Gelatin: The Paramount food additive

Of all the hydrocolloids in use today, surely none has proven as popular with the general public and found favor in as wide a range of food products as gelatin. A sparkling, clear dessert jelly has become the archetypal gel and the clean melt-in-the-mouth texture is a characteristic that has yet to be duplicated by any polysaccharide. Despite its apparently unfashionable status, more gelatin is sold to the food industry than any other gelling agent. It is relatively cheap to produce in quantity, and there is a ready supply of suitable raw material. The traditional sources of gelatin include bovine and pig skins and demineralized bones and hooves. However, recent studies have shown that there are viable new sources of gelatin such as marine fish skins and bones. Researchers have further sought to develop gelatin derivatives or modified gelatins like coldwater soluble gelatin, hydrolyzed gelatin and esterified gelatin.