I was wondering something. I know gelatin used to be made with something containing bone meal or somesuch - is this still the case, or is made with non-animal biproducts now?
Gelatin (also gelatine) is a translucent brittle solid substance, colorless or slightly yellow, nearly tasteless and odorless, which is created by prolonged boiling of animal skin, connective tissue or bones. YUCK!
if you need a subsitute, try agar, it's made from algea, and it's great, and works the same way, and the texture in food is much nicer.
http://hipforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=122305 http://hipforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=104473 http://hipforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=98297 and gelatin in yogurt: http://hipforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=139515 I changed my display to alphabetize the posts (At bottom of page) it's great for finding stuff while the search is off.
I was shocked to learn that because when I did I happened to be eating yogurt which contained gelatin and I threw it away right away, thanks to one of my good friends though I happened to not eat it all.
Gelatin comes from many places that would be against many peoples diets, such as if you don't eat pork or animal, gelatin for marshmellows come from pig hoofs. It's pretty gross, but hey, it keeps my marshmellows all nice and fluffy.
the best thing with becoming a vegan, was that sweets, which i used to be a bit fond of, here in sweden, most of them have gelatin. so i was forced to stop eating these, and it enabled me to stop eatin stuff i really wanted to quit earlier, it gave a reason to stop. and it worked! haha
I've been working in fancy bakeries for several years, and you would be amazed at how many things in the bakery case contain gelatin. Especially mousse deserts. BEWARE THE CORNER BAKERY!!!
do you REALLY know what kosher means? if so I have a simple answer. if not, I have a longer answer. simple answer: kosher gelatin is made in a factory certified by a Rabbi. for reasons I still havent worked out to my own satisfaction, kosher gelatin CAN be from pigs or other non-kosher animals. the logic is that these parts are far removed from the meat point of the animal (I secretly think this was to clear things like envelope glue). Some Jews do not find this acceptable,so the kosher market has kept plant-origin gel agents (yay). let me know if I need to put up the longer answer...
If it's gelatin, then it can't be. There are other gelling agents (agar, for example, which is a seaweed product), but gelatin is by definition animal-derived. Drumminmama, that's very interesting. A nice bit of self-justification by the pseudo-orthodoxy, by the sounds of it. There's a lot of it about.
Besides agar, you can use plain ol' cornstarch in place of gelatin in many recipes, it's tasteless, clear and congeals nicely.
a lot of gel in a box (Hains superfruits, eames, Carmel) are agar/ seaweed based. kosher gelatin listed on say, yogurt, is usually animal derived (and in fact despite three contacts to Yoplait, no answers so give them up for lousy customer service.)
