Sunday, February 9, 2014

Jell-O-- What's in it?

I've been eating Jell-O since I was a toddler, but I've never wondered what's in it. I mean, it was just colorful and wobbly joy that I used to eat. But what's in Jell-O?
   Jell-O contains gelatin, water, sweetener, artificial colors (oh dear), and flavoring. The key ingredient is the gelatin, which is a processed form of collagen, a protein found in most animals. 
   Lots of people have heard that gelatin comes from cow horns and hooves (which it sometimes does, but not mostly), but most of the collagen used to make gelatin comes from pig and cow skin and bones (I don't think I want to eat Jell-O anymore.) These animal products are ground up and treated with acids or bases to release the collagen. The mixture is boiled and the top layer of gelatin is skimmed off the surface. 
   When you dissolve the gelatin powder in hot water, you break the weak bonds that hold the collagen protein chains together. Each chain is a triple-helix that will float around in the bowl until the gelatin cools and new bonds form between the amino acids in the protein. Flavored and colored water fills in the spaces between the polymer chains, becoming trapped as the bonds become more secure. Jell-O is mostly water, but the liquid is trapped in the chains so Jell-O jiggles when you shake it (which was really fun when I used to eat it.) If you heat the Jell-O, you will break the bonds that hold the protein chains together, liquefying the gelatin again. So after researching about Jell-O a bit, I've decided to lay back on the Jell-O. 

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