Cecilie Bay Wirenfeldt from DTU Food, Denmark, and Rebeca Garcia Perez from IMR have conducted trials on Sugar kelp (Saccharina latissima) and Winged kelp (Alaria esculenta) provided by Arctic Seaweed. Cecilie is conducting trials to answer some of the questions in SusKelpFood. As some kelps are high in iodine, a trace element that is essential for the human body, but toxic in too high amounts. For kelp to be a safe source as human food, it either has to have a reduced iodine content, or the amount of kelp consumed must be restricted. Therefore Cecilie and her working group conduct trials trying to reduce the iodine content in kelp, without reducing the amount of other nutrients. In this trial immersion of seaweed in water heated to different temperatures was tried. The optimal temperature reduces the iodine content at the same time as the vitamins are retained and the least amount of energy are used inthe process. 

IMR gives you a sneak peak into the laboratory where Cecilie works!