The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

VIDEO. Why is there pork in Tagada strawberries?

2020-10-28T16:38:47.781Z


FOOD CHECKING. They are the most consumed candies in France and they contain gelatin. An ingredient necessarily of animal origin


“There is a small problem of transparency, observes the Grenoble confectioner Thierry Court, showing the list of ingredients on the back of a packet of Tagada candies from Haribo.

It does say “gelatin”, but they don't specify whether it's pork, beef or fish gelatin.

"

One thing is certain: when you bite into this famous strawberry-flavored candy, it is, under the name of gelatin, a protein of animal origin that you ingest.

The name "gelatin" is also framed by a European regulation, classified (EC) n ° 853/2004.

"For gelled candies (Dragibus type, Editor's note), we manage to do things well with pectin, carrageenan or seaweed-based gelling agents, of plant origin, specifies Thierry Court, whose specialty consists of reinterpret, in an artisanal version, the great classics of snacking.

But it is only animal gelatin that allows this expansion, to gain volume and obtain the marshmallow texture specific to Tagada.

"

No regulation obliges to mention the origin of gelatin

But is there any gelatin from pork, beef or fish in Tagada?

Neither the Haribo brand nor the inter-professional confectioners having responded to our requests, we phoned the Haribo candy museum, in Uzès, in the Gard, and we pretended to be a vegetarian client: “Yes, normally , there's gelatin in it, answers the lady on the phone.

Pork gelatin.

"

This is obtained from the rind of the animal.

We are therefore surprised to observe that in the candy section of the supermarket, the products of the Haribo brand are the only ones that do not specify the animal from which the gelatin is extracted ...

Newsletter - Most of the news

Every morning, the news seen by Le Parisien

I'm registering

Your email address is collected by Le Parisien to enable you to receive our news and commercial offers.

Learn more

“There is no regulation which obliges to mention the porcine or bovine origin of the gelatin.

The choice to make this precision is left to the brands, ”explains Line Jensen, representative of gelatin manufacturers in Europe (GME).

Karine Jacquemart, general manager of the Foodwatch association in France, does not hear it that way: “The regulations must change.

And if it doesn't change, that brands at least make the effort to clearly announce what they put in their products.

"

In Europe, 63% of the gelatin produced is intended for food - for example in Gervita yoghurts, therefore the precise composition “gelatin (not pork) - and half of this 63% is used in confectionery.

"In addition, 80% of European gelatin is of porcine origin because the raw material is more abundant", explains Line Jensen, the manufacturer's representative.

This could explain why Haribo uses pork gelatin rather than beef or fish ...

Products to ban for vegetarians

We went to a candy store of the Glups brand and, in fact, did not find any candy similar to the Tagada made with non-porcine gelatin (the Fini brand recently stopped marketing its "Lambada" with bovine gelatin).

And even fewer alternatives with a natural gelling agent.

So we bought a Tagada from Haribo, a Strawberry Cone from the Trolli brand, both with porcine gelatin, and a Wild Strawberry from Fini, with bovine gelatin, but with a gelled and translucent appearance (in the store where we bought them, all are sold at the same price of € 21.90 per kilo).

The goal: to give them a taste to a chef to determine her favorite.

"It sticks to my teeth, it's too compact for me," says Fernanda Ribeiro, head of the Lyon restaurants Sampa and 36 Le Cozy, while, blindfolded, she has just eaten Fini's wild strawberry.

The Tagada strawberry?

“It's softer.

And the Strawberry Cone: "It really looks like a marshmallow," she said, testing the texture of the candy between her thumb and forefinger.

It is more flexible and airy.

»Tagada wins the ranking, followed by Strawberry Cone and Wild Strawberry.

“But I can't tell the difference between beef gelatin and pork gelatin,” admits the cook.

If we stick to the products available in supermarkets in France, we can learn two lessons.

First, if you don't eat pork, go for packaging that specifies the origin in black and white.

Then, if you are a vegetarian, purely and simply ban products bearing the mention "gelatin", necessarily animal.

While waiting for the manufacturers, Haribo the first, to develop an effective vegetable alternative to gelatin, there is only one thing left to wish for: a little transparency.

Source: leparis

All life articles on 2020-10-28

You may like

Trends 24h

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.