# "propylene glycol alginate"

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/propylene-glycol-alginate/189847>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [July 21, 2003, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/propylene-glycol-alginate/189847 "2003-07-21T03:51:21Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Ewokie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Ewokie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ewokie)\
**Post date:** [July 21, 2003, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/propylene-glycol-alginate/189847/1 "2003-07-21T03:51:21Z")

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Thought you guys may like some more information on “propylene glycol alginate”

This product and you are right it is used in salad dressings, It is sold to Kraft for Salad dressings, Alginate is a product produced from Seaweed that is harvested from various parts of the world, a  
lot of our Seaweed comes from King Island in Tasmania.

Propylene Glycol is a Inorganic chemical that is cross linked with Alginate to give it certain properties. It is mainly used to thicken food ie to “increase the viscosity”, it is also used as a “foam stabiliser in beer”, to ensure that a good head remains on the beer while it is drunk so its mainly used in Keg beer.

Alginate itself has very good freeze thaw capabilities so has mainly applications in Food from producing artificial fruits like in “Maca’s apple pies” through to use in Starbucks “frappichino”

Jordan  
Sydney  
Australia

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**Author:** ![Dragon\_Phoenix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@Dragon\_Phoenix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragon_Phoenix)\
**Post date:** [July 21, 2003, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/propylene-glycol-alginate/189847/2 "2003-07-21T07:54:10Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Ewokie \*  
> **Propylene Glycol is a Inorganic chemical …**

[nitpick]No, it’s not. It’s organic.[/nitpick]

By the way, it is appreciated if you link to the column in question:

[http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1\_223a.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_223a.html)

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**Author:** ![naturalmom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/439d5e/32.png) [@naturalmom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naturalmom)\
**Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/propylene-glycol-alginate/189847/3 "2003-07-24T04:08:13Z")

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thank you…my mother recently tried to feed me a kraft noodles and sauce spagetti dinner thingy. I wondered why the noodles in the little plastic wrap dish looked so fresh and not stuck together.  
“propylene glycol alginate” was listed in the ingredients as a preservative. mmmm. I didn’t eat it.