Vegan Gelatin Coming to a Marshmallow Near You
At this point, you may have heard about the horrific ingredients that gelatin is made from. Well, San Francisco startup Gelzen has just invented a new vegan gelatin. Gummy bears, rejoice!
Gelzen explains the simple logic behind the cruelty-free gelatin on its website: “Scavenging essential products from animals presents urgent economic problems, environmental problems, public health problems, and for many, moral problems.”
The vegan gelatin–making process is a little technical but fascinating, nonetheless. Gelzen’s scientists program bacteria and yeast with the same genetic information in animal tissue that produces gelatin. (OK, that makes sense.) They then use these biological strains to ferment gelatin. (Hey, that wasn’t so bad!)
The company’s CEO, Alex Lorestani, explains why he and fellow cofounder, Nick Ouzounov, chose gelatin as their focus: “Nick is a vegetarian, so he’s always grappled with lackluster gelatin substitutes or simply searching for food that doesn’t contain it at all.”
Gelzen estimates that this gelatin—which has so much potential to help animals—will be widely available in the next five years.
In the meantime, you can enjoy these gelatin-free vegan products:
