From: larry@kitty.UUCP (Larry Lippman)
Subject: Re: Dead Horse in Gelatin (was Re: Protein in Shampoo, What Is It ???)
Summary: All gelatin is derived from animal products
Date: 2 Dec 89 05:27:37 GMT
Organization: Recognition Research Corp., Clarence, NYLines: 52

In article <708@odin.cs.hw.ac.uk>, raza@cs.hw.ac.uk (Z. Raza Hussain) writes:
> >> in the formation of gelatin. Remember that the next time you eat a
> >> gelatin dessert, you are probably eating a dead horse. Really. :-)
> 
> isn't it true that gelatin (or is it gelatine, any difference?) is
> made out of synthetics or something artificial nowadays ???

        Nope.  There are four generally recognized grades of gelatin (edible,
technical, photographic and pharmaceutical), ALL of which are extracted from
animal products, most commonly skin, bones and "fleshings".

        Manufacture of gelatin is a multi-stage process, briefly described
as follows in an example which uses bones as the raw material:

1.      Bones are are first degreased by heating with steam or through the
        use of petroleum naptha as a solvent.

2.      The degreased bones are then crushed.

3.      The bones are then addded to a tank containing water and lime, and
        are heated to about 70 deg C for an hour or so.

4.      The bones are then treated with cold, dilute hydrochloric acid
        which dissolves calcium carbonate, calcium phophate and other
        mineral matter, thereby leaving the organic matter.  This material
        is now called ossein.

5.      The ossein is then soaked in vats with calcium hydroxide, which
        removes soluble proteins, such as mucin and albumin.

6.      The resultant material is then washed with slighly acidulated
        water to adjust the pH for optimum hydrolysis.

7.      The resultant material is then hydrolized with dilute acid
        solution to form gelatin in a repeated series of extractions
        beginning at about 60 deg C and ending at about 100 deg C.

8.      The gelatin may be bleached with hydrogen peroxide or sulfur
        dioxide during these extraction stages.

9.      The resultant gelatin is then dried and ground into a fine powder.

        Ain't no other practicable way to make gelatin.  While my original
remark about the dead horse was intended as humor, it is far more truth than
fiction.  From what I observed, the two rendering plants I have seen over
the years weren't too careful about segregating their, uh, raw material.
As one crusty plant engineer said to me, "Bones is bones".  :-)

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