Jolly good jellies

JELLIES are among the ever-growing list of popular Malaysian foods, especially in restaurants and at home parties. Other than the conventional agar-agar and fruit jelly, herbal jelly and konnyaku jelly are well liked. Besides being high in calories due to the added sugar, what are the health issues regarding these jellies? 

Technically speaking, sweet jelly is prepared by boiling fruit juices with sugars, with or without adding pectin as a gelling agent. However, cooking with pectin requires a certain technique, otherwise the jelly would turn out lumpy. Furthermore, the jelly needs to be refrigerated for gelling and maintaining a firm texture.