There are alternatives to gelatin

I know this discussion has gone on a bit.. But having read most of the comments I am just thinking one major comment has been left out. Or I have missed reading it. Its about the money that supermarkets and other food chain retailers would make if the gelatine was vegeterian. Not only would the Vegetarians buy the consumables but so would all the Muslims, Jews and other people who maybe meat lovers but frown or cringe on the aspect of have pigs feets and loins, pooholes and guts in a sweet or a chocolate moose. Come on people-supermarkets-retailers and owners of these huge food chains i'm sure if you think big you could achieve even higher percentage turnover of a chocolate moose carton if it was suitable for vegetarians alike.

gelatin should be banned ....and other alternatives should be used..

Oh I definitely share your gripe about gelatine. I'm a reformed Haribo addict and have only managed to wean myself off them in the past year, despite calling myself a vegetarian for about four years. Haribo do actually make some vegetarian sweets, but they are not readily available in the UK where I live. Can Haribo not make the likes of Starmix and Tangfastics from vegetarian sources, instead of gelatine?

Having said that, I find the big supermarkets like Tesco and Sainsbury's have their own sweets that are clearly labelled whether they are suitable for vegetarians and vegans. They have a quite a choice so I can get my sugar fix that way.

Gelantine is horrible slimy stuff, veggie or not, ban it.

Oh you're kidding aren't you? I'm a meat eater and I think vegetarians should be re-educated - through electric shock therapy if neccessary.

Im a veggie and I think gelatine should be made illegal !!!!!!!!!!1

Anona,
I know the idea of eating bugs is off putting, but if everybody was to think deep about the content of their food, everyone would starve. Nobody picks the bugs out of corn or wheat, and nobody pays it a thought, but it still has bug eggs in.
Get a bag of flour and tip it into a glass container, and leave it.Don't open it, and don't shake the contents up. After some time(a month or so) you will see little black bugs crawling around in it.
I know a man who works in a hard boiled sweet factory. Rotten fruits go in along with the good fruits.
Fish have to go through a uv light to show up the worms that they contain, and they only get picked out if noticed.(they look like mini polo's with a thin skin over them).
Who want's a fish finger butty ?(chunder) lol.

Been there,
I didn’t know about the safety aspect of using cochineal but I think even meat eaters would draw the line at eating crushed insects if they were aware of what E120 is. I have seen it as an ingredient in common products like Mr Kipling cakes and many sweets, even on a box of confectionery labelled “suitable for vegetarians” in a mail order catalogue.

Apart from cochineal and E120 it is also sometimes labelled as carminic acid or carmine so vegetarians need to look out for all of those.

Anona,
I owe you an apology, as it appears you are correct.
Although, in the paste form is banned, as the amount used can't be regulated.
It is less likely to cause anaphylactic shock in smaller regulated amounts, but is still possible, and in some people can be fatal as we know, which is a greater reason to avoid it.
The reason why it is still allowed to be used when there are less risky alternatives beats me.
I thought it was totally banned.

Been there, in Britain cochineal/E120 is still used in manufactured foods as a red or pink colouring . I don't know about other countries.

Anona,
The cochineal food colouring made from the female cochineal beetles was used in the past, but for many years now has been banned for use in food..Only the artificial colour is used which is E122 but now known as carmoisine and is suitable for vegetarians.The colour is more crimson(shocking pink) than red.
I work with food colour pastes in my business, so am up to date with the banning of food colours.

Apart from gelatine, vegetarians also need to be aware that many sweets and cakes contain the natural red food colouring cochineal, (often on food labels as E120 ) which is made from crushed insects!

(This is not a wind up!)