Food grade sodium alginate is widely used in food, especially in dairy-based frozen products (e.g.ice creams, yogurts, puddings, cheese sauce and desserts) because of its properties of thickening, gelling, and stabilizing.

It can be used for the following applications:

Ice cream
It provides a smooth and soft mouthfeel, and also stabilizes the bubbles in frozen ice cream and prevents the formation of sugar crystals.

Spherification
Sodium alginate and calcium chloride or calcium lactate can be used together to shape a liquid into squishy beads or worms as calcium ions can make sodium alginate to gel. This way can encapsulate food color and flavor into the spheres.

Meat
Sodium alginate (with calcium chloride) can be used as a texturizer in meat to retain the water, enhance the elasticity and adhesion of meat products, and improve the freshness of finished products.

The principle is that sodium alginate and calcium ions form a gel of calcium alginate that holds the water in the meat.

Supplements
It can be used in dietary supplements to adjust appetite and energy intake. Alginate–konjac–xanthan polysaccharide complex (PGX) is made by blending sodium alginate, konjac glucomannan and xanthan gum in a specific ratio which is used in fortified foods and supplements.

Feed
It can also be used as a binder in pets products, other non-food-producing animals and fish.

Pharmaceuticals
It can be used as an active ingredient to reduce reflux of gastric content or an excipient in pharmaceutical products.