Properties

Gelatin is a vitreous, brittle solid that is faintly yellow to white and nearly tasteless and odorless. It contains 84-90% protein, 1-2% mineral salts and 8-15% water.

Gelatin is a foodstuff and not a food additive. Consequently it has no "E" number.

Protein quality of gelatin

Gelatin contains 9 of the amino acids essential for humans.

Amino Acid g amino acids per 100 g pure protein Alanine 11.3 Arginine * 9.0 Aspartic Acid 6.7 Glutamic Acid 11.6 Glycine 27.2 Histidine * 0.7 Proline 15.5 Hydroxyproline 13.3 Hydroxylysine 0.8 Isoleucine * 1.6 * Essential Amino Acid

Amino Acid g amino acids per 100 g pure protein Leucine * 3.5 Lysine * 4.4 Methionine * 0.6 Phenylalanine 2.5 Serine 3.7 Threonine * 2.4 Tryptophan * 0.0 Tyrosine 0.2 Valine 2.8

For daily nutrition, the amino acid composition of gelatin is of little importance, because normally the intake of gelatin generally takes place together with other proteins such as meat, potatoes and cereals.

Classic experiments demonstrate however that, with the addition of gelatin, the biological value of mixtures can be increased. For example, the addition of gelatin to beef results in an increase of the biological value from 92 to 99.

Therefore, gelatin can complete and increase the amino acid composition of other protein sources.

Gelatin also appears to be beneficial to athletes for muscle growth and metabolism, as it contains lysine, which is important for muscle growth and arginine a precursor of creatine, an amino acid important for the energy metabolism of muscle cells.

Gelatin as a fat substitute

Today many of us consume too many calories in our daily diet. Therefore demand for low or fat-free products is continuously increasing.

This is a dilemma for modern food-designers because fat is an important factor influencing taste in your foods.

In this context the sensory quality of gelatin is of great importance. The melting-point of gelatin resembles the body temperature of human beings. Thus the melting of gelatin causes a rich mouth feel that is far superior to other fat-substitutes.

By using gelatin as a fat substitute, it is possible to reduce the energy content of food without any negative effects on taste.

Dietetic properties

Many illnesses in Western industrial nations are caused by malnutrition or constant overeating. Approximately one third of the population is overweight, resulting in high-blood pressure, diabetes, upsets in fat metabolism or gout. Being overweight can also be a factor in the development of arteriosclerosis and cardiac problems.

Gelatin can assist in weight reduction programs because it allows the creation of nutritious, yet low calorie dishes. Gelatin contains no fat, sugar, purines or cholesterol and it can bind large quantities of water which helps impart a "fuller" feeling after a meal or it can be used to replace high calorie content binders like cream, egg yolk or starchy products.

Gelatin can also be used to create a nutritious and varied dietary plan for patients and convalescents. It is highly nutritious yet easily digestible and can be used in liquid foods which are palatable and easy to absorb.

Treatment of osteoarthritis

There is also evidence that eating gelatin regularly is beneficial in the treatment of joint conditions.

Recent investigations by Prof. Milan Adam from Prague have shown that gelatin therapy is effective when administered early and continuously for at least two months at a level of 10g daily. The therapy has to be repeated at intervals. The recommended dose can be integrated in the normal daily protein intake and, as gelatin protein resembles body protein collagen, no toxic side effects are known or anticipated.

Gelatin protein contains a high portion of the hydroxyproline, hydrosylysine and arginine. Together with the sulphur-containing amino acid L-cystine these amino acids are the essential building blocks for synthesis of collagen and proteoglycans in cartilage.

It is believed that an optimal availability of such amino acids can prevent the degeneration of cartilage in arthrosis.

This positive effect of gelatin is confirmed by the results of recent therapy-studies and experiments. Investigations to improve the condition of rough and broken finger-nails and the texture of hair have also shown that the regular consumption of gelatin has a positive effect.

Product safety

Due to modern manufacturing sites and the use of highly advanced, HACCP controlled, manufacturing processes with numerous purification steps (washing, filtration), heat treatments including a final UHT sterilization step followed by drying of the gelatin solution, gelatin is of highest quality regarding physical, chemical, bacteriological and virological safety.

Even in the case of TSE, bovine gelatin is BSE safe because it is produced from raw materials (bovine skin and bone) classified as carrying no detectable infectivity, originating from animals inspected by veterinarians and passed fit for human consumption. Studies were made to assess reduction of hypothetical infectivity if spongiform encephalopathy (SE) carrying tissues (e.g. brain tissue) were to contaminate the raw materials.

The Gelatin Manufacturers of Europe (GME) have initiated several studies to demonstrate the capability of certain steps in gelatin production to inactivate BSE infectivity if it were at all present. These show a reduction of spongiform encephalopathy (SE) infectivity for acid demineralization and lime treatment of 10 and 100 times respectively. The combined reduction has been found to be 1000 times.

Another study carried out at Göttingen University {Manske et al (1996)} showed that after degreasing (second step in the gelatin production) nerve tissue was no longer detectable in the degreased bones.

When bovine heads (including the brain) - especially processed to carry out this experiment - were investigated in the same way, nerve specific tissues were reduced by 98 to 99%. However, this was done for the sake of the experiment, as bovine heads are not used in the production of gelatin.

The classical UHT sterilization used in gelatin manufacture should reduce any residual infectivity 100 times, or more probably 1000 times (Taylor et al (1994)).

Washing, filtration, ion exchange and other chemicals or treatments used in the manufacture of gelatin will reduce the SE activity even further (by an assumed ratio of 100 times).

In the unlikely event of any initial contamination of raw material, the gelatin manufacturing process would reduce SE activity:

• A hundred times by degreasing
• Ten times by acid demineralization
• A hundred times by alkaline purification
• A hundred times by washing, filtration, ion exchange, etc.
• A final hundred times by sterilization (assuming the log average).

Thus, the combined effect of the processing stages is a reduction of the order of a thousand million times.

The gelatin production process is efficient enough to remove and/or inactivate minimal residual infectivity.

Raw material for hide gelatin is definitely not infectious and it is extremely unlikely that hides could become cross-contaminated by infectious material.

Summary

• The raw materials used in gelatin production come only from animals inspected by vets and passed fit for human consumption.
• All GMIA members are ISO 9000 certified which ensures that the origin of all raw materials used can be traced.
• Apart from the inherent safety of the raw materials, gelatin is a highly refined, purified product, manufactured by a sophisticated process which would provide additional safeguards if they were required. This includes several production stages which both serve to physically remove contaminants and also provide a destructive effect on the BSE agent if it were conceivably present.
• The World Health Organization has concluded that gelatin is safe to eat.
• All GMIA manufacturers exclusively use raw material from USDA or CFIA registered establishments.