LET’S PLAY “IS IT VEGAN?!”

There are some sneaky foods besides meat, cheese, dairy, and eggs that go into foods you eat every day that are non-kosher when it comes to following a vegan diet.

Some of them, although a bummer, are clear as to why they are tainted with animal by products. Others, well, are up for debate in my eyes.

I am going to dicuss some of these items below in an upcoming expert panel audio piece featuring some top vegan/vegetarian chefs for some clarification to what they consider “vegan” because my judgement on this stuff is usually based off of my willpower…

 

Wine and beer – Some wines and beers are made using a product called isinglass or bone char which is from fish. Although there is no animal ingredient in the final beverage, alot of vegans dont want any kind of animal products used in the processing of what they consume. This pitfall is difficult to notice and avoid when picking out drinks since most alcohol doesnt provide any ingredient information, so do your research beforehand.

Soy cheese – Soy cheese may sound like a no-brainer safe bet, but think again. Many varieties contain casein, which is a milk protein that helps the cheese melt.

Gel-cap medications – gel-cap anything in your medicine cabinet is made out of mostly gelatin. Good news is that you can often find gelitan-free forms of your medications, just ask your pharmacist!

AND THE MOST DEPRESSING ‘NOT SO VEGAN’ FOOD GOES TO…

Normally-processed sugar– This is considered non-vegan by many because it uses the same animal by products of beer (isinglass or bone char) processing. But as you guessed, cutting out the average cane sugar used in about everything greatly slimms down the vegan-foods still left on your list.