How is Gelatin Made?

• An integrated production process
• Basic ingredients processed with quality production methods
• Individual manufacturing steps

An integrated production process:

The manufacturing process for gelatin involves seven distinct steps – demineralization, pretreatment, washing, extraction, purification, drying and finally sieving/blending.

Basic ingredients processed with quality production methods:

Gelatin is produced from the connective tissue (collagen) of cattle, poultry, fish and pigs.  It is recovered from collagen by using a process called hydrolysis.  The specific source of collagen, and the treatment used to recover it, controls the composition of the gelatin. At Eastman Gelatine Corp., we manufactures gelatin from cattle bone using either an acid or an alkaline-based process.   Key Process Variables (KPV) which have been identified throughout the gelatin manufacturing process are tightly monitored and controlled to ensure the highest quality gelatin is produced. Each step in these processes is under the ongoing scrutiny of Eastman Gel’s process engineers and QA/QC technicians.

Bone chips:

All of our bone comes from USDA inspected meat processing facilities located in North America.  Fresh bone is a by-product of meat processing that is pretreated to meet strict quality standards.  The bone is first crushed to roughly ¾” chips.  It is then degreased with scalding hot water, dried and sorted by size. Further inspection of the bone is done to ensure that it meets rigorous moisture, grease, sinew and particle size specifications.  Before each shipment is accepted, its Certificate of Analysis is reviewed for absolute conformance to specifications.

Demineralization of Bone Chips:

The small pieces of bone are then treated with diluted hydrochloric acid in a reverse flow process over a number of days to remove mineral salts (mainly phosphate).  The resultant sponge like material is called ossein.  All excess acid is then removed by washing the ossein with water.  This process is closely monitored for temperature, flow and pH.

Pretreatment (Acid or Alkaline):

For Alkaline treated Type B (bone) gelatin, the ossein is treated for a period of up to two months with calcium hydroxide (lime).  During this process step, the collagen bonds are partially separated and any non-collagen proteins are removed.  The lime solution is replaced several times during this process. 

For Acid treated Type B gelatin, the ossein is soaked in a hydrochloric acid (HCl)  solution for one day, washed and then extracted at a fairly low pH (~4).

Washing:

The ossein is thoroughly washed with copious quantities of treated water to remove excess lime, neutralized with sulfuric acid and washed again to remove any excess salts.

Extraction:

Gelatin is then extracted from the ossein using a series of hot deionized water additions in stainless steel vessels equipped with temperature and flow control.  The extracted gelatin solutions typically have a gel concentration of ~5%.  The first extractions are the highest in gel strength and lowest in color. The addition of increasingly hotter water continues until all soluble gelatin has been removed from the ossein.  Typical gelatin yields are ~20%.

Purification/Concentration:

The gelatin solution is exposed to a series of filtrations steps in order to remove any fats, grease or insoluble particles.  This may include centrifugation, sheet filtration and ion exchange to remove any mineral salts.  The gelatin solution is brought up to ~30% concentration via a multi-stage vacuum evaporator.

Drying:

The concentrated, purified gelatin solution is then sterilized at 140^oC for bacterial control, after which it is chill set and extruded as noodles onto a stainless steel mesh belt.  This belt carries the gel noodles through a series of chambers that are supplied with filtered, dehumidified and heated air.  The dried gel is then ground into coarse granules and packaged.  The moisture content of dried gelatin is typically 11-12%.

Sieving/Blending:

As required by customer specifications, gelatin may be sieved to remove fine particles.  The blending of gelatin components to meet customer requirements is the final process step.  This is done to ensure uniformity of the final product.  The blended gel can be packaged into super sacks, boxes, small bags or drums.