E-numbers / Thickeners & emulsifiers / E441
also: Gelatine · Edible gelatin · Animal collagen gelling agent
Animal protein boiled from bones, hides and connective tissue. Used to set jellies, gummies and capsules.
Scan a barcode to check a food for gelatin. NutraSafe Pro · £6.99/month · iOS
Glucose Syrup, Sugar, Dextrose, Water, Humectant: Sorbitol Syrup, Gelatine, Fruit and Plant Concentrates: Beetroot Safflower, Flavouring
This is not on the UK list of approved food additives, so you will not normally see this E number on a UK label.
Why it’s worth knowing. This is not on the UK list of approved food additives, so you will not normally see this E number on a UK label.
Gelatin is a purified protein derived from collagen, the structural protein found in the bones, skin, hides and connective tissue of animals, typically pigs or cattle. The raw material is treated with acid or alkali to break down collagen, then the resulting protein is extracted, filtered and dried into powder or sheets. It is not chemically synthesised.
When dissolved in hot water and cooled, gelatin forms a firm, clear gel by creating a network of protein chains that trap water. The gel melts again on warming, which gives gelatin-set foods their distinctive melt-in-the-mouth texture. At lower concentrations it thickens without fully setting. It also stabilises foams and emulsions by coating air bubbles or fat droplets.
Jelly desserts and jelly sweets (wine gums, gummies, marshmallows), panna cotta, cheesecakes, aspic, mousse, tinned meat and fish in jelly, some low-fat yoghurts and dairy desserts, cream cheese stabilisers, fining agent in some wines and beers (usually not declared), hard and soft pharmaceutical capsules. On a UK ingredient label it appears as 'gelatin' or 'gelatine'. The E441 code is rarely used on consumer labels.
During the BSE crisis of the 1990s, concern arose that bovine gelatin derived from skull and spine bones could carry infectious prion material. Regulatory agencies in the UK and EU responded with strict controls on which cattle tissues could be used to make gelatin. Bones of the skull and vertebral column were prohibited as raw material, and the risk from approved bovine sources (hides, leg bones) was assessed as negligible under controlled conditions.
The EU Scientific Steering Committee concluded in the late 1990s that gelatin made under existing regulatory controls represented a negligible BSE risk to consumers, provided excluded specified risk materials (skull, spine) were not used.
UK-retained Regulation (EC) 853/2004 Annex III Section XIV governs which animal raw materials may be used for gelatin production and sets hygiene and sourcing requirements, including exclusion of specified risk materials as defined in Article 3(1)(g) of Regulation (EC) No 999/2001. Core sourcing controls remain in force post-Brexit; a minor contextual reference to EU BSE legislation was omitted on 31 December 2020 under The Specific Food Hygiene (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 but did not alter the substance of the restrictions.
Gelatin is an animal product, which means it is excluded from vegetarian and vegan diets. It also raises concerns for many Muslim consumers unless the gelatin is certified halal (porcine gelatin is forbidden under Islamic dietary law; bovine gelatin is acceptable only if from a halal-slaughtered animal). Similarly, Jewish dietary law requires kosher certification, and Hindu dietary practice typically avoids bovine-derived ingredients. These are not toxicological concerns, but they affect a very large portion of the UK population.
Gelatin is derived entirely from animal tissue (pig, cattle or fish) and contains no plant-derived components, making it incompatible with vegan and vegetarian diets as defined by the Vegetarian Society and Vegan Society.
UK food labelling law requires gelatin to be declared in the ingredients list when it is used as an ingredient in a food product, though there is no mandatory allergen status for gelatin under current UK food law.
Gelatin is increasingly made from fish skins and bones as an alternative to porcine or bovine sources. Fish gelatin is acceptable for some consumers who avoid land-animal products, and it avoids the BSE concern entirely. However, it introduces a potential allergy consideration for people with fish allergies, as gelatin from fish is generally not allergenic in the same way as fish flesh, but isolated cases of gelatin-triggered allergic reactions have been reported.
Case reports and small studies have documented IgE-mediated allergic reactions to gelatin, particularly in the context of vaccines (where gelatin is a stabiliser) but also occasionally from dietary gelatin. Fish-derived gelatin may carry residual fish proteins.
Vegetarians and vegans: gelatin comes from animal tissue and is not plant-derived. Muslims and Jewish consumers: check for halal or kosher certification respectively, as porcine gelatin is not halal and bovine gelatin must meet specific slaughter requirements. Hindus: bovine-derived gelatin conflicts with many practitioners' dietary rules. People with fish allergies should look for the source of gelatin on the label if a product declares it, as fish-sourced gelatin is increasingly common. Look for the word 'gelatin' or 'gelatine' in the ingredients list. Our food barcode scanner pulls the whole ingredients line off the pack, which is where the word appears rather than the code.
Gelatin is one of the oldest food ingredients in the human diet, used for centuries in stocks, aspic and confectionery. The protein itself presents no known toxicological hazard and has been in continuous human use without evidence of harm from dietary exposure. The substantive regulatory history is about animal sourcing and BSE controls, not toxicity of gelatin itself. The practical concern for most UK shoppers is not about what gelatin does in the body, but about which animal it came from, a question that matters enormously for around a quarter of the UK population following vegetarian, vegan, halal or kosher diets. Labels rarely specify the animal source.
No. Gelatin is a permitted food ingredient in the UK and is widely used. It is regulated under food hygiene rules for animal-origin foods rather than the standard food additives framework, which is why it does not appear on the FSA's E-number approved additives list, but it is fully legal to use and sell.
Most commercial gelatin is made from porcine (pig) hides or bovine (cattle) bones and hides. Fish gelatin from fish skin and scales is also produced. The animal source is rarely declared on UK consumer food labels, so it is often impossible to know which animal the gelatin came from without contacting the manufacturer.
Jelly sweets such as wine gums, gummy bears and marshmallows; packet jelly desserts; panna cotta; some cheesecakes and mousse; tinned meat and fish in jelly; some low-fat yoghurts and cream cheeses; and hard or soft pharmaceutical capsules. It is also used to fine (clarify) some wines and beers during production, usually without appearing in the final ingredient list.
No. Gelatin is derived from animal bones, skin and connective tissue and is not suitable for vegans or vegetarians. Plant-based alternatives include agar-agar (E406, from seaweed), carrageenan (E407), pectin (E440) and various gums.
Last reviewed: 20 June 2026
It's the only app that does thisUKJaneK
You Need This AppGmac2005
Best AppGK getting skinny UK App Store reviews
NutraSafe reads the label and puts every additive into plain English, with the source, right in the app.
NutraSafe Pro · £6.99/month · iOS
