What To Watch Out For (What Isnt Vegetarian)

Many supermarkets and brands are aware of the need for a vegetarian symbol on their items but I’m not entirely convinced all the time.  There are so many hidden ingredients nowadays it’s hard to be genuinely convinced items are vegetarian. There is nothing worse than an item not marked and you spend 20 minutes reading through the list of ingredients to see if you can eat it!  The only way to be absolutely sure is to look for the Vegetarian Society Seedling Symbol as you know these items have been thoroughly checked to ensure they are suitable for vegetarians.

 

A few hidden ingredients you should be aware of are: 

Additives 

Sneaky little e-numbers they put in that are NOT suitable for vegetarians

E120 - Cochineal/Carmine, this red colouring is isolated from crushed insects;

E542 - Edible Bone Phosphate, from animal bones.

Alcohol 

To find a vegetarian wine is hard, as most drinks companies do not mark this on their bottles, some drinks are fined/clarified using animal ingredients, including Chitin –from the shells of crabs, lobsters, etc; Gelatine – from bones and connective tissues of cows or pigs; Isinglass - obtained from fish swim bladders.

Cheese

May have been produced using animal rennet, an enzyme taken from the stomach of a newly killed calf used in the cheese making process.

Gelatin(e) 

A gelling agent derived from animal ligaments, skins, tendons, bones etc. 

Soft Drinks 

Some orange drinks use gelatine (not listed in the ingredients) as a carrier for added Beta Carotene

A full list of non vegetarian and non vegan ingredients is available on the Vegetarian Society Website www.vegsoc.org