Should a horse (or animal) lover love Jello?

Gelatin grosses me out, but not for the reasons you may think.

Maybe there’s not always room for Jello anymore. This long-time comfort food, lauded for generations as a flu remedy, molded salad base, and party shot glass filler, seems to be slipping in popularity. Some of us have always wondered.

Why are folks frowning about gelatin?

Perhaps several dietary reasons may be responsible for gelatin’s apparent fall from favor in recent days. First and foremost may be the fact that sweetened gelatin generally contains plenty of artificial dyes and high fructose corn syrup (or artificial sweeteners).

But that’s not what makes me cringe about gelatin.

Jello (perhaps the most popular gelatin product) is made with just a few primary ingredients: gelatin, sugar (or sweetener), artificial coloring, artificial flavoring, and water.

OK, we knew that. But what is in gelatin?

Gelatin is made from processed collagen, which comes from animal protein. Usually, gelatin comes from ground up pigskin. Sometimes cow or horse skin is used. In some parts, cow, horse, or pig hides and connective tissues may be included as well. The animal matter is ground up, treated chemically, and boiled to dissolve it. Then it makes a gelatinous powder, which is used to produce gelatin.

I’m not a vegan or even a vegetarian – but something doesn’t feel just right about that, even if eating gelatin is supposed to help a person grow healthy fingernails.

Maybe there’s nothing outright harmful about gelatin. But it sure doesn’t feel like dessert anymore.

Now, who still has room for Jello? Or can we just save the pigskin for the football field?

By the way, a whopping list of foods tend to contain gelatin. Some may surprise you. Take a look:

• candy corn
• canned meats (such as chicken, ham, or SPAM)
• canned soups with meat
• chewable vitamins
• chewing gum
• gummy candies
• jams and jellies
• jelly beans
• marshmallows
• prepared cake frostings
• processed cheeses
• sausages
• throat lozenges

Some yogurts, cream cheeses, and even frozen vegetables are made with gelatin too. It pays to read food labels carefully, if you’re concerned about contents. Because when it comes to healthy eating, we’re not horsing around.

Now, who still wants to feed a couple of marshmallows, holiday Peeps, or Rice Krispy Treats to a horse?

 

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