Gelatin's Safety: BSE, TSE and Foot & Mouth Disease

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BSE, TSE and Foot & Mouth Disease

Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE, or TSE) is a disease that affects the brain and spinal cord, i.e. the central nervous system in some cattle. It is commonly referred to as mad cow disease.

Although there has never been any scientific evidence linking BSE with gelatin, instances of BSE (primarily in British and European cattle) aroused anxiety among some gelatin consumers in particular as regards gelatin derived from cattle bone.

The quality of edible gelatin is assured by the following:

The selection of the material from which the gelatin is derived.

The gelatin production process.

Selection and Traceability of Gelatin Raw Materials
Most national and international authorities now have statutory guidelines or legislation (referred to as Traceability Legislation) that ensure the gelatin raw materials:

can only be derived from animals the meat of which has been approved for human consumption.

are subject to continuous rigorous checks on their safety and origin.

The risk to gelatin is thus as low as for any other food product made from those approved animals. Such risk is even lower due to the additional safety margin of the gelatin production process.

The Gelatin Production Process
Even prior to BSE, the gelatin was always manufactured under a severe process using alkalis and/or acids in the pre-treatment stages. The raw materials undergo extensive washing with resultant gelatin solutions further purified by filtration and ion exchange. Coupled with these, the gelatin is exposed to high temperatures during evaporation and sterilisation.

Nonetheless, in 1999, a wide-ranging study on gelatin under the auspices of the European Commission was undertaken as part of its BSE Research Programme. The TSE Validation Study confirmed earlier such investigations by three internationally renowned research institutes—The Institute for Animal Health in Edinburgh (Scotland), The Baltimore Research and Education Foundation (USA) and ID- Lelystad (Netherlands).

This research further evaluated whether, regardless of the prior raw material traceability precautions and assurances, if BSE subsequently contaminated the raw material, the BSE pathogens would be removed or otherwise inactivated by the gelatin production process. The results of the TSE Validation Study showed that gelatin so produced poses no risk to human health.

Conclusion
Where both the traceability legislation and tested gelatin processes are applied and practiced, the safety of the resultant gelatin is assured. The GMAP members individually attest that this is so.
GME has published a technical article, affirming the safety of gelatin and the manufacturing processes. This article is now available online at www.babonline.org.

All of the members of the Gelatin Manufacturers Association of the Asia Pacific individually attest that the gelatin manufactured and sold by its members is safe for use in food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic applications.

For further information, please contact any of the organisations listed under GMAP Members and Other Gelatin Associations.


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