Vegan Daily News

VEGAN DAILY FACTOID: Gelatin

Gelatin is a cow or pig product, obtained by boiling skin, tendons, ligaments, and/or bones in water. It is used in everything from puddings, candies, marshmallows, cakes, ice cream and yogurts, to vitamin capsules, shampoos, face masks and other cosmetics.  The FDA monitors gelatin for the potential risk of transmitting animal diseases, especially BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or “mad cow disease”). The FDA has been unable to say conclusively that there is no contamination threat from gelatin:  ”…steps such as heat, alkaline treatment, and filtration could be effective…however, scientific evidence is insufficient at this time to demonstrate that these treatments would effectively remove the BSE infectious agent if present in the source material.”