The centuries-long history of gelatin is a history of exploration and refinement of one of nature’s truly diverse and useful substances. The story spans glue, food, drugs, photography, biomedics and more to arrive at today’s rapidly evolving multi-billion euro market defined by ever-expanding applications.

Gelatin is a safe ingredient of natural origin that has been used by humans for many centuries. However, despite its widespread usage, there are still some common misconceptions about gelatin. For example, some people think gelatin is a kind of fat, while many others don’t even know where gelatin falls on the nutrition table.

Gelatin is an ingredient derived from safe, natural sources. In this article we look at how gelatin also supports the global drive towards sustainability, traceability and transparency.

Gelatin’s history in food dates many millennia – it’s a global phenomenon that’s still being written. From bone broth extracts that helped sustain cave dwellers and ancient Egyptians to Medieval jelly desserts to the rise of the humble gummy bear, no corner of the culinary world is untouched by gelatin’s textural prowess.

Gelatin is one of the world’s most versatile compounds – a natural and pure protein derived from native collagen and widely used in food, pharma, nutraceuticals, photography and a host of other applications on a mass scale for almost two centuries.

Gelatin’s special gelling and thickening jelly-like properties helped make gummy bears a blockbuster candy category after humble beginnings almost a century ago. But gelatin had to work harder to meet the particular nutraceutical and pharmaceutical manufacturing demands of the fast-rising functional gummies category. More on that in a second…

Gelatin has many applications ranging from food ingredient to the safe delivery of medication. Valued for its unique functional properties, gelatin is one of the most versatile ingredients in the world.

Pharmaceutical capsules are consumed by millions of people around the world every day. But have you ever wondered where they come from? In this article, we look at the gelatin capsule which has been the standard shell excipient for over a hundred years. We also take a look at the alternative shell excipients that have been developed to cater for the vegetarian market.

Have you ever wondered what gelatin is, where it comes from and how it’s made? Keep reading to find out ...