The Treatment of Raw Materials

The vast majority of gelatin products produced in the world come from either bovine bones and hides or pigskins. A detailed description of what takes place during production can be found in chapter 2 of my father’s book, Expositions in Jewish Dietary Laws (Ktav; 2010). What follows is a brief description of how bovine gelatin is manufactured:

Contrary to what the public is often told, industrial level bovine gelatin and collagen are not produced from meat or marrow; they are only produced from inedible bones or hides. The proteins found in meat and marrow are different from those found in bones and hides and if included will decrease the quality of the finished product. The companies that produce gelatin and collagen go to great lengths to ensure that all traces of meat and marrow are thoroughly removed before production. Bones and hides themselves are not considered meat and have been excluded by Chazal from any category of forbidden food. In the words of the Rishonim and Achronim they are nothing more than “Eitz B’Alma” (“mere wood”) or “Afar B’Alma” (“mere dirt”). Those who assert that industrial level gelatin and collagen are produced from meat or marrow are simply unfamiliar with the actual manufacturing guidelines or purposely misleading the public.

In the case of bovine hides, the hides are first transported from slaughterhouses to tanneries. The hides will arrive at the tannery with some meat and fat still attached, but already in the tannery the process of removing those unwanted substances will begin. In the tannery the hides are treated with chemicals which will remove the hair and also much of the meat and fat. This chemical treatment will also at least begin the process of disqualifying any residual meat or fat. What remains are tough strips of cowhide that are collected and heaped into a truck that transports them to the gelatin plant. If a hide goes through a splitter (with the top section being used in the leather industry and the bottom section being used to produce gelatin), by the time it reaches the splitter it has been thoroughly processed into a completely flat and clean "sheet" (around a centimeter thick, give or take) of cowhide. At this point it is plainly obvious that there are absolutely no traces of meat or fat attached to the hide.

At the gelatin plant the hides are cut into smaller pieces and treated with highly caustic chemicals, like Sodium Hydroxide and Hydrochloric Acid. The amount of time dedicated to this treatment will vary but it typically ranges from a few days to a couple of weeks. The environment into which the hides are placed is quite foul and toxic and any remaining meat and fat attached to the hides, even if not disqualified by the prior treatment at the tannery, will become disqualified by this caustic chemical soaking and rendered utterly unfit for consumption. The hides are then rigorously washed in water and prepared for collagen extraction. At this point even if there would be some remaining disqualified meat or fat attached to the hides it will be an extremely miniscule amount, far less than a ratio of 1,000 to 1, and even those miniscule bits will not remain after the later steps of collagen extraction and filtration, which filters out unwanted substances on a microscopic level. It is crucial for efficient production that unwanted meat and fat be completely removed prior to collagen extraction and filtration. If such substances were allowed to remain the filtration system would constantly become clogged and congested, making production impractical and impossible.

After the chemical treatment the hides are sent to extraction tanks which are filled with hot water. The temperature of the water will typically be from around 60-90 degrees Celsius (140-194 degrees Fahrenheit). It is in this water that collagen extraction takes place. The greater part of the hides become dissolved in the water and what remains of them is discarded or used in the production of a different (nonfood) product while the liquid solution, which contains the collagen proteins, continues to go through a lengthy process of purification and filtration to remove any unwanted minerals or other unwanted matter, as mentioned above, on a microscopic level. Eventually the liquid gelatin solution is cooled and turned into “spaghetti-like” noodles which are then sent through a very long dehydration tunnel. When the gelatin comes out of the tunnel it has been reduced to a dry, coarse, brittle, flavorless substance which can best be described as a thin piece of plastic. If a spray dryer is used, for example, in the production of collagen, the liquid solution is immediately turned into a dry, flavorless powder upon contact with the heat.

It should be mentioned that the Gemorra, Chulin 77a-77b, deals with the case of an extensively cooked hide of Neveilla. The Gemorra doesn’t say anything about whether such a hide may be eaten. It only tells us that an extensively cooked hide which has become edible is included in the laws of Tum’as Ochlin and that it is not included in the laws of Tum’as Neveilla. Achronim and Poskim, beginning from at least the 17^th century, have told us that the law for eating such a hide will follow its law regarding Tum’as Neveilla. Since the hide is not considered Neveilla with regard to the more stringent laws of Tum’ah, it is certainly also not considered Neveilla with regard to the more lenient laws of Issur Achilla and it is permitted to eat (See Ginas Veradim, Orach Chaim, Klal 2, Siman 15; Zera Avraham, Yoreh Deah, Siman 26; Chelkas Yoav, Yoreh Deah Kamma, Siman 11 [paragraph beginning with “Hayotzay”]). In other words, although a cowhide does not normally qualify as “food”, if it is extensively cooked enough it can assume the status of “food” and become included in the laws of Tum’as Ochlin which apply to food, but it will never assume the status of Neveilla. It should be understood, however, that the cowhides used in gelatin production never become “extensively cooked” in a way that makes them edible as per the requirements of the Gemorra in Chulin. The hides are dissolved, the proteins become part of a liquid solution, and any residue of the hides is discarded. The Gemorra in Chulin, however, was teaching a law about actual hides that when extensively cooked could be eaten as though they were meat. Hides in that state can be considered “Ochel” but they are still not considered “Neveilla”.

As far as the possible presence of blood in the hides that would require prior salting, again, prior to production such substances would be rendered utterly pagum through their exposure to highly caustic chemicals, during production all foreign matter, to the smallest level, will have been removed through filtration, and the final gelatin product will have become very dry, colorless and flavorless and any blood, even if present (which, it should be stressed, is simply not possible), would be in the same condition (see Shevus Ya’akov, chelek 2, #70, regarding the permissibility of “dried blood” and also see Yabia Omer, towards the end of vol. 8, Y.D., #11, section 7). Besides all of this, see Iggros Moshe, Yoreh Deah, vol. 1, Siman 33, who ruled that hides don’t require salting in the first place.

In the case of bovine bones, the process of breaking open the bones, draining the marrow, and drying them out takes place in one or two locations even before they are transported to the gelatin plant. When the bones are first delivered to the treatment plant they can still have a significant amount of meat or fat attached, but by the time they leave the treatment plant that has all been removed. Early in the process the broken bones are treated in hot water than can reach 90 degrees Celsius (194 degrees Fahrenheit) which causes the marrow to come out (see further). The bones are sent through a centrifuge and other equipment to separate them from any remaining meat particles which are used in the production of another product. During the drying process the bone pieces are treated with extreme heat that can reach 650 degrees Celsius (around 1,200 degrees Fahrenheit). The bones are then sorted, collected and sent to the gelatin plant.

Once in the plant the bone pieces are soaked in highly caustic chemicals like Calcium Hydroxide and Hydrochloric Acid, usually for a minimum of 20 days, which removes all the unwanted mineral matter and leaves behind only the pure ossein (collagen). Again, the environment in which the bones are treated is quite foul and toxic, even more than that of the hides, and any traces of meat, marrow or flavor, even in the highly unlikely event that any of that somehow survived through the prior treatments, will not survive through the chemical soaking. After this extended treatment in chemicals, the bones have become much softer and the collagen can be easily extracted through immersion in heated water. Like with hides, whatever remains of the bones is discarded or used in the production of another (nonfood) product, and then a similar process of what is described above with regard to hides takes place.

As far as the bones previously being cooked with the meat of Neveilla, the extreme heat and lengthy treatment in the caustic chemicals destroys any and all flavors that could possibly be present (see Achiezer, vol. 3, #33, sec. 5 and Yabia Omer, towards the end of vol. 8, Y.D., #11, section 7 and Bais Yosef, Orach Chaim, Siman 447, the section that begins “V’HaRashba Kasav B’Teshuva”). The bone matter itself has NOT assumed the status of Neveilla as a result of this “cooking” (see Yoreh Deah, Siman 99, Taz, s”k 1, and Shach, s”k 3).

Gelatin produced from pigskins and fish undergo a similar process. During the time they are being treated with caustic chemicals the raw materials have become “Nifsal Meachillas Kelev” (disqualified even for canine consumption) and cannot be ingested. During later stages in production the chemicals are removed and, technically, the gelatin solution can safely be ingested, but the flavor of the raw materials has already been irretrievably lost. Here also, at the end of production when the gelatin comes out of the dehydration tunnel it has been turned into a dry, coarse, brittle, flavorless substance which can best be described as a thin piece of plastic. At this point according to many Poskim who specifically dealt with gelatin produced from non-kosher raw materials, the finished product has been utterly disqualified as a foodstuff, meaning it has become “Nifsal Meachillas Kelev”.