It is now a little over 2 months into our family making the switch to an all Vegan diet. We have definitely had some screw ups, and a big part of that is our lack of knowledge with learning to read labels. It is crazy stupid how tricky the food industry is when it comes to labeling their food.
While we try to eat a lot of mainly whole foods, we are a busy family of 5 and the occasional processed food is going to happen. OK, so it happens more than we would like to admit. So I thought I would share some of what we have learned when reading the ingredient labels.
We are so lucky to live in a day where if we are going to the store there will be lots and lots of items that will actually have the word VEGAN right on the front. Note, this in no way means it is healthy or a food you want to eat. It just means that there are no animal products in the ingredients. While those are easy to find, you may still find some foods that are actually vegan but don't carry the label. This is because the process behind getting that label also means that it can not come from a company that also uses equipment to produce animal made products. We call these foods accidentally vegan. Again, not all of these foods will be good for you either. The biggest example is Oreos. Totally vegan and totally unhealthy.
That being said, I want to show you some of the hidden ingredients we found when looking for products that are animal free.
Aside from the obvious: MILK, EGGS, BUTTER, MEAT and CHEESE. Here is a list of tricky ones that may not be as obvious.
1. Casein - the main protein present in milk and (in coagulated form) in cheese. It is used in processed foods and in adhesives, paints, and other industrial products.
2. Lactose - a sugar present in milk. It is a disaccharide containing glucose and galactose units.
3. Whey - the watery part of milk that remains after the formation of curds.
4. Collagen - from the skin, bones, and connective tissues of animals such as cows, chickens, pigs, and fish. Super popular with the Keto crowd now. Found in cosmetics as well.
5. Elastin - found in the neck ligaments and aorta of bovine, similar to collagen.
6. Keratin – from the skin, bones, and connective tissues of animals such as cows, chickens, pigs, and fish. Found in shampoo too.
7. Gelatin – obtained by boiling skin, tendons, ligaments, and/or bones and is usually from cows or pigs. Used in jelly, chewy sweets, cakes, and even in some vitamins. GROSS
8. Aspic – made from clarified meat, fish or vegetable stocks and gelatin.
9. Lard - animal fat, used in baking and or frying.
10. Shellac – obtained from the bodies of the female scale insect. Yep, your eating bugs.
11. Albumen - egg white, or the protein contained in it. (sometimes as lactalbumin)
12. Isinglass – a substance obtained from the dried swim bladders of fish, and is used mainly for the clarification of wine and beer. BOO
13. Tallow - a rendered form of beef or mutton fat.
14. Rennet - curdled milk from the stomach of an unweaned calf. blech
15. Vitamin D3 - from fish-liver oil or sheep’s wool.
16. Pepsin – from the stomachs of pigs, a clotting agent used in vitamins.
Now this list is not exhaustive, and may seem like an overwhelming task to look for when eating animal free. I want to assure you that there are plenty of good (and bad) foods made without any of the items I listed above. We have found it becomes easy as you go and know what to look for.
Here are some of the foods that made us go HMMMM.
Altoids They contain gelatin.
Apple Juice - Some apple juices are clarified using the bladder of fish, (isinglass)
Non-dairy Creamer – Contains caseinate, which is derived from milk.
Dry-roasted Peanuts - At least the Planters kind, contains gelatin
MorningStar Veggie “Sausage” Patties – traces of dairy
Is this crazy, the brand known for being meatless is not animal less contains dairy. We got some veggie burgs and they too had dairy in them. Vegetarian is not equal to Vegan. We have had to restock a few items in our pantry for not reading the labels correctly. So keep this in mind and never assume. Much love
