How to Recognize Those Hidden Animal Ingredients
February 18, 2008
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Although there are many vegan friendly products on the market, there are also many that claim vegan or seem to be vegan friendly; but are in fact hiding a wicked truth. That truth is that there are hidden animal products inside of them. So it is very important to be able to recognize what is in food before it is purchased.
A few tips and tricks for discovering hidden animal products in vegan foods are:
- When purchasing processed foods, look for the cholesterol level in the food. If it reads more than zero, then leave it where it is because it has animal product in it.
- Don’t buy anything that has gelatin because gelatin is made from pig knuckles and other animal bones. It is often found in some gums and even gel tabs. Always look for vitamins that are vegan friendly and whole food to avoid beef -gelled tablets.
- All natural does not mean vegan friendly. Natural products basically mean organic but that does not mean that there are no animal products in them. Think about many of the dairy items on the market. They are not vegan friendly but there are many of them that are natural or organic.
- Read the entire label because sometimes it will tell you that there are animal ingredients in the item you want to purchase.
- Be wary of the alcohol you drink as well because it too may contain animal ingredients.
If you are still confused here are a few of the most common animal ingredients lurking in foods:
- Animal shortening (Butter, suet, lard) - often found in packaged cookies and crackers, refried beans, flour tortillas, ready-made pie crusts. My husband, the vegan for over 20 years has purchased many items that I have picked apart and found these items hiding as hydrogenated something or the other.
- Albumin is the protein component of egg whites. Albumin is also found in animal blood, milk, plants, and seeds. It is used to thicken or add texture to many processed foods.
- Whey if the watery liquid that separates from the solids or curds of milks in cheese-making.
- Natural flavorings that do not say what they are made from can often times be from meat or other animal ingredients and are found in processed and packaged foods.
- Stearic acid (octadecenoic acid) is made from tallow (animal fats) and is found in vanilla flavoring, chewing gum, baked goods, beverages, candy, soaps, ointments, candles, cosmetics, suppositories and pill coatings.
It pays to be a smart shopper when you are trying to be health conscious. If you are vegan it pays to also know what foods may have animal ingredients in them. Now of course it is almost impossible to enjoy products made in the same plants as many products that do have animal ingredients. Hence making it hard to have everything actually be all vegan.
So the wise thing is to just read carefully, pay attention to what goes in your body, and aim for the healthiest vegan foods you can find.
- LaTara Ham-Ying is owner of Vegan Family Living.
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Posted by Tishia | Filed Under Food & Drink
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