# Gelatine in sweets explained

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## Summary

Gelatine gives gummies and marshmallows their texture, and it melts below body temperature, which shapes how they feel in the mouth. Who avoids it.

## Description

Gelatine is made by partly breaking down collagen, the main protein in the skin, bones and connective tissue of animals. It is present in jelly, most gummy candy and marshmallows, and it appears in sweets such as gummy bears and jelly babies.
What gelatine does
Gelatine absorbs 5 to 10 times its weight in water to form a gel, and that gel can be melted again by warming. Crucially for sweets, the upper melting point of gelatine is below human body temperature, which is important for the mouthfeel of foods made with it.
Gelatine is sold in grades of gel strength, measured with the Bloom test. Commercial gelatine has a strength of around 90 to 300 grams Bloom. Gelatine from fish has a lower melting and setting point than gelatine from beef or pork, and gelatine loses strength if it is held near boiling point for too long.
Gummy sweets and gelatine
Gelatine was not always the gummy sweet's ingredient. Gum arabic was the original base of gummy bears, which gave them their name. Today the traditional gummy bear is made from sugar, glucose syrup, starch, flavouring, colouring, citric acid and gelatine, and higher quality gummies have gelatine as the lead ingredient: see why are gummy bears shaped like bears?
In marshmallows, gelatine and egg white albumen are the two main proteins used to whip in air and hold the bubbles: see what are foam sweets made of?
Where it comes from
Most gelatine comes from pork skins, pork and cattle bones, or split cattle hides, and some from fish. Labels often just say gelatine: see beef gelatine and pork gelatine
Who avoids gelatine
Vegetarians and vegans. Gelatine is a product of slaughter. The Vegetarian Society's trademark rules it out: see a guide to vegetarian sweetsMuslims and Jews. Gelatine from pigs is not halal, and most Orthodox kosher authorities treat gelatine from non kosher animals as non kosher: see a guide to halal sweets and kosher sweets explained
The alternatives
Pectin, starch and agar can replace gelatine in jelly sweets: see pectin sweets explained and what sweets are gelatine free?
Our pick and mix includes golden bears and Jelly Babies, as well as halal golden bears and vegan gummy bears. Every sweet card shows its gelling agent in the ingredients before you buy.

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