What is the common ingredient in your favourite pudding and shampoo?
The fruit jelly that you just bought from a store or the marshmallows that you fancy or your favourite ice cream that you plan to grab tonight after dinner from a street vendor have one thing in common. Do you know what it is? Gelatin. Well, it is the ingredient which makes all your candies, jellies, ice creams and puddings all so set with just the right viscosity and thickness. It is also the secret behind that set curd you buy from the market and those soft and chewy gummy bears that seem to just dissolve in your mouth. And what about those perfectly-shaped cakes in the bakery? Yes, they also have gelatin. Come, let’s explore more about thios thickener used across various industries.
Why is it used?
Gelatin is a versatile product making its use almost necessary across many industries and in almost all the products you use. It is used as a thickener for fruit gelatins and puddings, in candies, marshmallows, cakes, ice cream, and yogurts, on photographic films and in vitamins as a coating and as capsules. It is even used in shampoos, face masks, and other cosmetics that you may be using on a daily basis.
Gelatin is not vegan
The process of making gelatin begins by boiling collagen-containing animal body parts like their skin, bones, cartilage, etc. Now what is collagen? Collagen is the most abundant protein found in all mammals – in the skin, hair, nails, connective tissues, bones, ligaments, tendons, etc. This protein helps our blood to clot.
The animal body parts used for the process are mostly taken of animals like cows, buffaloes, pigs and generally those discarded by the meat and dairy industries.
Since the raw material for gelatin is animal body parts, it makes gelatin a non-vegan substance. And therefore, all the products that include gelatin in their ingredients, also become non-vegan and in fact, not even vegetarian.
Alternatives to gelatin
Are there any alternatives? Fortunately, yes. The most popular ones that are being used by food industry and confectioneries to thicken, emuslify and stabilise are ‘agar agar’ and carrageenan. While agar agar is extracted from red algae and has a perfectly gelatinous texture, carrageenan, also known as Irish Moss, is a less popular alternative and is made from red dried seaweed. So next time you buy your favourite candies or ice cream, be sure to check out the ingredients list for these!