Excess gelatin

[prozac]

Ok all you scientific types and those that just seem to know things. I have a client who mentioned today that each week they dispose of an enormous amount of gelatin. They manufacture tablets of all shapes and sizes, and gelatin is the coating used for soft gel capsules. Whilst the production process is impeccably clean and it is an easy step to re-disolve the gelatin, the TGA rules do not allow it's re-use.

Gelatin is full of protein apparently so the client thought it may be of use in aqua-culture. Nup, that industry is not interested. So I ask all you wannabe inventors for ideas. Could we add it to footpaths so when we fell over the concrete was not as hard, or maybe spread a layer into gyprock to deaden sound transmission?

I've started you off, now who has an idea?


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[echnidna]

make it into wood glue.

or as a garden fertiliser

[prozac]

Is that possible?

[echnidna]

Should be, its a purified animal by product, I expect it MAY be somewhat similar in garden properties to blood and bone.

[arose62]

Make it into blocks, and fire bullets or other projectiles into it!!
Have you not seen MythBusters??

So maybe blocks of gelatin could solve the age-old problem of how to store chisels without damaging their edges??

Paintballs are also made of gelatin AFAIK.

Cheers,
Andrew

[Woodwould]

Gelatin is animal glue is gelatin. Get yourself a glue pot and get sticking!

[prozac]

Gelatin is animal glue is gelatin. Get yourself a glue pot and get sticking!

Hmmmmm,...sticky. A new business venture?

I like the block idea. Besser blocks that form earthquake-proof buildings. Japanese would love it.

Food for worm farms?

Keep 'em coming.

[prozac]

You're right Andrew. I found this on the net;
"Ordnance Gelatin
Gelatin is used extensively for the testing of ammunition to determine its effectiveness for hunting, as well as for military and crime stopping application. When gelatin is made into blocks according to established law enforcement procedures, it provides valuable information due to its ability to mimic flesh. High clarity gelatin is used so that the projectiles’ trajectory, penetration, fragmentation, etc. may be observed and photographed. On a lighter note, gelatin is also used to make paintballs for the growing paintball warriors."

[Woodwould]

On a lighter note, gelatin is also used to make paintballs for the growing paintball warriors.

Are the 'warriors' really growing, or is it the paintball industry that's growing? Maybe there are hormones in the paint!

[bsrlee]

If the quantities are huge, then I'd suggest they start ringing around stock feed companies in general. One company not being interested does not mean that the bloke down the road isn't interested as he may have a different product that can use it. Small processors are also more likely to be interested rather than the big guys, who are just as likely to import their product ready mixed rather than 'waste' money on local jobs or plant.

If it was already liquid then it really needs to be processed quickly as it is just liquid food as far as bacteria are concerned - probably why they are not allowed to reprocess it directly and another reason not to keep old pots of hide glue around (pe-ew).