If you eat jello but no meat are you still a vegetarian?

Question

My little sister has been a vegaterian for 2 years and she ate a marshmello last night. Someone told her that jello was in marshmellos and jello wasa made from animals. She looked it up and started crying when she read that it was made from pig skin. what do you think?

Answer 1

Marshmallows were originally made with the extract of the homonymous plant (marsh mallow) acting as a gelling agent. Most commercially manufactured marshmallows use gelatin instead of real marshmallow extract because of the expense. Many vegetarians avoid gelatin, as it is usually derived from animal hides or bones. Commercial kosher pareve marshmallows may also be considered unsuitable for vegetarians; they usually use fish gelatin.

Answer 2

Jello is considered a vegetarian food.  It is NOT, however, a vegan item.  

Vegetarians do not eat meat.  Vegans do not eat any animal products at all.

Answer 3

Jello contains gelatine, which is from the connective tissues of animals.

Gelatine is a therefore a by-product of slaughter, and as such, Jello is not suitable for vegans & vegetarians.

Most commercial marshmallows contain gelatine and are also not suitable for vegans & vegetarians.

Vegetarian friendly marshmallows are available from certain health foods stores.

In my 11 years of vegetarianism, I have made occasional mistakes, such as purchasing something with gelatine in it, etc. Nowadays I carefully check the label before I purchase anything.

If your sister was unaware that what she ate was non-vegetarian, she may still call herself vegetarian. However, she would not be a vegetarian if she made a *conscious* decision to eat non vegetarian items. Tell her not to worry, we all make mistakes, it's part of being human.

Answer 4

I agree with Hollywood....(as I often do)

If your sister were eating it on purpose, knowing that it was an animal slaughter by-product then that would be hypocritical of her.  

If she ate it unknowingly, it's simply a mistake!  She can still call herself a vegetarian if she gives up the gelatin.....unfortunately though, gelatin is DEFINITELY unsuitable for vegetarians and vegans.

We can't be perfect...all of us are going to eat things that we're not supposed to by accident at some point.  Tell her it's okay, and that she should just not eat marshmallows and jello in the future and then she can be guilt free =)

Answer 5

OF COURSE NOT!  Well, at least as you don't eat it repeatedly.  Yes, marshmallows contain gelatin (jello, as you put it).  Gelatin is made from bone, cartilage, skin, and tendons.

Answer 6

everyone has their own interpretation of their diet It is not a religion . You can call yourself a jello eating vegetarian

Answer 7

Okay, jello and marshmellows are two different food items. Both are usually not vegetarian because they both contain an animal product: gelatin. Gelatin is made from the bones, cartilege, hooves, etc. to keep the jello and marshmellows together in one piece.

Reassure her that she is still a vegetarian. She made a mistake, she learned from it, and she won't do it again. She'll never be 100 percent sure that what she eats is vegetarian or not, but as long as she makes the effort to find out and not eat meat, it's okay for her to continue to label herself a vegetarian.

Answer 8

i think it happens to everyone that they eat some ingredients they wouldn't eat if they were aware of them. i've just had half  a bowl of soup with chicken stock at a friends house...

diet is a personal choice and if she doesn't eat meat etc. then she is vegetarian. i'm sure a lot of people here would like to have some sort of jury and tell others what they are allowed to call themselves etc. i'm not sure how it would work with vegetarians/vegans who ate something wrong by mistake or sinned in some other way, though - would they have to do some test to be accepted again or would the self righteous idiots tell them they can't call themselves vegetarians for a year?

(i'm not vegetarian but i don't eat meat)

Answer 9

Aaah, it happens.  I've had soup before and the stock was fish stock or another time is was chicken stock or whatever... big deal.  I remind the staff of the restaurant to remember to declare the non-main ingredients for the next time.  No biggie.

Also, it's not a real marshmallow... just a fake one.  Nobody has made real marshmallows for a long long time.  There are vegan marshmallows out there too.  Buy her some to cheer her up.

Answer 10

I eat them and I am a veggie....it is up to the individual I mean we can get anal about air soon.....

Answer 11

Well, crying over it is a bit extreme maybe, but jello is indeed made from cow bones.  I think there are some marshmallows that are vegan, but they still aren't very healthy.