"Wild Spirulina" Seaweed from the Atlantic
While organic regulations set limits on the type and amount of pesticides and herbicides an organic farmer can use, they do not generally address environmental sources of pollution such as contaminated irrigation water or air pollution. This means that organic foods grown in parts of China and India where pollution is still a big issue may not be quite as clean and chemical-free as one would expect from a product labeled organic. What's more, radiation from the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan has raised concerns about foods grown in some parts of Japan but also regions bordering the Pacific Ocean in Asia. As a result of the concerns about the purity of organic foods grown in some parts of Asia, many health-conscious people in North America and Europe prefer to buy locally-produced organic foods, even if they have to pay a bit more for their food.
Most of the seaweed sold globally comes from China, but if you are looking to buy organically-grown seaweed that does not come from China, or any other Asian country, we have some good news for you: an Irish company called AlgAran, located on the Atlantic Ocean in north-west Ireland where sea water is particularly clean, now sells certified-organic, heavy metal-free "wild spirulina" seaweed to health-conscious, eco-friendly shoppers across the US and UK. But before you go ahead and buy this wild-harvested seaweed, be aware: while this algae is packed with many of the same nutrients you find in the popular spirulina tablets and powders which are made from Arthrospira platensis/maxima spirulina, this Atlantic "spirulina" actually refers to a seaweed that is scientifically known as Ulva spiralis. If this is a problem for you and you want "real" spirulina instead but don't want to buy seaweed grown in Asia, you might want to buy fresh water spirulina from Hawaii. To learn more about these two non-Chinese/non-Japanese seaweed products, keep reading.
Organic "Wild Spirulina" from the Atlantic Ocean
Irish spirulina or Ulva spiralisAlgAran's "wild spirulina" seaweed comes from Ireland's Atlantic coast which has some of the cleanest waters in the world due to low population density, low intensive farming and a lack of large industrial areas in the region. Their certified organic spirulina is hand-harvested locally with maximum respect for the marine environment – this means, among other things, that only a certain amount of seaweed can be harvested per year. Once harvested, the spirulina is rinsed on the shore and dried at low temperatures in order to protect the nutrients and phytochemicals it contains (the processing temperatures never exceed 30°C (or 86°F). What's more, their organic certification requires that the seaweed products they sell are free from contamination and safe to eat. Algaran's Atlantic "spirulina" can be purchased through Amazon.com.
Also Worth Checking Out: Cultivated Spirulina Algae from Hawaii
Authentic ASpirulina platensis algaeThere's a good chance you ended up on this page because you are looking for spirulina that has not been grown in China or Japan, perhaps because you are worried about pollution caused by radiation from the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan. Based in Hawaii, Nutrex grows spirulina in lined ponds that are primarily filled with fresh water, not sea water, so even though Hawaii is located in the Pacific Ocean and not in the Atlantic Ocean, you should feel pretty safe with Nutrex' products. The ponds do contain a small amount of nutrient-rich sea water as well, but that water is pumped from 2,000 feet below the ocean surface and has not seen the surface in over 2,000 years, making it some of the purest waters you can find according to Nutrex Hawaii. What's more, Nutrex Hawaii does radiation testing in their labs and send samples to an external lab for additional testing, and to date (May 2015), each test has come back negative for radiation. Nutrex' spirulina products are available through Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.ca.
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