# Are Jelly Babies vegetarian?

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## Summary

Classic Bassett's Jelly Babies are not vegetarian, because they contain gelatine, which comes from slaughtered animals. How to find vegetarian jelly sweets.

## Description

Classic Jelly Babies are not vegetarian. They are made with gelatine, and gelatine comes from animals. If you are vegetarian, you need a jelly sweet made a different way.
What is in a Jelly Baby
A published ingredients list for a 400 g carton of Bassett's Jelly Babies gives: sugar, glucose syrup, water, gelatine, concentrated fruit juices, citric acid, flavourings and colours from plant sources, such as anthocyanins, paprika extract and curcumin. The same list carries a warning that the sweets may contain wheat. Recipes can change, so always check the pack you are buying.
Everything on that list is fine for vegetarians except one thing: the gelatine.
Why gelatine is not vegetarian
Gelatine is made from collagen taken from the skin, bones and connective tissue of animals, mostly pigs and cattle: see what is gelatine made from?
In Britain there is no legal definition of vegetarian food, but the Food Standards Agency drew up guidance in 2006 with the Vegetarian Society and the Vegan Society. It said vegetarian should not be used for foods that are made from, or with the aid of, products derived from animals that have died or been slaughtered. Gelatine is exactly that kind of product, so a sweet made with it is not vegetarian: see what does suitable for vegetarians mean on sweets?
Beef or pork?
For some people the source matters too. In 2016 Mondelez, the company that owns Bassett's and Maynards, announced that in future its sweets would contain either beef or pork gelatine, listed on the pack simply as gelatine, to give it flexibility of supply. So unless a pack says otherwise, you cannot tell which animal the gelatine in a Bassett's sweet came from. That matters for halal and kosher diets as well as for vegetarians: see is Haribo made from pig?
Vegetarian jelly sweets
Jelly sweets do not have to use gelatine. Plant based gelling agents such as pectin, which comes from fruit, starch and agar, from seaweed, can all set a jelly sweet, and makers use them to produce sweets for vegetarians and vegans: see what is pectin? and what sweets are gelatine free?
The simplest guide is the label. Look for a clear vegetarian or vegan statement, and check the ingredients for gelatine.
The powder is fine
The white dust on Jelly Babies is starch left over from the trays they are moulded in, not an animal product: see why are Jelly Babies covered in powder?
We sell Jelly Babies in our pick and mix. If you are vegetarian, check the ingredients information for any sweet before you buy.

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