Gummy Bears Are Gross
There’s No Getting Around It

Perhaps you already know, or perhaps this is the first time you’re hearing it, but gummy bears are gross. At least, if you’re a vegan…or if you care about the well-being of animals.

To give you some background, conventional gummy bears (i.e., not one’s that are vegan and/or made with organic ingredients), are most typically made out of sugar, glucose syrup, starch, flavoring, food coloring, citric acid, and gelatin. Virtually all of these ingredients would be defined as “artificial” by the FDA. You’ve also probably heard before that artificial food dyes are not only bad for your health, but also the environment. An article by Alternative Daily details why Blue 2, Red 3 and 40, and Yellow 5 and 6 are among the worst colorings (i.e., in terms of how they’re derived and metabolized in the body). But, what do you know about one of the most important ingredients in the making of gummy bears: gelatin?

You may have heard that gummy candies get their consistency from bone marrow, or maybe that they’re not vegan — but we doubt that you’ve seen a video that shows how they’re made, from start to finish.

A new Belgium TV show, “Over Eten” (On Food) seeks to shed some light on how this candy is made. According to their site, “This ‘Gelatine’ video tells the reversed story of how gelatin candy is actually produced. Starting from wrapped candy, going all the way back to the living pig. Just by showing a series of reversed images it reveals a detailed and truthful story on daily foods and its origin.”

Without further ado, here’s the video: