Shemberg has pioneered in combining the best of two extraction processes:

• Traditionally refined -- dissolving the carrageenan in alkali before purifying it, and
  
  
• Natural Grade or semi-refined -- leaving the carrageenan undissolved while impurities are extracted.

The latter process is far less energy intensive and accounts for Shemberg's leadership in offering customers cost effective carrageenans.

Carrageenan is extracted from many species of red seaweeds. For Traditionally refined, the process begins with harvesting, followed by drying, cleaning, bagging or bailing for shipments to Shemberg's warehouses. Once in the factory, the seaweeds are sorted, tested for quality and stored. Before being processed, they are hand-inspected followed by washing to remove dirt and marine organisms and then hot alkaline extraction. When the carrageenan is dissolved, it is clarified through conventional filtration and is then concentrated by membrane ultrafiltration, a technology in which Shemberg has pioneered. The carrageenan is then precipitated by alcohol or potassium chloride to separate it from soluble impurities. This is followed by drying and grinding to appropriate particle size. The carrageenan powder is blended and standardized to customer specifications before shipment.

Natural Grade carrageenan is not dissolved and no clarification is carried out as well as no precipitation steps are necessary. Herein lies the energy savings and cost reduction. Drying, grinding and standardization are quite similar for both process.