{
    "id": 1070606,
    "title": "What is gelatine made from?",
    "slug": "what-is-gelatine-made-from",
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    "url": "https://sweeties.net/wiki/what-is-gelatine-made-from/",
    "modified": "2026-09-26T01:04:11+01:00",
    "excerpt": "Gelatine is made from collagen from animal skin, bones and connective tissue, mostly pigs and cattle. Why it matters for vegetarians, Muslims and Jews.",
    "content_text": "Gelatine is the ingredient that gives jelly sweets their bounce and chew. It is in most gummy sweets, in marshmallows and in jelly. But because it comes from animals, it matters a great deal to vegetarians, vegans, and many Muslims and Jews.\nWhat gelatine is\nGelatine is a clear, colourless, almost tasteless ingredient made from collagen, a protein found in animals. The collagen is broken down, by a process called hydrolysis, into smaller pieces, and the result is gelatine. Dry, it is brittle. When it is mixed with hot water and cooled, it sets into a gel, and it can absorb five to ten times its own weight in water. It melts just below body temperature, which is part of why gelatine sweets feel the way they do in your mouth.\nWhere it comes from\nGelatine is a by product of the meat and leather industries. Most of it is made from pork skin, pork and cattle bones, or split cattle hides. Some is made from fish. The raw materials are treated with acids or alkalis over several weeks to extract the collagen and turn it into gelatine. In 2019 the world used about 620,000 tonnes of it.\nGelatine in sweets\nGelatine is found in most gummy sweets and marshmallows, as well as in jelly, ice cream and yogurts. Gummy bears, jelly babies, cola bottles and many chews rely on it for their texture. Haribo's standard Goldbears, for example, are made with pork gelatine: see is Haribo made from pig?\nReligious diets\nBecause so much gelatine comes from pigs, it is an important question for many Muslims and Jews. Halal and kosher customs generally require gelatine from other sources, such as cattle slaughtered according to religious rules, or fish. Religious opinion is not uniform: some Islamic scholars have argued that the chemical processing transforms gelatine enough to make it halal, while most Orthodox Jewish authorities treat gelatine from non kosher animals as not kosher. People follow the guidance of their own tradition.\nGelatine free sweets\nSweets can be made without gelatine, using plant based gelling agents such as pectin, which comes from fruit, or starch. These can be suitable for vegetarians and vegans. We sell halal golden bears and vegan gummy bears in our pick and mix, and every sweet on our site has its own ingredients and allergens panel. See what sweets are gelatine free? and what is pectin?",
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