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Gelatine has always been a healthy and safe foodstuff. However, since BSE some consumers have been sceptical about gelatine. Although this is understandable, it is unfounded. The European gelatine manufacturers have always stood for top gelatine quality - this can be seen in the careful selection of high-quality raw materials and in the multi-layered manufacturing process itself. In 1999 the EU Commission specified tighter European regulations for the manufacture, sale and purity of edible and pharmaceutical gelatine in response to the BSE crisis. The GME member companies had reacted long before these tighter regulations, already implementing the EU criteria.
With regard to its safety, especially with respect to BSE, gelatine is certainly the best-studied foodstuff. On the basis of international research results, both the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the European Commission for Health and Consumer Protection have confirmed that gelatine is safe.
First-Class Raw Materials
The majority of gelatine is made of pigskin; other raw materials include cattle skin and bones from pigs and cattle. The raw materials for the manufacture of gelatine come from registered slaughterhouses in which all animals are examined by a vet. In addition, in all European slaughterhouses BSE tests are carried out on all cattle that are older than 30 months. However, infection with BSE has never been found in the cattle bones examined.
The meat of the tested animals is supplied to butchers, the skin and the bones go for gelatine production. The conventional practice of slaughter, control and approval procedure guarantees that the raw materials used for the gelatine only come from animals whose meat has been approved for human consumption.
The selection of the raw materials goes hand in hand with the statutory provisions. European legislation governs all stages of gelatine manufacture, starting with the selection of the raw materials right up to delivery. This means that all raw materials are subject to continuous, rigorous checks on safety and origin.
Pharmaceutical gelatine must comply with the stringent requirements of the official pharmacopoeia. Edible gelatine also meets these requirements and is subject to food safety legislation too.
The gelatine manufacturing industry is thus one of the best structured and best controlled industries in the whole of Europe.
Manufacture is another Guarantee of Safety
In addition to the statutory guidelines on raw materials, the production process of gelatine has always been another fundamental safety criterion for the consumer. GME takes consumers’ reservations very seriously indeed.
For this reason, in 1999 the gelatine association commissioned a wide-ranging study on gelatine under the auspices of the European Commission as part of its BSE Research Programme. The study investigated whether BSE pathogens, which were artificially added to the raw materials, are removed or inactivated during the gelatine production process.
The study results showed that the methods used in the production process are extremely effective. Even with the most sensitive measuring methods no more infectious residues could be detected. The gelatine manufacturing process thus also acts as an additional guarantee of safety .
The study, which confirmed earlier investigation results, was carried out by three internationally renowned research institutes - the Institute for Animal Health in Edinburgh (Scotland), the Baltimore Research and Education Foundation (USA) and ID-Lelystad (Netherlands).
The study results prove that the consumption of gelatine has never posed any risk to human health.
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