Did you know there is beef in Pop-Tarts, M&M’s and Mentos?
by Arthur
Posted on Friday, September 15th, 2006 at 6:13 pm CET
I didn’t realize this, but many food products like Pop-Tarts, M&M’s, Cupcakes, Snicker bars, etc. have beef or pork gelatin in them. I’ve been a fish-eating vegetarian for about a year now, and this comes as quite a shock to me.
There are so many meatless products that have beef enzymes, pork gelatin or chicken in it, it’s disgusting. Check out this list of products and ingredients:
Product brand name
Ingredient
Hostess Cupcakes
Pork gelatin
Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts (frosted)
Beef gelatin
Kellogg’s Rice Krispies Treats
Pork gelatin
Ranch Salad Dressing
Pork/beef enzymes
Gold Fish Crackers
Micro beef enzymes
Hershey’s Cheetos
Calf
Twix bar
Beef gelatin
Mentos
Beef gelatin
And the list goes on — you can find a longer list at The Hare Krsnas.
An FAQ on Kellogg’s website says:
“Gelatin, which is used in some of our products to provide texture, is derived from either beef or pork. Products containing pork gelatin include Kellogg cereal products with marshmallow additives (i.e., Kellogg’s® Marshmallow Froot Loops cereal and Kellogg’s Smorz® cereal) and all varieties of Kellogg’s® Rice Krispies Treats® Squares. Products containing beef gelatin include all varieties of Kellogg’s® Frosted Pop-Tarts®, Kellogg’s® Frosted Mini-Wheats® cereal, Kellogg’s® Rice Krispies Treats cereal, and the Kellogg’s® Fruit-Flavored Snacks that contain gelatin.”
I don’t want to give up Pop-Tarts, M&M’s, etc … so this new piece of information will probably not change my eating habits, but still … it’s really amazing they do this, and what I don’t understand is how they can go about putting vague ingredients on their packaging, like “Type B Gelatin”, when that’s really beef or pork gelatin they’re talking about.
There are alternatives to beef/pork-based gelatin, like agar agar, a jelly obtained from the cell walls of some species of red algae or seaweed.
Wouldn’t you rather have seaweed and algae in your Strawberry Pop-Tarts than beef or pork?
Yuck!
I didn’t realize this, but many food products like Pop-Tarts, M&M’s, Cupcakes, Snicker bars, etc. have beef or pork gelatin in them. I’ve been a fish-eating vegetarian for about a year now, and this comes as quite a shock to me.
There are so many meatless products that have beef enzymes, pork gelatin or chicken in it, it’s disgusting. Check out this list of products and ingredients:
| Product brand name | Ingredient |
| Hostess Cupcakes | Pork gelatin |
| Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts (frosted) | Beef gelatin |
| Kellogg’s Rice Krispies Treats | Pork gelatin |
| Ranch Salad Dressing | Pork/beef enzymes |
| Gold Fish Crackers | Micro beef enzymes |
| Hershey’s Cheetos | Calf |
| Twix bar | Beef gelatin |
| Mentos | Beef gelatin |
And the list goes on — you can find a longer list at The Hare Krsnas.
An FAQ on Kellogg’s website says:
“Gelatin, which is used in some of our products to provide texture, is derived from either beef or pork. Products containing pork gelatin include Kellogg cereal products with marshmallow additives (i.e., Kellogg’s® Marshmallow Froot Loops cereal and Kellogg’s Smorz® cereal) and all varieties of Kellogg’s® Rice Krispies Treats® Squares. Products containing beef gelatin include all varieties of Kellogg’s® Frosted Pop-Tarts®, Kellogg’s® Frosted Mini-Wheats® cereal, Kellogg’s® Rice Krispies Treats cereal, and the Kellogg’s® Fruit-Flavored Snacks that contain gelatin.”
I don’t want to give up Pop-Tarts, M&M’s, etc … so this new piece of information will probably not change my eating habits, but still … it’s really amazing they do this, and what I don’t understand is how they can go about putting vague ingredients on their packaging, like “Type B Gelatin”, when that’s really beef or pork gelatin they’re talking about.
There are alternatives to beef/pork-based gelatin, like agar agar, a jelly obtained from the cell walls of some species of red algae or seaweed.
Wouldn’t you rather have seaweed and algae in your Strawberry Pop-Tarts than beef or pork?
Yuck!
November 15th, 2006 at 1:47 am
wow, i cant believe so many foods have dead animals in them. very helpful as i am a veggi too. but i dont eat fish.
November 15th, 2006 at 10:24 pm
personally, i would hope you would stop eating foods containing geletin(e). think of the poor animals! also, mozza sticks, (processed cheese deep fried and batterd) contain renett.
~~katie
March 9th, 2007 at 8:43 am
I’ve been a near-vegetarian (I eat cheese and don’t check it, but no fish) for quite some time, and I haven’t had any gelatin in a long time. I even check most additives nowadays.
However, a few days ago, someone offered me a mentos. I refused, but did do a quick glance over the ingredient list. I could neither find the listing of gelatin, nor one of its additive numbers.
I think they might’ve decided to get rid of gelatin. It could be worth it to check this out. Please note that I live in the Netherlands, and I think the European/Dutch version of Mars, for example, has been free of gelatin for a longer time than its American counterpart. Don’t quote me on this, though!
March 9th, 2007 at 8:46 am
Check out http://www.veganrepresent.com/forums/archive/index.php?t-2937.html
They quote it’s been gelatin-free since 2001.
May 23rd, 2007 at 12:05 am
i have know about the gelatin thing for a long time and its not only gelatin you have to worry about it is in the cheese powder in doritos so there another thing to check on it has pork in it some how!
June 29th, 2007 at 2:40 am
M&Ms are Kosher and dairy, which means that it is impossible for them to have any beef product or by-product in them (because of the prohibition of mixing any dairy products with meat ones) and still retain their Kosher supervision. The OU (Orthodox Union: supervising kosher authority) is VERY strict about this.
http://www.oukosher.org/index.php/prolearn/article/6718
June 29th, 2007 at 2:42 am
p.s. Kosher refers to the Jewish dietary laws. (sorry I didn’t mention that before!)
September 4th, 2007 at 3:10 am
I was soo shocked when i bought 2 boxes of pop tarts and checked the packet and was shocked to see beef gelatin. Its so unfair when they could use an alternative. There is no exuse so why do it! Omg you sure about the fruit loop thing? they dont make them here but i had them as a kid..! its so sad!!
September 5th, 2007 at 2:38 am
My whole family is strictly vegitarian, and we’ve been eating all these products forever!! Hot-Cheetos, twix, milky ways, 3 muskuteers… it makes me angry that they’ve lied to us about this for so long…
October 28th, 2007 at 2:26 am
You pwoplw are really stupid! Just don’t eat anything then…because everything that you eat practically contains the stuff. OMG!
October 28th, 2007 at 7:57 pm
Smarties,you are the only stupid person in this board,why do you come here for anyway? you must be a real fat ass,you stupid cow
November 2nd, 2007 at 11:16 am
heyyy im so happy that mentos are meat free =]]
November 21st, 2007 at 6:15 am
They do actually have different kinds of gelatin, and please don’t start bashing me (becuase no i am not talking about jello) not always the ones made from beef and pork.
December 13th, 2007 at 2:08 am
What I miss most are Lucky Charms, that was one of the things I was looking forward to in my move to America!
It is not right at all they use this shit when there are alternatives. Surely even the meat-eaters find it disgusting that when they eat a mint with cow fat in it…. gross.
December 13th, 2007 at 8:27 am
is there pork or beef gelatin inside the ripped fuel extreme dietary supplements, for working out
January 30th, 2008 at 2:35 am
Thank you… i wanted to know if the pop-tarts have beef or pork gelatin.. .. as a muslim i can’t eat pork
Thanks again
April 4th, 2008 at 1:31 am
wow i cant eat these foods anymore yo.
that is messed up.
cant they make gelatin out of like, something else?
May 20th, 2008 at 11:24 pm
Yoplait yogurt also has beef gelatin. I ate it for several years, finally read the ingredients, and switched to another brand without it.
June 3rd, 2008 at 5:19 pm
thanks a million for all this… turned veggie 3 months ago and i wanted to be on the safe side and onli eat the vege foods. this wz really helpful!
they rele do need to put warnings of meat or use of animal’s flesh etc on their packets, cuz its sick. like some ppl said before, how disgusting would it be to eat a mint then realise u’ve just eaten some poor cow??? :S
July 30th, 2008 at 12:08 am
isn’t there a way to make pop tarts without gelatin. i was craving it today so badly but cuz im a muslim i couldn’t eat it.
July 31st, 2008 at 8:50 am
@Craving: Yes, there are alternatives to beef gelatin that these companies could use, but they decide not to. The animal product must be cheaper than alternatives such as Cellulose (Amid), Agar-Agar, Biobin, Guar, Xanthan, Carob fruit and others. Gelatine is made from the boiled bones, skins and tendons of animals, but the US federal government does not categorize it as a meat or animal product.