Are Jelly Babies Halal, Vegetarian or Vegan?

Short answer: the jelly babies we sell are halal, and they are not vegetarian or vegan. Both facts come from the same ingredient — gelatine — and it is worth understanding why one test passes and the other fails.

Are jelly babies halal?

Ours are. Jelly babies are a gelatine sweet, and gelatine is what decides the halal question for most confectionery. On both lines we stock, the declaration reads “beef gelatine (halal)”.

That is the supplier’s declaration and we publish it in full on every product page. We are not a certifying body: we hold no shop-wide halal certificate, and our sweets are weighed and packed by hand in a shared area.

The reason this question comes up so often is that it genuinely matters what the pack says. Most jelly babies on a supermarket shelf are made with pork gelatine, and nothing on the front of the bag tells you. Assume gelatine is porcine unless the label says otherwise is a sound rule everywhere except where a declaration says different.

Are jelly babies vegetarian?

No. Gelatine is boiled animal collagen — hide, bone and connective tissue. A sweet set with it is not vegetarian, and halal beef gelatine is no more vegetarian than any other kind. This catches people out constantly, because the two labels get shelved together as though they were the same thing.

They are not. Halal is a question about the source and the slaughter. Vegetarian is a question about whether there is any animal in it at all. Jelly babies pass the first and fail the second.

Are jelly babies vegan?

No, for the same reason, and there is no version of a gelatine jelly baby that would be. If it is the texture you are after, look at starch- and pectin-set sweets instead: fruit salad gums, Millions, or the full vegan range.

How much sugar is in a jelly baby?

Depends which, and we hold the per-piece weights, so this can be answered properly rather than guessed:

• Vimto jelly babies — 6g a piece, 350 kcal and 68.3g sugar per 100g. That is about 21 kcal and 4.1g of sugar per sweet, roughly a teaspoon.
• Iron Brew jelly babies — 5.1g a piece, 311 kcal and 49g sugar per 100g. About 16 kcal and 2.5g of sugar per sweet.

More of these in how many calories are in one sweet.

One thing to check on the Iron Brew line

The Iron Brew jelly babies contain E122 (carmoisine), and the declaration carries the required warning: may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children. That is a labelling requirement rather than a safety recall, but if you are buying for a children’s party it is worth knowing, and the Vimto line does not carry it.