Vegitarian Question?!
Vegitarian Question?
Will a package of food you buy tell you whether its vegitarian?
Answers:
Just read the ingredients. A lot of things in the supermarket are naturally vegetarian. Here's a helpful list: http://www.peta2.com/stuff/s-accvegan.as...
Oh, and rennet isn't an animal skin mold, like the first person said. It's the lining of a calf's stomach and it's used in some cheeses. Most organic cheeses use non-animal sourced rennet. Horizon, Annie's Organics and Amy's Organics are all good brands to use. Everything in Amy's line of products is vegetarian and also free of eggs.
No, but it needs to list all ingredients. Be careful as gelatine is made from animal bones and you may have some ingredients which you may not know what they are. if a cheese lists rennet it means it is made in an animal skin mould.
Most packages will not. The only thing I've bought from Wal-Mart that said it was vegan (well, not vegetarian, sorry) was a box of waffles (GREAT by the way!) and some products in the Simply Asia line of meals. I have a bottle of vitamins that says "vegetarian formula." Oh, and I got a can of Bush's baked beans that are vegetarian, but I'm not going to eat them because I think the natural flavors are from animals.
A quick tip is to read the typically bold print near the bottom of the ingredients list that says "Contains: milk, soy and wheat ingredients" or something to that effect - BUT BE WARNED!! You probably should still check the ingredients even if it doesn't say those things. Some items don't have that at all.
I've become a label checker on EVERYTHING I buy. It's a necessary evil; at least you know what you're consuming, right? :)
It probably won't. If you go to some
organic food stores, it's easier
that way instead of going to large
grocery stores. I've been eating
Smart Foods lately. They have
a stamp on the back that will
tell you that it's either 100%
vegetarian or 100% vegan.
Just read the labels VERY carefully.
Be also very careful if the product claims "natural" flavouring.
some manufacturers uses colouring and preservatives which are not vegetarian or vegan. Check the content against these lists:
http://www.vnv.org.au/foodadditives.htm...
http://www.vnv.org.au/animalproducts.htm...
(warning! not exhaustive)
Usually, I trust food from vegetarian food stores.
Many companies either print a big green V with 'suitable for vegetarians', others carry the vegetarian society logo.
Other stuff such as hash browns, chips/fries, veggies etc aren't usually labelled (many are safe, you just have to be careful and have a quick glance to make sure no meat extract has been used on chips/fries etc).
Gelatine-based sweets such as Haribo, any kind of 'gummy' products are a no-no. That said, other companies release veggie safe version of sweets like American hard gums etc. Supermarkets are starting to introduce 'special diets' sections for vegans, vegetarians, coeliacs etc and have safe alternatives for us to eat.
Things to watch out for that can sneak through:
Sweets - gelatine, cochineal and carmine (beetle's blood) and shellac (insect goo, often insects are squished in with it)
Yogurts - some add gelatine, especially low fat ones.
Chips/Fries - meat extract used as a flavouring
Ready Meals/Junk Food - sometimes animal fat is added as an ingredient to seemingly vegetarian products, also fish can be added as a flavouring.
Alcohol - beers and wines are often filtered with isinglass, though safe wines are quite easy to find.
Cheese - some is made with animal rennet
Also, visit the vegan or vegetarian societies website for notes about normally safe e-numbers that can also be from an animal source (some vegetarians do not mind trace amounts that cannot be tracked to be proved 100% animal free).
Most vegetarian-specialist companies print 'vegetarian' on the packets with pride, so look in the freezer section of your supermarket for things like beanburgers, vegeburgers, vegesausages etc.
Lot's of good answers but I wanted to point out something that fools a lot of people.
There are two entirely separate companies called Annie's! Both use the word organic but one is NOT veggie friendly!
Annie's Naturals IS veggie friendly!
http://www.anniesnaturals.com
Annie's Homegrown is NOT!
http://www.annies.com