Science that Jiggles

If you have ever eaten food that jiggles you probably have consumed gelatin. Gelatin is most famously known as Jell-O, which is just a name brand of gelatin mixed with flavoring, sugar and water. Jell-O or gelatin has quite a history of science and discovery to get it where it is today. Why does it jiggle, how is it made, how is it used, and how has it changed? Let’s take a look.

What is it?

Gelatin comes from a protein found in many animals called collagen. Collagen is found mostly in the skin and muscles, and it helps strengthen the tissues while also making them more elastic — meaning that they will stretch and then go back to their original shape without becoming damaged. As an animal gets older, it makes less and less collagen, which means their skin and muscles are no longer as elastic as they used to be. This creates wrinkles and stiff or painful muscles.

Nearly one third of all the protein found in the human body is collagen. No, they don’t make gelatin from humans. But they do make gelatin from other animal parts. Most of the gelatin you eat comes from processing pig skin and sometimes pig bones. However, the collagen also can be processed from cows, chickens and fish.

How is it made?

First, the pig’s collagen-containing body parts are ground up and then treated with a strong acid, which releases the collagen. The collagen, which is now a jelly-like substance, is dried and then ground into a powder. This is now gelatin powder.

To turn gelatin powder into Jell-O, sugar and flavoring are added. Boiling water is added to the mixture. The gelatin proteins easily separate in hot water so now it is like having tiny noodles of protein moving around the mixture. Once the mixture starts to cool, the proteins start to attach to each other again. However, the new attachments are not as perfect as they used to be and there are some gaps in the chains. These gaps contain small amounts of water and this trapped water is what creates the jiggle in Jell-O.

How is it used?

If this entire process somewhat disgusts you, it really shouldn’t. Processing of foods happen with all kinds of different things we eat. Also, if you think you are going to start avoiding gelatin, you are probably wrong. Gelatin is in marshmallows, jelly, drink powders, soups, gravy, cake frosting, margarine, gummy candies, gum, cakes, medicines, ice cream, yogurts, pudding and many other foods.

Gelatin also is used in non-food products such as glossy paper, cards, matches, photography film, shampoos, cosmetics, pill capsules and sandpaper.

How has it changed?

Gelatin has been around for a long time. It was first used as a glue in the year 6000 BC. While the processing of collagen to make gelatin has changed over the years, it is still the exact same product. We have not found a way to make artificial gelatin so it is always a natural protein product. In the past, gelatin was quite difficult to produce so the food made from it was saved for royalty. In 1845 an American named Peter Cooper developed the first process for making powdered gelatin, which made the production so much easier.

The biggest change over the years has been the flavors of the Jell-O brand food. It started out with flavors such as cherry, peach and chocolate. The cherry and peach were a hit but not so much the chocolate. That flavor eventually was discontinued. The following Jell-O flavors also were discontinued: bubble gum, celery, coffee, root beer, mixed vegetable, maple syrup, plain, tomato, vanilla ice cream and watermelon candy.

Can you imagine sitting down to enjoy a cold bowl of celery Jell-O?. Well, in their defense, this was made at a time when people enjoyed putting vegetables in their gelatin. Let’s just be thankful that phase has passed.