Welch’s makes its fruit snacks with either pork or beef gelatin, depending on what is available. Pectin is also used to make jelly, jam, and spreads by the company.
Gelatin is a protein made by boiling the skin, cartilage, and bones of animals like cows and pigs. This clear, gel-like substance has a hint of yellow and almost no taste. Welch’s uses gelatin in its fruit snacks because it makes the snacks firm and chewy at the same time. It doesn’t give the snacks any animal taste. To set, this protein just needs to be left alone in a cool place. You don’t need to add anything else.
Welch’s uses pectin, a carbohydrate that comes from plants, in other products like jams. Apples or citrus peels are used to make the type of pectin that is used. Pectin hardens and gels, but it doesn’t hold things together like gelatin does. Also, sugar and an acid must be added to pectin in order for it to work. Pectin can change the taste of foods because it has a lot of sugar in it. Because of this, pectin is in a lot of high-sugar foods. Gelatin is also in cheese, yoghurt, soup, marshmallows, frosting, and other sweet and savoury foods.
