Hidden non-vegetarian stuff.
 

The latest news that there is tallow in the 5 pound British note is a bit disconcerting. I was wondering if we could start a thread on the hidden stuff some folks might be unaware of. Most of us are aware of gelatin and rennet I think. Perhaps those new to vegetarianism aren't though.

Hindu temples in Britain are no longer accepting the 5 pound not as donations.

Yes that came as a surprise, about what was in the £5 notes. I dislike those plastic springy £5 notes anyway. They jump about all over the place and wont fold properly.

People who are new to veganism particularly, often miss egg which is included in so many commercial foods, sometimes even in what appears to be plain bread. And many cookies and obviously cakes of most kinds. There are often animal fats in those as well even though they seem vegan.

I buy prepared food only if all the ingredients listed are vegan.

nice thread idea thank you. Let's see, here is a good one I think. apparently white sugar (and likely other items) is made with animal bone char. refined sugar is disease for the human body and brain anyways but still it is worth noting.

another I was thinking of is l-cysteine which is talked about in this article linked below. commonly from bird feathers, also apparently from pigs' feet too.

oh my thank you for inspiring me to do more research on this. apparently gum has a lot of questionable activity going on. I only consume a specific brand or kind of gum made with xylitol, and it is non-gmo too but apparently it could still have animal products so I will have to check into this further. also even "natural flavors & colors" can easily contain animals parts like beaver bootay liquid (castoreum) and carmine which is beetle juice

more interesting examples on this site, kind of frightening but also reassuring lol. so I knew Guiness beer was made with fish guts (or the bladder I think) but now I learn that a lot of wine also is. and seaweed snacks can contain a certain amount of fish and not admit or mention it on the packahing. well I guess that's all I got, thanks for the topic and I hope this link I found helps you too :smile:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/fo...-products.html

Thank you for all this info too. I think I knew about sugar, but since we don't eat it, that was moot. Certainly it helps when some stuff never was in your diet anyway.

I use jaggery in place of sugar. No animal bone char is used to make it.
Check out this link. http://www.barnivore.com/

The problem is that refined white sugar is included in so many store-bought items, some surprising (you would never think they contained sugar!) Even wholemeal bread!

Now I'm not a total sugar freak, and like sweetness, but it is sad that a vegan/vegetarian cannot trust many -probably hundreds -of items out there not to have association with animal products, slaughter and suffering. Even things that one wouldn't expect.

I guess in order to be sure we have to look for a "suitable for vegetarians" label, or the "vegan" logo.

Well, if you want to be a sugar freak you have to have a serious wallet too.
I put sugar in my bread dough to enhance rising. It's the same amount of salt, about 1.5% of the meal components. About 6 grams per bread.

I also put it in my home made milk and cake batter.
If you would replace that with stevia or, like, ahorn sirop, it would cost you a whole lot more of money.

I find being vegan is more significant to my health then being a pure vegan.
I also think that being vegan is more beneficial to animal well being then being a pure vegan.
But I do choose to make most of my bread toppings myself nowadays. It just taste better.

That's how I look at it.

Yes I absolutely do get what you are saying, mogenblue.

Just curious....does anyone know if natural "brown" sugar (I don't mean that commercial "Demarara" which can often be white sugar dyed! but the soft brown sugar) -or molasses sugar involves animal products too?

I used to just eat molasses sugar because I liked it. I'd enjoy a spoonful of it now and again. Now yes it's more expensive than plain white sugar but not excessively so. Nothing like the cost of Stevia or Agave or even Maple syrup etc. And it goes well in most recipes, cakes, etc.

Production of cane sugar

This article says there are two ways of decolourisation of cane sugar. One is to use granular activated carbon. It is the modern equivalent of bone char, which is the second method.

Maybe you would have to ask in the shop where you buy it.