemical, and we make no claim about whether a pack complies with FSSAI rules.
EFSA's 2018 re-evaluation kept a group ADI of 75 mg/kg body weight but flagged that food-grade carrageenan can contain some low-molecular-weight material, and asked for a specification limiting it. Degraded carrageenan - poligeenan, a different substance not permitted in food - causes intestinal inflammation in animals and is IARC Group 2B. Research on whether food-grade carrageenan affects gut inflammation in humans is unresolved.
Does Zabel mark INS 407 down?
Yes, by 6 points. The additives part of the score starts at 20, and each code takes off a fixed amount set by the strength of the evidence about it, not by the fact that it is an additive (method 1.0.0). Read the method.
Questions people search
What is INS 407?
INS 407 is the code for carrageenan, a thickener. Extracted from red seaweed. Stops cocoa settling in flavoured milk, and gels ice cream, desserts and processed meat.
Is INS 407 vegetarian?
INS 407 is from plants, so it does not by itself make a food non-vegetarian. The green or brown mark on the pack is still the declaration to go by, because it covers every other ingredient too.
What does the evidence say about INS 407?
EFSA's 2018 re-evaluation kept a group ADI of 75 mg/kg body weight but flagged that food-grade carrageenan can contain some low-molecular-weight material, and asked for a specification limiting it. Degraded carrageenan - poligeenan, a different substance not permitted in food - causes intestinal inflammation in animals and is IARC Group 2B. Research on whether food-grade carrageenan affects gut inflammation in humans is unresolved.
Does Zabel mark INS 407 down?
Yes, by 6 points. The additives part of the score starts at 20, and each code takes off a fixed amount set by the strength of the evidence about it, not by the fact that it is an additive (method 1.0.0).
What other names is INS 407 printed under?
Packs also print it as Irish moss extract, or as the bare number 407 in brackets after the ingredient.
Sources
- 01 Re-evaluation of carrageenan (E 407) and processed Eucheuma seaweed (E 407a) as food additives EFSA Panel on Food Additives and Nutrient Sources, 2018
- 02 Evaluations of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) WHO / FAO, 2024
- 03 Zabel catalogue - pack counts, food categories and the codes printed alongside 4 Nov 2026
Entry updated 19 Sep 2026 · Not reviewed by a dietitian yet · Report an error on this page
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