What Is Kosher Gelatin Exactly?
Gelatin from Kosher meat
While fish gelatin worked well for making marshmallows, it lacks the necessary amount of “bloom,” or gelling power, to be employed in the making of yogurt. Because of this, yogurt that was approved by the Mehadrin hashgachas in Israel and the mainstream hashgachas in the USA was produced without gelatin. But the non-Mehadrin hashgachas in Israel took the tolerant view, allowing gelatin from cow bones that had not been butchered to be used to approved yogurt products. Gedolei HaPoskim in Eretz Yisroel were troubled by this scenario and, after years of behind-the-scenes struggle, they succeeded in persuading the hashgachas to cease this practice.
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However, the yogurt businesses concluded they would have to resume the short-lived initiative of creating kosher animal gelatin since they were unwilling to change the compositions of their products. Animal skins from kosher killed animals in South America are collected and salted in order to produce kosher gelatin, which has been produced from them for a few years now. A tannery is kashered and the hides are processed to create fully kosher animal gelatin once a sufficient quantity of hides are stacked up.
The topic of treifos was one that came up. The term “trifos” refers to animals that have various kinds of scars or flaws listed in the Gemara that make them unsuitable for long-term survival and hence not kosher. Only consuming (and certifying) meat that satisfies the Glatt standard is a commonly recognized practice. Glatt kosher animals are those that fulfill an even higher threshold of being non-treifos. It would take a much longer to manufacture the required amount of kosher gelatin if it were exclusively made from Glatt hides, as only roughly half of the animals that are slaughtered are Glatt kosher. This subject was also raised before Gedolei HaPoskim in Eretz Yisroel, who decided that hides from non-treifos may be utilized even if they didn’t fit the Glatt standard. His decision was based on a variety of factors.
Unlike the previously discussed problem of combining fish gelatin with meat, it is widely acknowledged that gelatin derived from kosher animals after slaughter is safe to consume with yogurt made of milk. It is interesting that a significant contributing element to meat gelatin’s pareve status is that it is derived from animal skins, which are, as previously said, inedible. However, an explanation of this status is outside the purview of this page. But as we said before, the Mishnah also includes portions of the skins of female cows in its list of foods that are acceptable. If so, is it necessary to remove that portion of the hide in order to create the gelatin pareve? Poskim in the USA and Europe decided that all of the hide’s gelatin is pareve and may be used with dairy products because of the way the hides were processed.
Unexpected Applications for Gelatin (Non-Kosher)
The market for kosher meat and fish gelatin is growing, but the cost of making kosher gelatin is significantly higher than that of making non-kosher gelatin. Because of this, kosher gelatin is typically limited to goods intended exclusively for the Jewish market. Kosher gelatin costs extra, and they pass those costs along to Jewish customers. But kosher gelatin is too costly for popular businesses that cater to a wider consumer base; as a result, these businesses typically utilize non-kosher gelatin and do not certify their goods.
This section will address some of the less obvious applications for (non-kosher) gelatin, as well as the challenges associated with product certification from non-kosher gelatin manufacturing facilities.
Vitamins: The majority of vitamins are readily incorporated into meals or pills as they are water soluble. But since vitamins A, D, E, K, and beta-carotene are typically combined with oil, putting them in a tablet by themselves would cause the oil to seep inside and contaminate it. Vitamin firms have devised a way of encasing small beads of these vitamins in gelatin to address this problem. Gelatin has two functions: it shields the oil from the environment and keeps oil from seeping into the pill. A pill’s total gelatin content may contain batel b’shishim in certain instances but not in others. The fact that the tablet is inedible and might not even be governed by the conventional kashrus laws is another factor that a Rabbi must take into account when determining whether or not someone may take such a pill.
Pills: Mothers have been coercing their kids into swallowing terrible-tasting medication for millennia by employing a variety of strategies. Adults often take pretty bland tablets, but some individuals find it difficult to swallow them. In recent years, pharmaceutical companies have developed innovative strategies to address this issue. Several popular techniques involve applying a thin layer of gelatin to the exterior of the tablet, encasing a powdered medication within a gelatin capsule, or encasing a liquid medication within a soft gel cap. All of these techniques have one thing in common: the gelatin serves as a divider between the medication and the patient’s throat, facilitating the medication’s relatively easy passage down. Certain Poskim maintain that since the gelatin has been “plasticized,” it is not edible and does not raise any kashrus issues. Others, however, point out that even if the gelatin has become hard due to its mixing with edible glycerin and sorbitol, it is still a food item and shouldn’t be ingested by anybody who isn’t really ill. It may be readily softened by adding water to it. Anyone who wants to stay away from gelatin in medications should carefully look for the word “gelatin” on the list of inactive components.
Immobilized enzymes: Enzymes are substances that play a major role in modifying a wide range of amazing (and not so fantastic) aspects of food. For instance, cheese is made when the rennin enzyme separates milk. Usually, an enzyme must be added to food in order for it to work, but sometimes a “immobilized” enzyme is used in a process. As the name suggests, food is changed only by passing over an immobilized enzyme that remains in one spot. The enzyme glucose isomerase, which converts moderately sweet glucose (like corn syrup) into very sweet fructose (like high fructose corn syrup), is a prominent example of this. The enzymes are frequently encapsulated in gelatin to ensure that they stay “immobilized” and don’t wash away into the corn syrup. Does non-kosher ta’am from the gelatin covering the enzymes get absorbed by the heated corn syrup throughout the process? Is it accepted that the enzyme was ma’amid the fructose?
