Is Jello Kosher?

[bigdaddy]

I'm going with no, but I'm not sure if gelatin is made from only cows or a mix of animals.

I make jam/jelly (Rhubarb/Berry and Strawberry Rhubarb) every year and they kick ass. However the "secret" ingredient in them is Jello, which is made from at least some type of animal. Now most of my friends are vegetarians or Jewish, so I know veggie people can't eat it, but I'm not sure about it being kosher.

 

[MeanJoePhaser]

Fuck 'em if they can't take a Jello.

 

[Trekker4747]

I'm going with no, but I'm not sure if gelatin is made from only cows or a mix of animals.

I make jam/jelly (Rhubarb/Berry and Strawberry Rhubarb) every year and they kick ass. However the "secret" ingredient in them is Jello, which is made from at least some type of animal. Now most of my friends are vegetarians or Jewish, so I know veggie people can't eat it, but I'm not sure about it being kosher.

Jello gets its "gel" from gelatin, which is made from rendering down cow hooves. Which, in theory, would make it kosher (as Jews can consume products made from cows) at least on that front it'd be "kosher." Not sure how gelatin jives with other kosher laws like mixing animal products with dairy products.

Jello may also be made from artificial gelatin which contains no animal products. If I were reccomending this to someone concerned about remaining kosher I'd tell them to be "safe" and not consume Jello.

EDIT:

According to THIS website Jell-O is not kosher. It seems that the "K" stamped on foods is not trademarked (as you cannot trademark a letter) so some maunfacturers, I suppose, put it on their products if they precieve it to be "kosher" even if they've not been deemed Kosher by offical organizations who've put their own trademarked symbol (with a K on it) on the product. Reliable Orhtodox authorities agree Jell-O is not kosher.

 

[PlixTixiplik]

According to Rabbi Yehuda Gershuni and Rabbi David Telsner ("The Halachic Basis of our Kashruth Certification of Atlantic Gelatin and the General Foods Products containing this Gelatin") gelatin is both kosher and pareve (can be eaten with other meats or dairy). It is not considered a meat under Orthodox dietary laws because the collagen has been broken down and turned into a completely different substance. Although apparently not all rabbinical authorities agree (the same is true with Muslims and halal).

Also, I learned that gelatin is not produced from hooves because they don't contain enough collagen. It mostly comes from pig and cow skin.

 

[AstroSmurf]

Well it depends on who you ask. Some people consider gelatin to be 'pareve', which means it is not classified as real flesh since it has undergone significant changes in the manufacturing process. However, some do consider it flesh and prefer gelatin to be Kosher.

And if you are asking about the Jello brand specifically, it is not Kosher. They do make a Kosher Jello that is made from cow skins and cartilage along with fish bones only. Ordinary Jello brand contains pig parts. I am sure some specialty stores would be able to help you find a brand that is Kosher. You could also substitute Jello with something called Agar-Agar, which is Kosher and vegetarian friendly. The sell it in several different flavors but I am not sure they would have the specific one you need.

 

[Trekker4747]

According to Rabbi Yehuda Gershuni and Rabbi David Telsner ("The Halachic Basis of our Kashruth Certification of Atlantic Gelatin and the General Foods Products containing this Gelatin") gelatin is both kosher and pareve (can be eaten with other meats or dairy). It is not considered a meat under Orthodox dietary laws because the collagen has been broken down and turned into a completely different substance.

Also, I learned that gelatin is not produced from hooves because they don't contain enough collagen.

Interesting, it's been my understanding that Jews keeping kosher are not allowed to eat anything related to "forbidden" animals. Seems to me that would extend to the collagen rendered down into gelatin. It may be a completely different substance but it still came from a non-kosher animal.

 

[propita]

Yet sometimes exceptions might be made with medication, when the problem is serious and there are no alternatives. Or so I've heard. Because life comes before keeping kosher.

 

[sojourner]

How petty does an all powerful deity have to be to condemn someone for eating this but not that?

I never understood that in modern religion.

 

[scotpens]

How petty does an all powerful deity have to be to condemn someone for eating this but not that?

I never understood that in modern religion.

Every religion has its little rules. That's not the topic of this thread.

 

[bigdaddy]

How petty does an all powerful deity have to be to condemn someone for eating this but not that?

I never understood that in modern religion.

That pisses me off too. My friend is what I would call a "new age pagan jew who celebrates christmas". He knows his Jewish history and for the life of me I don't know why he bothers following such a stupid rule, but he respects my ways so I respect his.

What pisses me off is that the pig isn't clean thing. 2000 years ago OK, but today it's not any dirtier than any other animals. Let's be honest, in today's world most animals are not clean, they are pumped full of chemicals to make them juicy and gross. I really have no clue why he bothers following that and should ask him.

Thanks everyone, a lot of different PoVs for such a silly question. I think for this year's jams I will use arrow-root and pectin, it seems to work well. Jello just makes the stuff taste even better. I'm planning on making puff pastry filled with jam and needed to know who would eat what so I could make enough for everyone.

 

[TorontoTrekker]

What pisses me off is that the pig isn't clean thing. 2000 years ago OK, but today it's not any dirtier than any other animals.

I always assumed that the word "clean" referred to the fact that eating it when it wasn't properly cooked can make you violently ill or even kill you.

Mind you, chicken is kosher and it has the same issue, so I could be wrong about the origin of the kosher rules.

 

[Arrqh]

What pisses me off is that the pig isn't clean thing.

Yes, other people's dietary rules is a good thing to get pissed off over!

Anyway, it has very little to do with what's "clean", there is no explicit rational motivator behind kosher. And of course the rules are several thousand years old now and tradition is a powerful motivator which applies far beyond the bounds of religion. And even given all that, most reform Jews don't bother with it at all. Only ~16% of Jews in the US keep kosher.

 

[The Boy Who Cried Worf]

"I refuse to believe that on judgement day my diet is going to come into question."

Chris Rock

 

[Trekker4747]

How petty does an all powerful deity have to be to condemn someone for eating this but not that?

I never understood that in modern religion.

Most "modern" Jews, to my understanding, do not keep kosher. Kosher is mostly on followed by Orthodox Jews.

 

[RJDiogenes]

This is fascinating. It would never have occurred to me to wonder if Jell-O is kosher. It's interesting to read the different lines of thought that lead to different conclusions. Also interesting to know that they produce a kosher version of Jell-O and kosher substitutes.

It reminds me of a story in Analog back in the 80s in which somebody genetically engineered a kosher pig. Apparently, at least according to this writer, the prohibition has something to do with an animal chewing cud, so the pig's digestive system was rearranged. In the story, the pig was declared kosher by a Rabbi.

 

[Chaos Descending]

How petty does an all powerful deity have to be to condemn someone for eating this but not that?

I never understood that in modern religion.

Most "modern" Jews, to my understanding, do not keep kosher. Kosher is mostly on followed by Orthodox Jews.

I'm going to disagree with that, based only on anecdotal evidence.

The company that I work for opened a new plant in Israel a couple years ago, so we had several Israeli engineers (about 15 or so) come here to learn the ropes.

We went to lunch with them several times, and to a man, they all pitched a fuss over several points of kosher, such as not eating cheeseburgers, etc (can't have meat with dairy). We asked them if they did it for religion. They said no, not religion, just tradition. So I asked if it was very common in Israel for even the non-religion Jews to keep kosher based on tradition, and they said yes, quite the norm.

As I said, purely anecdotal, but there ya go.

EDIT: Of course, if you meant Jews in the United States well, good point. I don't know enough Reform Jews to know. I guess the one dude I know that's a Reform Jew doesn't care about Kosher. I had never asked him about it before, I just assumed it was "one of those things" like some of the Mormons I know that smoke, which they aren't supposed to do.

 

[propita]

Keeping kosher has been a point of contention between me and my parents, well, now my Mom, for years. My faith was never strong and I felt, if my primary expression of being Jewish was keeping kosher, I was being hypocritical. You know, "I'm a good Jew, I keep kosher."

So I don't keep kosher. I don't eat pork products though; never could get used to the flavor. And I can't bring myself to eat shellfish--they look like heavily armored bugs and I don't like bugs. I really don't like them. As in leave-the-area don't like them.

 

[cultcross]

What pisses me off is that the pig isn't clean thing. 2000 years ago OK, but today it's not any dirtier than any other animals. Let's be honest, in today's world most animals are not clean, they are pumped full of chemicals to make them juicy and gross.

It's got to do with the fact that Pigs carry diseases which are easily transferred to humans - we have similar physiologies in that sense. Thus having pigs around was a health hazard in ye days of old, and it made sense to forego pig products in favour of, for example, beef, as it is much harder for cows to spread human disease.
(It's also true, as Torontosaid, that 'off' or badly cooked Pork can be particularly violently bad for you, for this very reason, but the explanation is usually to do with actually having live pigs around, rather than the dangers of their products themselves - they may not have understood why, but they knew about cooking certain meat very thoroughly.)

 

[bigdaddy]

It's got to do with the fact that Pigs carry diseases which are easily transferred to humans - we have similar physiologies in that sense.

But that's what drives me mad, that can be said for any modern animal product in the USA that is sold in mass. Chicken can make you sick, it's also pump full of chemicals. Cows can give you mad cow and we still don't really understand that.

Most "modern" Jews, to my understanding, do not keep kosher. Kosher is mostly on followed by Orthodox Jews.

Not true at all, my friend isn't anything close to being orthodox and he still follows it. Hell he would get kicked out of an orthodox temple if he told them what he follows. I think it's something that most Jews follow just because that's the way they were raised.

This is fascinating. It would never have occurred to me to wonder if Jell-O is kosher. It's interesting to read the different lines of thought that lead to different conclusions. Also interesting to know that they produce a kosher version of Jell-O and kosher substitutes.

I gave a vegetarian friend of mine (He is only one for the health reasons so he ate a little meat then.) some of my jam and he said it tasted good but disagreed with his stomach. Took be awhile to realize it was because of the animal by product and his body wasn't used to it. That got me thinking about my Jewish friend and I came up with this odd topic. I find the whole thing strange.

I also love the Chris Rock quote.

So I asked him, easiest way to get an answer. :-D

He said it's just a tradition, pig isn't good for you anyways, and that he doesn't want to change his ways. I'm pretty sure he ate pork at some time and didn't like it. So he will most likely eat the jam.

 

[Arrqh]

Most "modern" Jews, to my understanding, do not keep kosher. Kosher is mostly on followed by Orthodox Jews.

Not true at all, my friend isn't anything close to being orthodox and he still follows it. Hell he would get kicked out of an orthodox temple if he told them what he follows. I think it's something that most Jews follow just because that's the way they were raised.

No, as I already said only about 16% of US Jews keep kosher with any regularity. Trekker said "most" and so his statement is absolutely correct.