Seaweed has had a meteoric week of media, as the many seaweed benefits continue to amaze, and demonstrate their relevance to many aspects of our lives.
The appearance of our own Dr Craig Rose on BBC Radio 4’s The Today Programme was a huge highlight for us. What an amazing and hugely credible show to be associated with.
This followed on from an earlier interview on BBC Radio 4’s Farming Today Programme, as part of their Seaweed Week. Each show this week has started with a piece on seaweed, and the many seaweed benefits. Wednesday’s show featured our very own Dr Craig Rose. Craig discusses the many seaweed benefits, and how our unique DNA Authenticated Seaweed ensures quality and traceability in the supply chain.
Other key seaweed stories this week, many featuring Seaweed & Co., have been reported, on the huge scope of seaweed, and the many seaweed benefits. A selection of these stories are:
- Mail Online: New multi-million pound industry will help satisfy the growing demand for the salty algae
- Food Ingredients: Booming Seaweed Industry is Flourishing as the West Capitalizes on Crop
- The Times: Taking the plunge to harvest ‘gold standard’ seaweed
Even The Sun reported on the story, and featured Dr Rose, with the headline of: “You can’t be Sea-rious”!!
Dr Rose was also contacted by Biofuels International to discuss the opportunities of seaweed for biofuels, which are apparent and viable in the longer term. The many seaweed benefits available link to seaweeds’ ability to address all the mega trends of food, health and nutrition, life sciences and energy. No other natural resource can do this to our knowledge.
So what are the many seaweed benefits
Seaweed is a natural and under utilised resource. It is highly sustainable as seaweed requires no fresh water, land or fertilisers to grow – unlike land plants and animals.
However, and this is a key point of the recent media coverage, and a report from UN Universities and the Scottish Association for Marine Science, the booming seaweed industry, especially in Asia, does bring challenges. Only certain species can be harvested from the wild sustainably (such as those harvested in Scotland for Seaweed & Co’s products). Other species need to be cultivated, and this will increase in the future as demand grows. Ensuring the sustainability of cultivation is key. Environmental impact, use of fertilisers, impacts of other habitats, use of non-native species and other factors could undermine the incredible and sustainable opportunity of seaweed.
Scotland and the rest of the UK is extremely well placed to maximise on the many seaweed benefits. We also have the industry and infrastructure for further processing for food, healthcare, energy and more.
For us, the many seaweed benefits for food and health consist of
- Salt replacement
- Nutritional Enhancement
- Natural good source of iodine
- Potential in weight and blood sugar management
and as a sustainable, natural, wholefood British sourced ingredient.
For more information on seaweed, and our products, please do