Stinky sargassum piling up on Florida beaches. Could we just eat it?
Stinky sargassum piling up on Florida beaches. Could we just eat it?
C. A. Bridges, USA TODAY NETWORK - FloridaTue, May 12, 2026 at 5:43 PM UTC
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Once again, heaps of floating brown algae are on their way to pile up and rot on Florida beaches, bringing the familiar stench, cleanup costs, and worries about health and tourism. And one day, they might end up on your plate.
New research from three Florida universities suggests that sargassum could become a source of valuable food ingredients, as long as it’s carefully processed and stripped of its dangerous contaminants.
"The usual approach has been, 'How do we get rid of it?' We wanted to ask a different question: 'Can we use it for something valuable?'" said Imran Ahmad, a food science and technology research professor in FIU's Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management, in a release.
Imran Ahmad, a food scientist at Florida International University, studies ways to turn sargassum from a troublesome annual pest into a valuable commercial ingredient.What is sargassum?
Sargassum is the name for several species of seaweed that originate offshore in the Sargasso Sea in the north central Atlantic Ocean and float on the ocean surface. Offshore, giant drifting mats of sargassum provide nurseries and shelter for fish, crabs, shrimp, sea turtles, and other marine life.
Since around 2011, warmer waters and changing ocean conditions have helped sargassum explode in parts of the Atlantic, Caribbean, and the Gulf, sending ever‑larger, smelly waves of seaweed onto Florida’s beaches. This year, scientists at University of South Florida that track sarcassum said "2026 is set to be another major Sargassum year" with records amounts possible.
Why is rotting sargassum such a problem on shore?
On the sand, the same seaweed that supports life offshore quickly becomes a health and environmental headache. First is just the mass of it. Crunchy, brown sargassum beds can stretch for miles along parts of the coast, inconveniencing beach goers, ruining picture-perfect vacation spots for tourists, and preventing baby sea turtles from reaching the sea.
As it breaks down, beached sargassum also releases hydrogen sulfide — the “rotten egg” gas — and ammonia, which can irritate eyes, noses, and lungs, especially in people with asthma or other breathing problems, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Microorganisms contained in the stuff may also irritate the skin if touched.
Sargassum soaks up nutrients as it floats, but it also absorbs inorganic arsenic, pesticides, and other pollutants, including microplastics. That creates concerns not just for air quality on the beach, and the added cleanup expense for communities, but also for what happens when tons of decaying seaweed are moved to landfills or reused without proper treatment.
Can we just eat sargassum?
No. Researchers and environmental agencies are clear: do not eat sargassum you find on the beach. Those mats have been sitting in coastal waters and on hot sand, absorbing metals, pesticides, and other contaminants and then decomposing, which concentrates some of the worst substances.
Any potential food use would require cleaning and processing the seaweed in controlled conditions, starting with sargassum collected near the shore or from carefully managed sources, not the rotting piles near your condo or beach access.
What did the Florida universities' study actually find?
It turns out that sargassum contains a lot of alginates, a family of compounds commonly used to stabilize and thicken foods such as ice cream, sauces, sports nutrition products, and dairy alternatives.
"Alginate is a complex carbohydrate which means it is slow burning and can help give athletes the energy they need when they need it," Ahmad said, "not like sugars which give you energy now, but lead to a crash later."
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Alginates have become crucial components in various pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and medicines.
Researchers from Florida International University, Florida State University, and Florida Atlantic University tested methods to extract alginate using high pressure rather than heat in a study published in the journal Food Hydrocolloids. The method was intended to kill harmful microorganisms while preserving the useful compounds.
Researchers reported extraction yields of roughly 45%. If Florida's sargassum could be processed safely and at scale, the annual pest could become a new economic opportunity and an alternative source to traditionally harvested seaweeds.
Isn’t sargassum already eaten in other parts of the world?
Yes. At least six species of sargassum are already used in places such as Korea, Japan, Indonesia, and China, where they feature in soups, vegetable dishes, salads, or as seasonings, according to Maine Coast Sea Vegetables. However, those are typically varieties harvested and prepared for the purpose.
Sargassum belongs to the same family as Fucales seaweed, which has long been used in Chinese medicine to treat bronchitis, hypertension, infections, and thyroid conditions caused by iodine deficiency.
Those varieties still may not be safe to eat. UK authorities warn against eating "hijiki," as one sargassum product is known in Japan, due to the high levels of inorganic arsenic.
What other uses are on the table for sargassum?
Scientists, startups, and coastal communities are exploring a long list of possibilities. The Environmental Protection Agency lists multiple potential uses for sargassum, ranging from compost and fertilizer to bioplastics, biochar or charcoal briquettes, cement additives, chipboard, livestock and fish feed, soaps, and pharmaceuticals.
As more countries and communities struggle with the newly invasive biomass, some people are seeing it as free material. In Barbados, where it was piling up more than 4 feet high, Joshua Forte began processing it to extract growth-stimulating plant hormones and microorganisms to create a humus-rich soil additive that's safe for crops, according to Mongabay.com. (Not all communities. Puerto Rico has already banned sargassum for agricultural or human consumption purposes, including composting.)
But any commercial applications will still need to address the dangerous contaminants, the microplastics, and the sheer logistical challenge of drying and processing tons of water-logged seaweed.
"Sargassum has economic and environmental impacts which affect tourism, create cleanup costs and can even cause public health concerns, Ahmad said. "If we can turn it into something useful, we shift the conversation from disposal to opportunity."
C. A. Bridges is a journalist for the USA TODAY Network-Florida's service journalism Connect team. You can get all of Florida’s best content directly in your inbox each weekday day by signing up for the free newsletter, Florida TODAY.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Can Florida's smelly sargassum problem lead to future food potential?
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