realfire
02-06-2009, 05:57 PM
Hello,
Came across some information that may be of interest to you all.
Let me emphasize this is not an opinion of mine or any kind of judgement just informative :) Hence, please refrain from sending me emails to defend what I am posting.
I was fasinated and astounded by the information:
Happy Food.
Here is an interesting opinion from a vegan on the veggieboards.com:
"First of all there is no way to be 100% vegan in the world in which you and I live. It just isn't possible, so you should stop putting so much pressure on yourself with the all or nothing attitude. It's not possible to be 100% vegan in our society because tons of things are made with animal products... including oil in making paint, the vulcanization process of producing rubber tires, gelatin in photography, animal oils are used in tempering steal, cement production, glue containing gelatin used in cabinets. etc. ..."
Here is an excerpt from www.ivu.org
"Is there vegan gelatine?
from a reader in Germany:
"Gelatine" is a substance made of animal bones and other parts of the animal's body. So if there's a product with "gelatine", it can't be vegan.
But there exists a big variety of substances which are vegan an which have the same properties as gelatine: Cellulose (Amid), Agar-Agar, Biobin, Guar, Xanthan, Carob fruit and others. (Unfortunately I do not know the exact english names, but maybe this will help you already.).
So if you read on the ingredient list that gelatine is used, then you can be sure that this product is NOT vegan. But if one or more of the other mentioned subsances appear on the list, you can be sure that you can eat them even as vegan.
The following is an excerpt from www.howstuffworks.com
The gelatin you eat in Jell-O comes from the collagen in cow or pig bones, hooves, and connective tissues. To make gelatin, manufacturers grind up these various parts and pre-treat them with either a strong acid or a strong base to break down cellular structures and release proteins like collagen. After pre-treatment, the resulting mixture is boiled. During this process, the large collagen protein ends up being partially broken down, and the resulting product is called gelatin. The gelatin is easily extracted because it forms a layer on the surface of the boiling mixture.
This excerpt is from www.answers.com
Columbia Encyclopedia: gelatin or animal jelly, foodstuff obtained from connective tissue (found in hoofs, bones, tendons, ligaments, and cartilage) of vertebrate animals by the action of boiling water or dilute acid. It is largely composed of denatured collagen, a protein particularly rich in the amino acids proline and hydroxyproline. The process of manufacture is a complex one that involves removing foreign substances, boiling the material (usually in distilled water in aluminum vessels to prevent contamination), and purifying it of all chemicals used in freeing the gelatin from the connective tissues. The final product in its purest form is brittle, transparent, colorless, tasteless, and odorless and has the distinguishing property of dissolving in hot water and congealing when cold. In contact with cold water it takes up from 5 to 10 times its own weight and swells to an elastic, transparent mass. Gelatin, being readily digested and absorbed, is a good food for children and invalids. It is important in fine cookery as a vehicle for other materials, in the form of jellied soups, molded meats and salads, and frozen desserts. Preparations of it are used in the home manufacture of jam, jellies, and preserves to ensure jellification of fruit juices. It is used in the drying and preserving of fruits and meats, in the glazing of coffee, and in the preparation of powdered milk and other powdered foods. Bakeries use it in making meringues, eclairs, and other delicacies. In confectionery making it is used as the basis of taffy, nougat, marshmallows, and fondant. Ice cream manufacture employs it to maintain a permanent emulsion of other ingredients and thus to give body to the finished product. In scientific processes gelatin is widely employed, being used in electrotyping, photography, waterproofing, and dyeing, and in coating microscopic slides. It is used as a culture medium for bacteriological research and also to make coatings for pills and capsules, for court plaster, and for some surgical dressings. It affords a base for ointments and pastes, such as toothpaste; it is an emulsifying agent useful in making liquid combinations and various sprays. In its less pure forms gelatin is known as glue and size. Vegetable gelatin, or agar, is derived from East Indian seaweeds.
Raw Materials
Animal bones, skins, and tissue are obtained from slaughterhouses. Gelatin processing plants are usually located nearby so that these animal byproducts can be quickly processed.
Acids and alkalines such as caustic lime or sodium carbonate are used to extract minerals and bacteria from the animal parts. They are either produced in the food processing plant or purchased from outside vendors.
Sweeteners, flavorings, and colorings are added in the preparation of food gelatin. These can be in liquid or powdered forms and are purchased from outside vendors.
Uses
Probably best known as a gelling agent in cooking, different types and grades of gelatin are used in a wide range of food and non-food products:
Common examples of foods that contain gelatin are gelatin desserts, trifles, aspic, marshmallows, and confectioneries such as Peeps and gummy bears. Gelatin may be used as a stabilizer, thickener, or texturizer in foods such as ice cream, jams, yogurt, cream cheese, and margarine; it is used, as well, in fat-reduced foods to simulate the mouthfeel of fat and to create volume without adding calories.
Gelatin is used for the clarification of juices, such as apple juice, and of vinegar. Isinglass, from the swim bladders of fish, is still in use as a fining agent for wine and beer. [7] Beside hartshorn jelly, from deer antlers (hence the name "hartshorn"), isinglass was one of the oldest sources of gelatin. Gelatine was used for hardening paper in Colonial times.
Technical uses
Capsules made of gelatin.
Certain professional lighting equipment uses color gels to change the beam color. These used to be made with gelatin, hence the name color gel.
Gelatin typically constitutes the shells of pharmaceutical capsules in order to make them easier to swallow. Hypromellose is a vegan-acceptable alternative to gelatin, but is more expensive to produce.
Animal glues such as hide glue are essentially unrefined gelatin.
It is used to hold silver halide crystals in an emulsion in virtually all photographic films and photographic papers. Despite some efforts, no suitable substitutes with the stability and low cost of gelatin have been found.
Used as a carrier, coating or separating agent for other substances, it, for example, makes beta-carotene water-soluble, thus imparting a yellow colour to any soft drinks containing beta-carotene.
Gelatin is closely related to bone glue and is used as a binder in match heads and sandpaper.
Cosmetics may contain a non-gelling variant of gelatin under the name hydrolyzed collagen.
As a surface sizing, it smooths glossy printing papers or playing cards and maintains the wrinkles in crêpe paper.
Medicinal and nutritional properties
Amino acid composition
Although gelatin is 98-99% protein by dry weight, it has less nutritional value than many other protein sources. Gelatin is unusually high in the non-essential amino acids glycine and proline, (i.e., those produced by the human body), while lacking certain essential amino acids (i.e., those not produced by the human body). It contains no tryptophan and is deficient in isoleucine, threonine, and methionine. The approximate amino acid composition of gelatin is: glycine 21%, proline 12%, hydroxyproline 12%, glutamic acid 10%, alanine 9%, arginine 8%, aspartic acid 6%, lysine 4%, serine 4%, leucine 3%, valine 2%, phenylalanine 2%, threonine 2%, isoleucine 1%,hydroxylysine 1%, methionine and histidine <1% and tyrosine <0.5%. These values vary, especially the minor constituents, depending on the source of the raw material and processing technique.[8]
Came across some information that may be of interest to you all.
Let me emphasize this is not an opinion of mine or any kind of judgement just informative :) Hence, please refrain from sending me emails to defend what I am posting.
I was fasinated and astounded by the information:
Happy Food.
Here is an interesting opinion from a vegan on the veggieboards.com:
"First of all there is no way to be 100% vegan in the world in which you and I live. It just isn't possible, so you should stop putting so much pressure on yourself with the all or nothing attitude. It's not possible to be 100% vegan in our society because tons of things are made with animal products... including oil in making paint, the vulcanization process of producing rubber tires, gelatin in photography, animal oils are used in tempering steal, cement production, glue containing gelatin used in cabinets. etc. ..."
Here is an excerpt from www.ivu.org
"Is there vegan gelatine?
from a reader in Germany:
"Gelatine" is a substance made of animal bones and other parts of the animal's body. So if there's a product with "gelatine", it can't be vegan.
But there exists a big variety of substances which are vegan an which have the same properties as gelatine: Cellulose (Amid), Agar-Agar, Biobin, Guar, Xanthan, Carob fruit and others. (Unfortunately I do not know the exact english names, but maybe this will help you already.).
So if you read on the ingredient list that gelatine is used, then you can be sure that this product is NOT vegan. But if one or more of the other mentioned subsances appear on the list, you can be sure that you can eat them even as vegan.
The following is an excerpt from www.howstuffworks.com
The gelatin you eat in Jell-O comes from the collagen in cow or pig bones, hooves, and connective tissues. To make gelatin, manufacturers grind up these various parts and pre-treat them with either a strong acid or a strong base to break down cellular structures and release proteins like collagen. After pre-treatment, the resulting mixture is boiled. During this process, the large collagen protein ends up being partially broken down, and the resulting product is called gelatin. The gelatin is easily extracted because it forms a layer on the surface of the boiling mixture.
This excerpt is from www.answers.com
Columbia Encyclopedia: gelatin or animal jelly, foodstuff obtained from connective tissue (found in hoofs, bones, tendons, ligaments, and cartilage) of vertebrate animals by the action of boiling water or dilute acid. It is largely composed of denatured collagen, a protein particularly rich in the amino acids proline and hydroxyproline. The process of manufacture is a complex one that involves removing foreign substances, boiling the material (usually in distilled water in aluminum vessels to prevent contamination), and purifying it of all chemicals used in freeing the gelatin from the connective tissues. The final product in its purest form is brittle, transparent, colorless, tasteless, and odorless and has the distinguishing property of dissolving in hot water and congealing when cold. In contact with cold water it takes up from 5 to 10 times its own weight and swells to an elastic, transparent mass. Gelatin, being readily digested and absorbed, is a good food for children and invalids. It is important in fine cookery as a vehicle for other materials, in the form of jellied soups, molded meats and salads, and frozen desserts. Preparations of it are used in the home manufacture of jam, jellies, and preserves to ensure jellification of fruit juices. It is used in the drying and preserving of fruits and meats, in the glazing of coffee, and in the preparation of powdered milk and other powdered foods. Bakeries use it in making meringues, eclairs, and other delicacies. In confectionery making it is used as the basis of taffy, nougat, marshmallows, and fondant. Ice cream manufacture employs it to maintain a permanent emulsion of other ingredients and thus to give body to the finished product. In scientific processes gelatin is widely employed, being used in electrotyping, photography, waterproofing, and dyeing, and in coating microscopic slides. It is used as a culture medium for bacteriological research and also to make coatings for pills and capsules, for court plaster, and for some surgical dressings. It affords a base for ointments and pastes, such as toothpaste; it is an emulsifying agent useful in making liquid combinations and various sprays. In its less pure forms gelatin is known as glue and size. Vegetable gelatin, or agar, is derived from East Indian seaweeds.
Raw Materials
Animal bones, skins, and tissue are obtained from slaughterhouses. Gelatin processing plants are usually located nearby so that these animal byproducts can be quickly processed.
Acids and alkalines such as caustic lime or sodium carbonate are used to extract minerals and bacteria from the animal parts. They are either produced in the food processing plant or purchased from outside vendors.
Sweeteners, flavorings, and colorings are added in the preparation of food gelatin. These can be in liquid or powdered forms and are purchased from outside vendors.
Uses
Probably best known as a gelling agent in cooking, different types and grades of gelatin are used in a wide range of food and non-food products:
Common examples of foods that contain gelatin are gelatin desserts, trifles, aspic, marshmallows, and confectioneries such as Peeps and gummy bears. Gelatin may be used as a stabilizer, thickener, or texturizer in foods such as ice cream, jams, yogurt, cream cheese, and margarine; it is used, as well, in fat-reduced foods to simulate the mouthfeel of fat and to create volume without adding calories.
Gelatin is used for the clarification of juices, such as apple juice, and of vinegar. Isinglass, from the swim bladders of fish, is still in use as a fining agent for wine and beer. [7] Beside hartshorn jelly, from deer antlers (hence the name "hartshorn"), isinglass was one of the oldest sources of gelatin. Gelatine was used for hardening paper in Colonial times.
Technical uses
Capsules made of gelatin.
Certain professional lighting equipment uses color gels to change the beam color. These used to be made with gelatin, hence the name color gel.
Gelatin typically constitutes the shells of pharmaceutical capsules in order to make them easier to swallow. Hypromellose is a vegan-acceptable alternative to gelatin, but is more expensive to produce.
Animal glues such as hide glue are essentially unrefined gelatin.
It is used to hold silver halide crystals in an emulsion in virtually all photographic films and photographic papers. Despite some efforts, no suitable substitutes with the stability and low cost of gelatin have been found.
Used as a carrier, coating or separating agent for other substances, it, for example, makes beta-carotene water-soluble, thus imparting a yellow colour to any soft drinks containing beta-carotene.
Gelatin is closely related to bone glue and is used as a binder in match heads and sandpaper.
Cosmetics may contain a non-gelling variant of gelatin under the name hydrolyzed collagen.
As a surface sizing, it smooths glossy printing papers or playing cards and maintains the wrinkles in crêpe paper.
Medicinal and nutritional properties
Amino acid composition
Although gelatin is 98-99% protein by dry weight, it has less nutritional value than many other protein sources. Gelatin is unusually high in the non-essential amino acids glycine and proline, (i.e., those produced by the human body), while lacking certain essential amino acids (i.e., those not produced by the human body). It contains no tryptophan and is deficient in isoleucine, threonine, and methionine. The approximate amino acid composition of gelatin is: glycine 21%, proline 12%, hydroxyproline 12%, glutamic acid 10%, alanine 9%, arginine 8%, aspartic acid 6%, lysine 4%, serine 4%, leucine 3%, valine 2%, phenylalanine 2%, threonine 2%, isoleucine 1%,hydroxylysine 1%, methionine and histidine <1% and tyrosine <0.5%. These values vary, especially the minor constituents, depending on the source of the raw material and processing technique.[8]