NORTH MIAMI, FLA. (WSVN) - As miles of sargassum washed ashore on South Florida beaches, new findings show repurposing the brown algae for food might be a new option.
The issue began when sargassum would wash ashore on South Florida beaches, and when the city removes and disposes of it, the process becomes costly.
“The problem starts when it’s washed ashore on our beaches, and then it’s a problem, so the city removes it, dumps it, and it costs money as well,” said Dr. Imran Ahmad, a food science and technology research professor in Florida International University’s Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management.
Dr. Ahmad hit the beach with a goal of removal as well as repurposing.
“The approach was, can we use it once it’s harvested or died at the shore for any purpose, so it’s a simple screening of what it contains, it’s basically a polysaccharide,” said Dr. Ahmad.
Scientists said sargassum contains a natural ingredient called alginate. Alginate is used to thicken some of our favorite foods and guilty pleasures like sauces and ice cream.
Once it goes through Dr. Ahmad’s complex process, the sargassum will look like a pure white powder.
Sargassum isn’t currently classified as a food source and can carry contaminants.
Therefore, Dr. Ahmad got to work using high-pressure processing, reducing the risk of bacteria while preserving useful compounds.
“We have seen many products on the shelf, like naturally freshly squeezed juices, guacamole; they all use high-pressure processing,” said Dr. Ahmad.
The high pressure kills bacteria and always maintains the structure to stay intact, turning a problem into a product.
With Miami a destination for fun, Dr. Ahmad said, this is another way the Chaplin School at FIU continues to better the hospitality and tourism industry.
“Taking that angle, we have a solution for the world. Get rid of it from our beaches. Making use of something that is going to be waste anyway, we can still extract something more important that the food industry actually needs,” said Dr. Ahmad.
Dr. Ahmad said the next step is to see how this alginate interacts with other food ingredients before we can eat it ourselves.
Copyright 2026 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.