If you are vegan or vegetarian you may be wondering if gelatin is suitable for vegetarians or vegans. Since it’s one of those ingredients that has a lot of mysteries surrounding it, especially when it comes to how ethical it is for vegans or vegetarians.
Many people who are new to veganism or who are vegetarians have many questions about gelatin. Especially since this is quite controversial as some people eat it while others strictly avoid it.
There are many ingredients like these that have many mysteries surrounding them when it comes to how ethical they are. For example, honey is one of those controversial ingredients that some vegans will eat but others won’t.
This is also a common question because vegans and vegetarians follow different diets, even though the diet is based on the same principle. Therefore, vegetarians can often eat products that vegans cannot, as this diet is not as strict.
Read on to find out if gelatin is suitable for vegetarians or vegans and what exactly this ingredient is made of.
Gelatin is not vegan or vegetarian
If you’re new to vegans or vegetarians, you might be wondering if gelatin is vegetarian or vegan-friendly. Unfortunately, gelatin is not considered a vegan or vegetarian ingredient as it comes from animals and is therefore unsuitable for these diets.
Many people do not know what gelatin is or where it comes from, but do know that it is a very common food ingredient. Gelatin is derived from animal bones by removing collagen and then converting it into what we know as gelatin.
Both vegans and vegetarians avoid any kind of meat products, which makes gelatin not vegan or vegetarian friendly. Because even vegetarians will avoid this ingredient as it comes directly from animals.
Unfortunately, this also means that many different foods are off-limits to vegans and vegetarians. Because gelatin is a common ingredient in a variety of different types of foods sold in grocery stores.
One of the most common gelatin products is Jell-O, which you may have seen at your local grocery store. Since jello is primarily made from gelatin, this is the ingredient that helps this wobbly desert form and become semi-solid.
Vegan
Those who eat vegan often do so because they do not want to support any animal products. For this reason, vegans do not eat any meat, fish, dairy or egg products.
Vegans follow a strict diet that restricts any type of animal product, whether it’s a direct product from animals or an animal resource like milk or butter. So this diet is quite restrictive and does not allow any animal products.
This is why vegans don’t eat gelatin, as gelatin is considered a by-product of the meat industry. Animals are not necessarily slaughtered to make gelatin, but the gelatin industry supports the meat industry.
And vegans don’t consume anything that comes from an animal, so they wouldn’t eat gelatin. Since gelatine is obtained directly from animal bones, the raw materials usually come from slaughterhouses.
vegetarian
Vegetarians are people who follow a diet similar to vegans, but not quite as strict. Vegetarians generally do not eat any meat or seafood or ingredients that come directly from meat or animals.
Although vegetarians do consume animal by-products like dairy, eggs, and other animal resources. So this diet isn’t nearly as restrictive as a vegan diet, which is why it’s more common in people.
However, most vegetarians do not consume gelatin since it comes directly from animals. It’s not necessarily meat, but it still comes from the animals and is a result of the slaughter of the animals.
Some vegetarians may not see this as a problem and still consume gelatin, but it is not considered vegetarian friendly. So if you want to follow a strict vegetarian diet, you must refrain from consuming gelatin or gelatin products.
Is there a vegan or vegetarian gelatine substitute?
Although vegans and vegetarians don’t eat gelatin, there are some other alternatives they can use instead. This is an ingredient used to prepare foods to create a semi-solid and wobbly texture like jello.
Due to the specific texture that gelatin creates, it can be difficult to substitute this animal-based ingredient. But there are some vegan and vegetarian alternatives that you can try for yourself.
These include options like agar, carrageenan, cornstarch, tapioca starch, and many other types of thickeners. These won’t perfectly mimic the texture of gelatin, but they will produce a similar texture.
So you can still try to make vegan and vegetarian products that would otherwise require gelatin as one of the ingredients. Although it may not turn out exactly as if you used gelatin.
Many types of candy contain gelatin
One thing vegans and vegetarians need to avoid in their diets is a variety of different types of sweets. This is because many candies contain gelatin as one of the ingredients to give them their chewy and jelly-like texture.
Most chewy and gummy candies have gelatin as one of the key ingredients to create that texture. Few types of these candies are made with other ingredients to create the chewy texture you may desire.
So you need to pay close attention to the type of candy you buy as many have gelatin in the ingredients list. Even some types of candy that you would never guess contained gelatin have it as an ingredient.
To avoid buying this type of candy, you can always look up various lists of vegan-friendly candies to see what options are available to you.
Gelatin is an animal by-product
While gelatin is not considered meat, it is an animal by-product of the meat industry. This is because gelatin is derived directly from animal bones, which are typically discarded by slaughterhouses.
This makes gelatin a very close animal by-product that vegans and vegetarians usually try to avoid. Since anything containing gelatin will not be labeled as vegetarian or vegan-friendly for buyers.
You should pay attention to this when shopping for groceries, because there are a large number of products that secretly contain gelatine. Products that you might never have guessed contained gelatin contain this animal product.
Final Thoughts
If you’re vegan or vegetarian, you might be wondering if you can still eat gelatin or gelatin products. Unfortunately, gelatin is not considered vegan or vegetarian as it goes against both diets.
Gelatin is a by-product of animals and comes directly from animal bones, as collagen is converted into gelatin, which is used to thicken food. It’s a common thickening agent and gives a jelly-like and chewy texture to various things.
For example, you can often find gelatin as an ingredient in Jell-O, pudding, candy, and other types of food.
