The Gelatin Content of Yogurt

Q. Many yogurts contain less than one percent gelatin. Since the gelatin is a small amount, can it be argued that the gelatin is batel bishishim (nullified in sixty parts), and the yogurt is kosher?

A. Gelatin is added to yogurt as a gelling agent to give body and texture to the product. Ingredients that significantly change the consistency of a food item are referred to in halacha as a davar hama’amid (a supporting agent), and are not botel bishishim. As such, although the percentage of gelatin in a yogurt is very small, the rules of nullification in sixty parts do not apply, and such yogurts are non-kosher.

There is an additional reason that the gelatin is not batel in yogurt. Typically, the gelatin is first dissolved in a premix, where the ratio of gelatin to the premix is greater than 1:60. The premix is then combined into the final batch of the yogurt production. In this case, the entire premix would be forbidden in accordance with the principle of “chaticha na’aseis neveila” (literally- a piece of meat that absorbed a non-kosher substance becomes a non-kosher entity). Since the ratio of the premix to the yogurt is generally greater than 1:60, the premix will not be batel and the yogurt is not kosher.

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The Gerald & Karin Feldhamer OU Kosher Halacha Yomis is dedicated to the memory of Rav Yisroel Belsky, zt"l, who served as halachic consultant for OU Kosher for more than 28 years; many of the responses in Halacha Yomis are based on the rulings of Rabbi Belsky. Subscribe to the Halacha Yomis daily email here.