One of the most ubiquitous substances in modern medicine, gelatin is also one of the most controversial. Gelatin, which is also the primary ingredient in Jell-O and a thickening agent for puddings and yogurt, is used in the pharmaceutical industry to carry bitter-tasting or stomach-irritating drugs. "Pharmaceutical Online," an industry trade journal, reports that gelatin has been used in medicine since Ancient Egypt.
Interference with Religious Beliefs
Torpac, a gelatin capsule manufacturer, reports that gelatin is the primary ingredient in gelatin capsules. Torpac, as well as other manufacturers, source their capsules from pig bones and hides, as these are cheaper than using body parts from cows or horses. As a result of their ingredients, these gelatins have been deemed non-kosher by kosher trademark organizations like Orthodox Union. Only gelatin sourced from cellulose, fish or synthetic sources are assigned a kosher designation. Muslims can only consume gelatins that carry an approval from the Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of America. IFANCA writes that approved gelatin must come from fish bones or halal-slaughtered cattle.
Interference with Dietary Choices
In addition, "Vegetarian Times" estimates that 7.3 million Americans follow a meat-free diet, including one million people who identify themselves as vegans--individuals who consume no meat products. Bovine- or porcine-sourced gelatin are considered off limits to vegetarians, as they are committed to not consuming meat products. Many natural or organic grocery stores and specialty websites carry vegan-friendly cellulose-coated capsules.
Brittle Construction
Hard gelatin capsules, like those used in over-the-counter painkillers and analgesics, tend to be brittle. While the capsule is more than 85 percent gelatin, Torpac reports that 13 percent of the capsule is water. This may cause the degradation of moisture-activated drugs. A study published in the June 2000 edition of the "Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences" confirms that high environmental humidity can activate the water in the capsule and trigger the medicine's function. In addition, hard gelatin capsules have a seam in the middle, which manufacturer Capsugel reports, may cause a break or leak at the joint.
Allergies in Children
Most American children begin receiving vaccinations in their second month of life. Disease protection is not the only thing dispensed during these treatments. According to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, gelatin is used as a stabilizing ingredient in most vaccinations, including those for influenza, measles, mumps, rubella, varicella, DTaP and rabies. A metareview of reactions to the measles-mumps-rubella, or MMR, vaccine published in the "Archives of Disease in Childhood" links severe allergic reactions to the use of gelatin. While the number of people in the United States allergic to gelatin is unknown, the C.H.O.P. reports that of an allergic reactions occur in less than one in two million doses.
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