4 Sneaky Non-Vegan Ingredients in your Food & Drink

July 05, 2017

4 Sneaky Non-Vegan Ingredients in your Food & Drink

Unfortunately, veganism isn't as simple as just avoiding eggs, dairy and meat but not to worry, I am here to make your life a little easier.

Don't worry if you're vegan and have consumed any of these ingredients, veganism is a long learning process and you're not a bad person for not knowing.

Carmine:

You may be eating dead bugs. Carmine is the red pigment from the crushed female cochineal insect. It has been reported that 70,000 beetles must be killed to produce one pound of the dye. It can be found in:

Cosmetics
Shampoos
Red applesauce
A collection of other foods, such as food colouring, yoghurt, drinks and red lollipops.

Apart from carmine being absolutely disgusting, (Who exactly wants to eat dead bugs?!) it has also been known to cause severe allergic reactions and anaphylactic shock in some people. I think it's probably best to avoid it.

"But how can I avoid it?" You ask? Simply, check the ingredients for "carmine," "cochineal extract," or "Natural Red 4". and you're all set!

Natural flavourings:

Beaver anal glands. Sound tasty?

I didn't think so.

This FDA approved food additive is labelled as "natural flavouring", which isn't wrong, it is a natural ingredient but not the kind we want to be eating. The real name for the additive is Castoreum, which originates from female and male castor sacs. It's mostly in raspberry flavoured food & drinks, but I'd say it's best to check everything - just in case!

Isinglass:

Isinglass is a substance obtained from the dried swim bladders of fish. It is used to filter some alcohols, especially beers and wines.

Unfortunately, it is a cheaper way to control flocculation, which is the process where a substance is mixed into the beer to make it less hazy.

Always check Barnivore before buying or ordering alcohol, the bartender won't know!

Milk derivatives:

Obviously, milk is an easy ingredient to spot on a product, but unfortunately, there are other ways milk may be shown on the ingredients list:

Lactose (Milk sugar)
Casein (Milk protein)
Whey (The liquid that's left over when milk has been strained)

I hope this has helped you have a wider understanding of extra ingredients in products that aren't vegan. For more information, check out Vegan Voyager's video: