Percy Pigs: Why is everyone talking about vegetarian sweets?

Marks and Spencer, which makes Percy Pig sweets, is reported to have removed gelatin from the main recipe

Question: What do sweets, jelly and chocolate mousse have in common?

Answer: They all contain an ingredient called gelatin.

What is gelatin?

Gelatin is a colourless, flavourless ingredient that food companies use to make sweeties chewy and help puddings keep their shape.

It is made from a naturally occurring substance in animal bones, which is why vegetarians and vegans do not eat it.

Gelatin has been hitting the headlines today.

Some people are unhappy with the manufacturer of Percy Pigs, Marks and Spencer (M&S), for replacing gelatin in the pink sweets with pea protein and starch - a vegetarian alternative to gelatin.

Gelatin is used in lots of sweets to help make them chewy

What do people think of the new Percy Pig recipe?

Many customers say it has changed the flavour too much and that they are now "disgusting" and taste "like washing-up liquid".

Others are saying the flavour hasn't changed and they are still just as tasty!

M&S has said customers have been asking for the change and that "the flavour is the same".

"With gelatin phased out, Percy can be enjoyed by even more people whilst reducing the carbon footprint from making them," it said.

The company told Radio 1 Newsbeat that they tested the new recipe to make sure it's "as close to the original as possible" and that all the "really important things people love about Percy" are the same.

Have you tried the new gelatin-free sweets? What do you think? Do you think sweet manufacturers should be using alternatives to gelatin or not?

Let us know in the comments below!