Is it vegan? - A guide to checking food products.
At the beginning of your vegan journey, a big hurdle is shopping and recognizing products as vegan or non-vegan.
First and foremost, you need to know the non-vegan ingredients. Unfortunately, there are also more pitfalls, such as food additives or unlabeled processing steps. But don't worry, I've got you covered. ⬇️
🚫 What ingredients are not vegan?
Everything that comes from animals, that is:
🍗🐟 Meat and fish products such as steaks, cold cuts, fish sauce, seafood, etc.
🥛🧀 Dairy products such as milk, cheese, butter, quark, cream, (skimmed) milk powder, whey powder, casein, cheese powder, condensed milk, pure butterfat, etc.
🥚🍳 Eggs, egg powder, etc.
🐝🍯 Bee products such as honey, beeswax, etc.
Gelatin (E 441), ghee, isinglass, rennet, lactitol (E 966), etc. and more E-numbers to follow.
✅ Which ones don't sound vegan, but are?
Lactic acid bacteria (just the name of a type of bacteria first discovered in milk)
Yeast (bacteria)
Cocoa butter (pure fat from the cocoa bean)
May contain traces of" - This is not an ingredient, but mainly a warning for allergy sufferers, as products containing this ingredient are made in the same production hall. So no problem for you (as long as you don't have an allergy, of course! 😄)
🧪 Food Additives (Europe):
Always of animal origin:
E 120 - Real carmine
E 901 - Beeswax
E 904 - Shellac
Can be obtained from a hen's egg:
If derived from egg, it must be labeled, at least in bold print, as it is an allergen.
E 161b - Lutein (mostly vegetable)
E 1105 - Lysozyme (mostly from egg)
E 322 - Lecithin (mostly vegetable)
⚠️ What looks vegan but isn't?
So-called "processing aids" are not considered ingredients, so they do not need to be declared and do not appear in the list of ingredients. However, they may be of animal origin!
Wine and fruit juices can often be clarified with gelatin or dried fish bladders, or fined with albumin (from eggs).
Outside Europe, activated charcoal of animal origin can be used to purify and decolorize cane sugar.
Industrially produced bakery products may contain undeclared substances, such as L-cysteine, which can be derived from animal keratin. However, it is more common to use a biotechnological process that is vegan.
🌱 The simplest: Vegan Labels
If you are still unsure when checking ingredients, the best way to help is to look for vegan labels. In general, if it says vegan on the label, it means vegan, and this applies to the entire production chain.
These labels are not yet government-regulated, which is why there are so many different ones.
However, not every product that is actually vegan is labeled as such. As you become more confident in reading ingredients or using an app, you will have more products to choose from.
📱 Apps:
Apps are available to scan and check if a product is vegan. These are not only limited to the ingredients but also to the production process, as long as the product is in the database.
This is especially helpful not only for food but also for cosmetics.
Here are a few examples:
Codecheck
My Vegan Scanner
VeganScan
BunnyFree
Conclusion:
Finding products and recognizing them as vegan will take more time in the beginning, so try not to rush it and see it as a learning process and enjoy the process. Even if you make a mistake, don't be too hard on yourself. This happens to even the most experienced vegans from time to time and is no reason to throw away valuable food. Have fun learning and feel free to ask me if you need help.
None of these lists are guaranteed to be complete. Especially food additives are a big topic in themselves.
