Agar applications in the food industry are based on its special characteristics and the most important applications are the following.

• In confectionery, to prepare jellies, marshmallows and candies or candy fillers.
• In marmalade production, agar is used as a thickening and gelling agent.
• Mitsumame production in Japan is very important; this is a fruit salad mixed with agar gel cubes, duly coloured, salted and flavoured with fruit flavour. The agar used for this kind of fruit salad must allow the cans to be sterilized without the cubes melting or losing their corners or edges. For this purpose certain types of Gelidium agar are used.
• In bakery, agar is used to cover cakes, in icing doughnuts, and when it is applied to chocolate it allows a good adherence to the base without cracking. In general agar is utilized to prevent dehydration of these confectionery products.
• Agar is also important in fruit jelly preparations. When compared with pectin, agar has the advantage of not needing high sugar concentrations to form a gel.
• Its application in yoghurt is also very important especially when consumers started to require less acid products and, therefore, casein cannot contribute to the maintenance of the product consistency, as it previously did.
• In the meat industry, and especially in the preparation of soft boiled sausages, its use has permitted the reduction of fat content that acted before as bonding. Today the industry is trying to limit fat content in order to reduce cholesterol.
• Agar is also used on a large scale in canned products like "scatola" meat (beef blocks in gelatine) - very popular in Italy, or chicken in gelatine - very common in Canada, cow tongue in gelatine -selling well in Denmark, lamb tongue in Australia, or other different types of meat and fish aspics. In dressings and extracts it is used as a thickener and stabilizer.
• In smaller quantities, agar is used to increase the viscosity of some alcoholic liquors.