Summer 2025

Widely available gelatin substitutes provide kosher consumers with sound alternatives to meat- and fish-based gelatin products. They are also making headway in the field of vitamin and medicinal capsules.

Popular gelatin alternatives that are seaweed-based include:

► Agar Agar/Kanten:Derived from some species of red algae. Has strong setting properties similar to gelatin. Will gel at room temperature. Is more affected by acidity than gelatin and thus can cause fruity desserts to turn watery.

►Carrageenan/Irish Moss: Is a reddish-purple seaweed. Less stiff than Agar Agar. Useful as an emulsifier and a thickener.

Gelatin alternatives that are vegetable-derived and that can be used as stabilizers, emulsifiers, or thickeners include:

► Gellan Gum: Produced by the microbial fermentation of a carbohydrate using the bacterium Sphingomonas elodea. Requires reliable kosher certification to verify that the ingredients used in their processing are all kosher and that the equipment used for their processing are all kosher parve.

► Guar Gum: A legume commonly found in Pakistan and India. Its kitniyos status is debated.

► Gum Arabic/Gum Acacia: Derived from the sap of acacia trees found in the Sudan and West Africa. Processing involves spray drying the gum to make it into a powder. Requires reliable kosher certification, as spray drying equipment may be dairy or non-kosher due to previous productions.

► Gum Karaya/Sterculia: Obtained from the tree Sterculia urens, which is native to India. Processing is similar to the one used for Gum Arabic, above.

► Locust Bean Gum: Made from carob beans which grow on trees native to the Middle East and the Mediterranean.

► Pectin: A complex carbohydrate extracted from apple pulp and citrus rinds. Used in jams and jellies.

► Tragacanth/Shiraz Gum: Gathered from the dried sap of several species of Middle Eastern legumes of the genus Astragalus. Processing is similar to the one used for Gum Arabic, above.

► Xanthan Gum: Similar to Gellan Gum as it is produced by microbial fermentation but uses the bacterium Xanthomonas campestris.