Seaweed food products What term for seaweed?

Product packaging and labelling must be concise and yet as informave as possible to help consumers make their purchase decisions. Informaon about product content, origin, nutrional properes and best before date is conveyed via its packaging. This is why processors and manufacturers have to determine what relevant informa*on-like product name, brand or cerficaons-need to be highlighted on the label. A consumpon survey and a market study conducted by AGROCAMPUS OUEST as part of the Idealg project have shown that a wide range of raw and processed seaweed food products is available on the French market. More than half of the French eat seaweed, mainly Asian-style products, as well as products more suited to French-style cuisine. In most cases, the packaging-including product name-gives little or no indication of the presence of seaweed in its composion. Should the product name include the term seaweed on the grounds of transparency? The risk would then be that a negave link is made in consumers' minds between seaweed and algal blooms affecng Brittany's coasts, largely covered in the media. Or should terms like " sea vegetables " or " sea plants " be preferred to avoid the negave connotaons associated with " seaweed " ? Widely divergent views exist as to how seaweed should be termed. Terms currently used to denote seaweed on food products A shop survey of seaweed-based products-including Asian-and French-style products-has revealed that many different terms are used to designate seaweed in product names. Out of the 405 seaweed-based products idenfied, only 124, i.e. one third, included the term " seaweed " in their names. Another third were more specific and gave the name of the species used: wakame, dulse, laver, kelp, wrack, etc. Among them, almost 50% were Japanese-style products, especially dried laver sheets. Examples of terms used to denote seaweed on seaweed food products