Kombu Sugar Kelp Leaf Bag | Organic Seaweed | Low Sodium Salt Alternative | Rich in Iodine | Ideal for Soups, Salads, Cooking | 2 Oz / 56 g (Pack of 5)

I cut up a piece and cook it with quinoa every morning. Great combination. A little seasoning and olive oil make it a complete dish. Tasty and nutritious. Also works well in soup. Been buying this brand for years. I guess that makes me a satisfied customer 😉

this company makes the absolute best sea vegetables. and the prices when you buy in bulk can't be beat! just about half the price than in the local health food store. i go through bags of these all year round, because i eat a lot of soup. fantastic! they add flavor and not really any fishiness. and there is a lot in each bag, so you can make many batches. they're so good for you and you can barely taste them (i use an immersion blender so they get incorporated, for skeptical family members who wouldn't normally eat seaweed)-why not get a whole bunch?

I used to buy my dried kombu from a local retailer, but the type of kelp was very thick, more like washboards even when rehydrated. Maine Coast Sea Vegetables' Kombu has been consistently a delight to work with and enjoy. It's much thinner, consistently, and responds better to rehydration. Plus, its taste is better IMHO.

Good

I bought this product, and was pleased with it. It is very good quality, and I've been adding it to beans and things that I cook on the stove to add iodine and minerals to my food. However, I am now feeling cautious about continuing to use this product. I will post links in a comment on this review, since links are not allowed in the main body of the review. Please see the comment section for more info. Maine Coast has recently put on their website the results of testing of their various sea vegetables because of the Fukushima power plant dumping radiation into the ocean, and I'm grateful to them for that. They sound like a good company that cares about the people who buy their products. However, they admitted on their website that they don't really know the levels of arsenic in their products. They haven't been able to test for it, and there seems to be confusion about what levels of arsenic are bad, whether it is inorganic or organic arsenic, etc. This is worrisome, as you will see in one of the links I post in the comments, because a woman taking kelp supplements in 2007 had all kinds of health problems develop because of arsenic being present in her supplements. She stopped the supplements and her problems went away. I don't know now if I will continue with this product or not. I have 4 whole bags of it, having only used up one so far! If Maine Coast is able to update their results and relieve fears about arsenic testing, I will revise my review and bump the rating back up to five stars. Until this, it stays at 3 stars, because of the uncertainty.

I'd never tried sea vegetables before so I wasn't sure what to expect from this kelp, but several of my relatives have thyroid problems and after researching the matter I decided that adding iodine to my diet via kelp was a good idea. When I received the product and opened a packet and saw that the kelp was covered with a white dusty substance I was horrified and assumed it was moldy but after reading the instructions--always a good idea!--I was informed that it's normal and is just salt and sugar substances produced by the kelp as it is dried. This company claims that they voluntarily test for various kinds of contamination, so I was impressed by that. As for eating the kelp, I washed and inspected a piece of it, then snipped it into some chicken broth and gently simmered it for about 20 minutes. It's a little chewy--imagine a really tough cabbage leaf--and seems salty, but I found it palatable and didn't get sick or anything. In fact, I felt quite good the next day. Don't know if that was down to the kelp, but I will keep on eating it. Try it.

I'm embarrassed to admit that I am still using up this supply after three years. But, hey, they are just as good as when I bought them. Quite yummy for adding to salads, soups, and stir-fry. These days I make an immune broth with fungi and roots, and the kelp is a nice addition to even out those flavors. They are REALLY salty, though, so take care how you use them.

I ordered this product several times in the past but my last order which contained 5 packages had a strong perfume smell almost like laundry detergent. The taste was also off. Unfortunately it was past the time I could return it so i'm out financially. I would normally recommend this but not satisfied with the product this time at all.