Safety concerns

Safety concerns

Hydrolyzed collagen, like gelatin, is made from by-products of beef, pork, and fish production, including the skin, bones, and connective tissue. There have been concerns that human consumption of hydrolyzed collagen may expose the consumer to a risk of TSE (Transmissible spongiform encephalopathy).

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), with support from the TSE (Transmissible spongiform encephalopathy) Advisory Committee, has since 1997 been monitoring the potential risk of transmitting animal diseases, especially bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). The FDA study concluded: "...steps such as heat, alkaline treatment, and filtration could be effective in reducing the level of contaminating TSE agents; however, scientific evidence is insufficient at this time to demonstrate that these treatments would effectively remove the BSE infectious agent if present in the source material."