Percy Pigs: What is gelatin and why do we eat it?

The Percy Pigs are a bit of a treat for some.

Marks and Spencers candies are pretty iconic – and thanks to a vegetarian version without launching gelatin in 2011, everyone can try them.

But M & S managed to anger some Percy Pigs fans by completely removing gelatin from their main product – a thing described by an angry online person as "an badault on normal food".

So, with the indignation of Percy Pig on the front page of a national newspaper, we thought it was time to ask (and answer) questions …

Let's start with, what is gelatin?

Boil the bones, skin and tendons of an animal – usually pigs or cows – and dissolve them in boiling water, let them cool and you will get a result that will look like The jelly.

It's gelatin.

If you do not have bones in reserve, you can buy it at the supermarket, usually in sheet form or powder form.

It's odorless, tasteless and clear.

Why is it in our food then?

It may not taste like something, but gelatin in food is useful – it's usually used as a thickener or stabilizer in desserts and sweets.

But it can also be found in products like yogurt, sour cream and margarine, as well as many other foods.

If you are worried about eating gelatin, you should always check the label.

Can you find it elsewhere?

Gelatin is also found in some cosmetics, as well as in the pharmaceutical industry, to make hard and soft capsules, among others.

What are the alternatives?

A product called agar agar, made from red algae, is often called vegan gelatin and is used in many desserts.

There is also something called carrageenan, which is a variety of Irish seaweed that has natural gelling properties.

M & S claims to have replaced the gelatin in Percy pigs with pea protein and starch.

Some people say that getting away from gelatin has resulted in a change in the taste of Percy Pigs.

M & S said it worked hard and "perfected a 100% vegetarian Percy – what our customers ask us for".

In a statement, he told Radio 1 Newsbeat that the recipe had been tested to make sure that it was "as close to the original as possible" and that all "really important things that people like about Percy "are the same.

"The flavor is the same, it always has real fruit juice and never has artificial colors or flavors."

This is not the first time that a recipe change causes anger

People love what they love – something that Mondelez International discovered by changing the Cadbury Egg Cream recipe a few years ago.

"What did you do?" was the cry of social media – and the recipe change was blamed for a £ 6 million drop in Creme Eggs sales at Easter.

If you're still a little tired, this article is probably for you.

Special K, Coca-Cola, McVitie & Digestives and HP Sauce products have also been the subject of much controversy.

But the last word on this is the fans of Irn Bru, whose reaction to AG Barr to halve the sugar content of the popular orange drink was the only thing you can do in such situations: store it.

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