Seaweed Slithers Into Natural Foods

Despite its somewhat daunting fishy taste, seaweed is gaining popularity among natural food manufacturers because of its green color, umami flavor, healthfulness – it contains high levels of magnesium, folate, calcium, and vitamin K – and “an inspiring sustainability story.” Besides its traditional use as a wrapping for rice and fish, it is being incorporated into snack chips, pasta, purees, and jerky. Blue Evolution Foods is trying to improve seaweed’s status by blending it into pasta sauce and marinara sauce. Another innovator is blending several different seaweeds with mushrooms, herbs and spices and a dehydrator to create a kelp jerky as a stand-in for traditional meat-based jerky. [Image Credit: © California Academy of Sciences ]