What exactly is Jell-O made of? Does it really contain horses' hooves? And what is in a Jell-O
salad? From its long-reaching history to its key ingredients, this is how Jell-O is really made.
The key ingredient in Jell-O is gelatin. Of course, you've probably heard of this stuff
before, and you might have heard some pretty gruesome rumors about it, too. So what is it?
Put short: it's a flavorless, colorless ingredient derived from animal collagen.
Gelatin occurs naturally in the meat, bones, and cartilage of various animals,
and is the reason that meaty soups or broths begin to solidify after they're chilled for
long enough. Generally, the collagens from which gelatin is derived comes from an animal's skin,
tendons, ligaments, and bones. This is why vegans and members of certain
religions are unable to eat Jell-O and other foods that include gelatin.
During the manufacturing process, these connective tissues are boiled, dried,
treated with acid, and filtered out in order to extract the collagen.
This is then dried and ground up into a powder. This powder can be added to liquids to give them
the jiggly characteristic for which Jell-O is so well-known — but only if it's done right,
and even then it can be difficult to exactly describe what it's like to eat it.
"Jiggly and squishy." "I don't know like,
weird kind of." "And it feels good in your mouth."
The science works like this. When you dissolve powdered gelatin in cold water,
the granule gelatins become hydrated. When you add that mixture to a warm liquid, the collagen
molecules begin to stretch and loosen. Then, when you put the mixture into the fridge, those
fully-hydrated gelatin molecules rebond, turning the liquid into Jell-O. Just like magic, ain't it?
Another of the key ingredients in Jell-O is sweetener: usually aspartame,
a type of artificial, calorie-free sweetener, but also sometimes sugar.
Jell-O also contains artificial flavors — how else do you think they get it tasting so good?
Then you've got your food colorings. These days Jell-O has a few products made from natural
ingredients. Most types of Jell-O, however, are still made with artificial food dyes.
Put all this together and you've got a surprisingly hefty ingredient list.
Take Strawberry Jell-O, for example. This kind of Jell-O contains not just gelatin,
but also sugar, adipic acid, artificial flavor, disodium phosphate, sodium citrate,
fumaric acid, and red dye #40. Meanwhile, sugar-free Peach Jell-O contains those same
ingredients, only with aspartame instead of sugar, and a slightly different dye.
We've all heard the relatively common rumor that Jell-O contains horses' hooves. But is it true?
In a word? Nope. The root of this rumor is obvious, of course. Gelatin is made from collagen,
and that's derived from connective tissues in animal meats, meaning you would be right to
say that Jell-O contains the bones and skin of animals. What's crucial to know here is that,
first of all, gelatin doesn't tend to be made from horse — usually,
it's the connective tissue of cows and pigs that are used in the manufacturing process.
Presumably, this is because cows and pigs are far more regularly farmed and slaughtered than horses,
so their skin and bones are easier to get hold of.
There's also the fact that the hoof of an animal doesn't actually contain gelatin at all.
Instead, the hoof is made from keratin, another kind of protein that can also
be found in turtle shells and human fingernails. This protein can be used
to similar effect as gelatin but trust us, you won't find it in your Jell-O.
You wouldn't imagine many people consider Jell-O to be a particularly healthy food,
and it's safe to say that there's no surprise in store here. It's not.
While Jell-O is low in calories and fat-free,
that doesn't make it good for you. One serving of Jell-O tends to contain around 80 calories,
1.6 grams of protein, and 18 grams of sugar. Even the sugar-free variants aren't great. One
serving of sugar-free Jell-O usually contains 13 calories, 1 gram of protein and no sugar;
but artificial sweeteners can still have adverse effects on your health.
Beyond the sugar content, however, it's important to realize that Jell-O contains practically zero
nutrients. That means you're not getting any vitamins or minerals out of it. Considering it's
also low in protein and fiber, it's hard to make much of an argument for Jell-O as a health food.
Now, there's literally zero chance you've gotten this far and not wondered whether
Jell-O can be made from humans. And good news! It sure can.
In 2011, Popular Science reported that scientists are developing a
new way for producing gelatin derived from humans, in large enough quantities to be
able to replace the animal-based gelatins currently used in the food, pharmaceutical,
and cosmetic industries. To create this kind of gelatin, the outlet reports "human genes are
inserted into yeast strains that are tuned to produce gelatin in specific, controlled ways."
Obviously, there's an environmental aspect to this, but that wasn't the only reason this
research began. Because gelatin is derived from animals, it actually has a very slight risk of
provoking immune symptom responses in humans, or carrying infectious diseases. These scientists
believe these problems might actually be solved by creating gelatin from humans.
But this new kind of gelatin also throws up an interesting conundrum: is it vegetarian?
Or is it actually a very weird kind of ethical cannibalism? Although human gelatin hasn't quite
reached the commercial phase of its development, you may yet see it hit stores in the coming years.
A number of different ingredients can be used to make vegan gelatin. The first is agar-agar.
Like gelatin, this seaweed extract is flavorless, odorless, and colorless, and handily comes in a
powdered form. It's this kind of agar-agar that can be substituted for gelatin on a 1:1 ratio.
Then there's pectin, which is made from fruit skins and rinds, and is
most commonly used to thicken jams, jellies and marmalades. To get it to gel properly,
you'll need to add some sugar. Add five cups of sugar to each pack of powdered pectin,
or three to four cups to each pouch of liquid pectin.
Throw in a little lemon juice for acidity and you've got your gelatin substitute ready to go.
You could also try carrageenan or vegetable gums. Just be aware that
these come with their own issues: carrageenan has been linked to gastrointestinal problems,
while some people find it difficult to digest certain vegetable gums.
One of the best things about Jell-O is that it can come in pretty much any flavor.
Some of the most popular Jell-O flavors to have hit stores over the years include strawberry,
orange, cherry, watermelon, and mango. Occasionally, mainstream Jell-O desserts
have pushed the boat out a little further, with flavors such as apricot, fruit punch,
berry blue, and tropical fusion. But they're not that weird, are they?
Well, over the years, Jell-O has introduced and discontinued a range of
seriously weird flavors, too. There's celery, for one, if you're the kind of
person who prefers their Jell-O salty and watery. Or how about Italian salad,
for when you just have to jelly your leftover tomatoes and mozzarella.
"There was also a coffee flavored Jell-O which bombed in the U.S but was a big hit in Japan."
Jell-O also made pistachio, cola, cotton candy and maple syrup Jell-Os. Because why not?
One of the truly iconic uses for Jell-O is the Jell-O salad. According to author Laura Shapiro,
during the early 20th century, quote, "nothing so quickly identified a meal as upscale,
glamorous and artistic as a magnificent salad." The invention of Jell-O and its
rising popularity in America gave homemakers the opportunity to showcase their magnificent,
fancy salads in an even more exciting way.
These jellied salads became so popular because, well, they weren't salads. As Shapiro stated -
"You ate dessert and called it salad... it was supremely sweet,
which was the goal of an enormous amount of American cooking and eating."
By the mid-70s, it was practically impossible to attend an American dinner party, picnic,
or potluck that didn't feature at least one Jell-O salad. Unfortunately,
not all of them were tasty, with food writer Wendy Tien saying -
"Savoury Jell-O salad, led me to perfect the art
of pretending to take a hearty bite and disposing of it in a napkin."
Ah, Jell-O shots. The backbone of partying in the western world.
The bane of many a college freshman. The gelatinous, delicious concoction that can
only be described as simultaneously one of the best and worst ideas ever devised by humankind.
One of the biggest problems people tend to have with Jell-O shots is that they get drunk off them
way too fast. That's because when you ingest alcohol in a solid form,
it doesn't dissolve on your tongue quite as much as a liquid might,
meaning you taste it less. Obviously, that means trouble. According to Serious Eats,
a standard Jell-O shot recipe will usually call for 5 ounces of 80-proof vodka and 11
ounces of water. Unfortunately, this standard shot will end up tasting watered down; but a
stronger shot might cause you a whole new world of bother. So how do you get them just right?
Playing with texture can help. Using xanthan gum as a thickener rather than
gelatin can often create a jellified outer coat and a liquid interior,
giving you what essentially amounts to a small booze grenade that bursts open when you bite
into it. You could also use corn syrup and egg white to give your alcoholic jellies a
puffier texture, or try some new flavors by utilizing other alcohols and add-ins.
Gelatin-like substances have been mentioned in historical records that date back as far as
the Roman era, but gelatin as we know it shows up during the early 15th century. During this period,
medieval cooks used the gelatin made from broths of boiled pigs' ears and feet to make jellies.
These jellies were enjoyed both for their strange texture and
their ability to prevent spoilage of any meats and vegetables that were encased within them.
When the Catholic Church later recommended their followers not consume meat on Fridays,
medieval chefs developed fish jellies to cope — usually made from eels.
At the end of the medieval era, however, sweet jellies were finally created;
although many derived their texture from ingredients such as pectin rather than gelatin.
In 1818, gelatin was manufactured industrially for the first time. By the mid-1800s,
the first gelatin dessert mix had been patented, by a New York industrialist and glue magnate named
Peter Cooper. His powdered gelatin mix was made using processed lemons, sugar, eggs, and spices.
Unfortunately for Cooper, his invention was eventually overshadowed
by someone else's. In 1887, Pearle B. Wait created his own mix of gelatin,
sugar and food coloring. At his wife's suggestion, he named it Jell-O.
In 1899, Pearle Wait sold his formula and patent for Jello-O for $450 to a businessman
named Frank Woodward. Unfortunately, Jell-O didn't exactly take off. Despite an aggressive marketing
campaign, sales lagged. Frustrated by his lack of success, Woodward offered the rights to Jell-O to
the superintendent at his production plant — for $35; that's around $1,000 today.
Luckily, the superintendent refused, and in 1904, things turned around for Woodward. Using
the money he had made from other products, he bought ads for Jell-O in Ladies Home Journal, a
nationally-syndicated publication. Sales of Jell-O soared, and in just a few years it had become one
of America's most recognizable brands; free Jell-O molds were even handed out to immigrants arriving
at Ellis Island. Woodward didn't get to enjoy much of the success — he passed away in 1906.
By 1924, Woodward's company had become the Jell-O Company. Over the next century, the product got
stronger and stronger, thanks in large to the Jell-O Company's admirable marketing skills.
"Mmm there's nothing quite like jello for entertaining.
Everybody loves its jolly smile!" "So when's the Jello party?"
"Tomorrow!?" "We accept!"
Catchy jingles, ingenious slogans, celebrity spokespeople,
and the iconic Jell-O Girl all helped to sell the product to America.
In 1964, an industrial conglomerate known as General Foods, today known as Kraft,
took over the manufacturing of Jell-O's product.
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