Gelatin isn’t vegan (or vegetarian!), but you may be wondering why vegans and vegetarians don’t eat gelatin products, like Jello or marshmallows. Let’s talk about what gelatin is and some veg-friendly alternatives to common gelatin products.
What Is Gelatin?
Gelatin is an ingredient used as a thickener and as the base for certain sweet treats, like gummy candy and marshmallows. It’s why jello is firm and jiggly, and it’s used in cakes, pies and even some low-fat dairy products to make creamy foods thicker.
So why don’t vegans eat gelatin? Because it’s made from ground up animal skin, bones, tendons and ligaments. Usually, gelatin is made from pigs, but kosher gelatin is made from fish parts. Some kosher gelatins, like Lieber’s unflavored gel, are made from plant-based sources.
To make gelatin, producers cut up animal parts into tiny pieces. Then, they use hot water to remove most of the fat and to cook the ground up bones, ligaments, skin and tendons. The cooked meal sits in an acid or akali bath for several days to release the collagen. Then, the bits of animal parts are boiled in super-heated water, and the extra liquid is evaporated off, leaving solid chunks of gelatin behind. Those get ground down to create the gelatin powder used to make jello, gummy candy, marshmallows and other gelatin-containing foods.
Gelatin is a byproduct of the meat industry, like leather. Vegans and vegetarians don’t wear leather or eat gelatin, because animals have to die to create these products.
Most often, we use gelatin in desserts, so the vegan gelatin alternatives listed below are generally not health foods. Jello and marshmallows are sometimes foods, whether they’re made from animal bones or seaweed.
