Gelatin, vegetarian or vegan?!
Answers: i'm vegetarian and i don't eat foods like rice krispie treats, skittles, starbursts, yogurts and other things like that because they contain gelatin. Gelatin is an animal product but i have vegetarian friends that eat foods with gelatin in it. Would you consider not eating foods with gelatin in it a vegetarian or vegan move?
Wow - it is alarming how inaccurate some of these answers are!
Vegetarians do not eat any part of an animal. Gelatin, unless it specifically says otherwise, is made from boiled animal parts. Therefore, it is not vegetarian. Period!
Your friends are breaking a vegetarian taboo by eating anything with gelatin. It would be the same kind of "offense" as eating something with beef broth or lard. It's not MEAT, but it's still animal.
Vegans also wouldn't eat gelatin, but if your friends are trying to tell you only vegans go "so far" as to not eat gelatin, they are wrong.
Hope that helps.
vegan, because gelatin is an animal by-product and vegans don't have those in their diets
there is a vegetarian (and kosher) gelatin available.
Agar Agar (E406)
Probably best known to many as the culture growing medium used in petri dishes in school science laboratories! Also known by its Japanese name Kanten, agar agar is derived from the gelidium species of red sea vegetables.
For culinary purposes, it is available in different forms: bars, flaked or powdered, although in this country you are most likely to find it flaked or powdered only. Natural agar agar is unflavoured producing a firm, clear jelly and is rich in iodine and trace minerals and has mildly laxative properties.
The flakes are produced by a traditional method of cooking and pressing the sea vegetables and then naturally freeze-drying the residue to form bars which are then flaked for easier packing and transport. They are preferable to powdered agar agar which, although cheaper, may be chemically processed using sulphuric acid to dissolve the starches, and inorganic bleaches to neutralise the colour and flavour.
Agar agar has stronger setting properties and, unlike gelatine which requires refrigeration to set, it will set at room temperature after about an hour - although it is advisable to store dishes gelled with agar agar in the fridge as it is a high protein food.
The gelling ability of agar agar is affected by the acidity or alkalinity of the ingredients it is mixed with, also by factors such as the season of the seaweed harvest! More acidic foods, such as citrus fruits and strawberries, may require higher amounts of agar agar. Some ingredients will not set with it at all such as: kiwi fruit (too acidic), pineapple, fresh figs, paw paw /papaya, mango and peaches, which contain enzymes which break down the gelling ability (although cooked fruit seems to lose this effect), chocolate and spinach.
Flaked and powdered agar agar need to be used in different proportions, unfortunately many recipes do not specify which is being called for, but here are a few guidelines:
Powdered agar agar can be substituted for the same quantity of powdered gelatine in a recipe.
For every teaspoon of agar agar powder, you should substitute a tablespoon of agar agar flakes.
For a firm jelly you require approximately 2 teaspoons of powder or 2 tablespoons of flakes per 1 pint / 600ml of liquid.
Agar agar should be soaked in the liquid first for 10-15 minutes, then gently brought to the boil and simmered while stirring until it dissolves completely, this will take about 5 minutes for powder and 10-15 minutes for flakes. Unlike gelatine, agar agar can be boiled and can even be re-melted if necessary. If you are unsure as to the setting ability of your gel, test a small amount on a cold saucer - it should set in 20-30 seconds, if not you may need more agar agar, if too firm - add some more liquid.
Carrageen (or Carragheen)
Also known as Irish Moss, this dense, reddish purple seaweed grows in the temperate North Atlantic coastal waters around the West of Ireland, France and off North America's coastline. It is harvested and sun-dried which bleaches it to a yellowish brown colour. Rich in iodine and vitamin A, it produces a softer gel than agar agar.
Carrageen requires thorough rinsing before use. It needs to be soaked and then well cooked with the liquid to be set and does not dissolve completely. Carrageen Mould is a traditional Irish pudding made by soaking 1/2 z/10-15 gm carrageen in water, draining and adding it to 1 pint/600 ml of milk, bringing it slowly to the boil and simmering it for 20-30 minutes, straining it and allowing the strained mixture, which can be sweetened, to set on cooling.
Carrageenan (E407) is a by-product of carrageen and is used extensively as an emulsifying, thickening and gelling additive in ice creams, jellies, biscuits, milk shakes and frozen desserts, even in some cosmetics and medicines!
"Gelozone"
This is a proprietary product made of carrageenan (E407), locust (carob) bean gum (E410), guar gum (E412).
It does not set as firmly as agar agar and has a slightly cloudy appearance. Gelozone is also prepared differently.
1tsp / 5ml will set 1 pint / 600ml liquid. The powder should be sprinkled onto cold liquid, which is then very gently heated until just steaming, stirring all the time. Do NOT allow the mixture to boil or the Gelozone will not gel. It sets very quickly and requires refrigeration.
I think more of a vegan...If I am correct, vegans don't eat any product that comes from animals but vegetarians just don't eat meat
did you know vegetarians and vegans have a higher IQ than meat eaters? hehe :)
gelatin is neither vegetarian nor vegan as it contains ground-up cow's hooves .. . yick !!
Both.
Vegans don't eat it or wear it (over simplification, I know).
Vegetarians just don't eat it.
VEGAN, because it is made from boiling animal bones, etc. and then the actual animal parts are removed. where as if the animal parts remained in the 'gelatin' it would be vegetarian.
you seem to be aware, but gelatin is derived from animal bones. so you are eating a member of the animal kingdom when you consume it, and that means it can't fall into either catagory. i would consider eating it eating an animal, which is one more example of animals being very tasty.
Gelatin is an animal by product, you are right. If you don't want to eat animals then stay away from gelatin, it is in a lot of foods, like yoghurt too so read your lables and do what's right for you. Refined sugar should also be left alone as its refining process is on burning animal bones - things they never tell you hey?
People who eat gelatin are not really vegetarian.
it would definitely be Vegan. I was close to being a vegan a few years ago; no animal products or bi-products of any kind. (including, gelatin; and chicken or beef stock such as that which is in soup; mostly organic or natural foods etc).
I am still a Vegetarain. I do not eat any meat of any kind. Not even seafood. I do not eat eggs.
I drink Soy Milk (but will occasionally have real milk, though only skim milk). I do eat cheese however. AND i do eat yogurts (but i eat both regular yogurts and soy yogurts); some yogurts are made without gelatin, so read your labels.
There are different kinds of vegetarians. Some eat eggs, some eat seafood, some drink milk; Most will obstain from mostly all meat (animal flesh) products. So it really depends on the individual. Vegans are the most extreme, strict of the non-meateaters LOL.
As for what you mentioned (as in all the treats) I don't eat those either, mostly because i am allergic to artificial colouring and preservatives, not just because i try to eat healthy. But, no, a Vegan would not eat gelatin.
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Many vegetarians and vegans are ignorant of the fact that agar agar gelatin is made from seaweed not animal by products. They see gelatin and the narrow mindedness and paranoia takes over without even bothering to check the source of the gelatin.
and yes this ignorance is common and not alarming as the long poster-lecturer has demonstrated.
Vegetarianism is a spectrum, some more doctrinal, some more relaxed. Your question involves semantics and ethics.
Some sorts of vegetarians eat practically no meat for nutritional reasons- I think we eat more red meat than is healthy. This is a nutritional perspective.
Others don't eat meat for ethical reasons- meat comes from other living creatures, and we're all one big sentient cosmos. And some vegetarians are OK with milk and cheese because you don't need to kill a cow to get the milk. They balance the ethics of eating animals with the nutritional goal of ingesting some protein.
When my daughter was small, she loved hamburgers but she wouldn't eat fried chicken. Why not? Because the KFC chicken *resembled* the chicken it came from. You could see the leg or wing that wasn't changed much from when it was part of an animal; hamburger, otoh, didn't look like a cow at all. We have never been vegetarians- this was a sensibility she developed as a child on her own.
Vegans seem a bit more doctrinally extreme. Some appear to make very public statements about their enlightened ethics by not eating anything that makes a shadow. I don't know any serious vegans, but this seems impractical. I can't fault their ethics, because each of us arrives at our own values which may vary over time.
If you apply the (IMHO moderate) view that "it's OK as long as you don't kill an animal," then gelatin is not ethically OK.
Lastly, I'd semantically classify vegans as a sub-class within vegetarians. Not eating something that comes from animals seems like a decision that would fit both vegetarians as well as vegans.
And let me make one more semantic and philosophical observation. If your actions are based on ethics, your belief system seems a bit like a religion. That's fine with me, a bit of churchin' up never hurt much. But, if you're "human," you sometimes do things contrary to your stated beliefs. Thus a vegetarian who's merely human can "slide" a bit and occasionally eat gelatin because of his individual conflicts- eat something that's immediate and very tasty *or* abstain because it conflicts with your beliefs.
Thanks for the interesting and complicated question.
It depends how strict you are about trace ingredients, PETA says not to worry about them because they make the AR movement look bad. Strict vegans on the other hand will avoid them like the plague.
It is not vegetarian or vegan. I don't eat anything with gelatin in it (as far as I can know), I am vegetarain.
Gelatin is made from ground up animal bones, so neither vegan or vegetarians can eat it. The difference between a vegetarian and a vegan is that vegans won't eat ANY animal products such as eggs and milk. Vegetarians do eat eggs and milk.
I really can't believe all the ignorance I am seeing.
Vegetarians do not eat meat. Some do however consume dairy, eggs and gelatin products at their own discretion. Now, weather or not they can all call themselves "strict vegetarians", that is up for debate, and entirely circumstantial.
Vegans also do NOT eat meat. In addition, they refrain from consuming animal byproducts of any kind. Yes, this includes dairy eggs and Gelatin.
Both groups can and have known to be involved in boycotting animal made products.
I proudly call myself a vegetarian and have been one for 9 years come February. I do indulge in cheese and milk from time to time, but never eggs. I have been known to take down a few jello shots, but I was usually intoxicated already.
nobody is going to tell me that I am no longer a vegetarian due to these circumstances.
I recently just found this out as well, I was shocked because I enjoy a lot of products that contain gelatin. I'm not really sure how to know the source of the gelatin though, but if it says gelatin on the label then I'm going to stay away from it from now on. Good luck, this was a shocker to me lol.
It's all depends on your personal preference. Personally I don't like eating anything with gelatin in it but rather pectin becuase it's derived from plants.
It is deffinately not vegan. Dictionary deffinition of vegetarian is no meat and in some cases any food derived from animals. I think this is the one thing were you will get the most deviation among vegetarians as far as if it is even vegetarian. I kind of look at it the same way as i look at milk and eggs, every vegetarian ought to be aware of the issues with it, should know how we get it and should make their own decision. Personally for me, i dont really buy any gelatin products, but i am not hung up on it either- if someone offers me a skittle or something that they have already bought, I'll eat it.
Gelatin is the flesh of an animal. It comes from horses.
This isn't really a matter of opinion. A vegetarian is one who eats no animal flesh (horse is an animal) so if you eat it, you're not vegetarian.
Vegetarian. It is a product derived from a dead animal, not a product produced by a live one.
Jena---"Wow - it is alarming how inaccurate some of these answers are!"----I've been saying that for months!!
Since an animal had to die to produce gelatin and it contains animal ingredients it is neither vegetarian or vegan safe.
This question always seems to cause debate.
I believe that if you're vegetarian you shouldn't eat gelatin. It's a little hypocritical not to eat any meat but then go and have Starbursts or marshmallows because an animal had to be killed to get the gelatin and you're still eating a part of it.
But, there is always the chance that someone became vegetarian for health reasons and if this is the case then I don't think it really matters because the person might be doing this just for their health and not the fact that they believe animals shouldn't be killed for food.
I guess it all depends on the person.
I'm one of those people that avoid all foods that contain gelatin even if it means having to give up Skittles.
i like my meat, so i dont bother with any of this stuff. u shud mind ur own buissness and worry abt urself
Well truthfully vegetarians and vegans have the same diet, the difference being that vegans don't wear animal products or wool or anything like that. So the diet should be the same, unless someone is lacto-ovo vegetarian or somesuch.
I think.
Neither, meat is there for a reason: to eat. Y do u think God gave us control over all the animals?