To obtain both a coating composition for foods having a good coating operating efficiency, good film-forming properties, a good appearance (gloss, fresh-looking and lustrous feeling) and a good texture (a sense of touch by teeth and feeling on the tongue) and excellent shape retaining properties without causing sagging of a formed film even by preservation at normal temperatures and a coating composition usable even for coating acidic foods.

This coating composition for the foods comprises a water-soluble carrageenan having at least any one property of (1) dissolving in water at a temperature of at least ≤50°C, (2) without causing gelation of a 1.5 wt.% aqueous solution thereof under conditions of 25°C, (3) τ- or κ-type or a mixture of both and (4) containing calcium ions in an amount of ≤0.1 wt.% used as a gelling agent for coating.