So I have had some emails asking what sneaky ingredients newly vegan or strict vegetarians can look for. So I decided I would make a post, so if anyone does not already know you can check them out! Feel free to add to the list



Casein—Whey’s cousin, casein is made from curdled milk. Yuck!

Gelatin—Rhymes with "skeleton." Coincidence? I think not. Gelatin is a protein made by boiling cows’ and pigs’ skin, tendons, ligaments, and bones. Jell-O? Heck, no!

Honey—Sure, honey tastes sweet, but you’ll get a bad taste in your mouth when you learn how it’s "harvested."

From a former beekeeper: "[T]ypically, beekeepers are gloved and netted to avoid stings (nearly every bee who stings will die due to her entrails being pulled from her body attached to her stinger.) Then the hives are opened as quickly as possible and the bees are ‘smoked.’ Smoke from a smoldering fire carried in a ‘smoker’ is pumped into the hive and the bees are ‘calmed.’ In spite of this, the combs are pulled quickly and many bees are crushed in the process. When a bee is hurt, she releases a chemical message that alerts and activates the hive members who proceed to attack the intruder—giving their lives in the process."

Lard—Lard is such a gross word, it almost makes you wonder why they just don’t call it what it is: "Fat from hog abdomens."

Pepsin—If the thought of eating lard turns your stomach, stay away from pepsin, a clotting agent from pigs’ stomachs, used in some cheeses and vitamins.

Rennet—Certain words just make you cringe, like coagulate, congeal, clot—which is what rennet, an enzyme taken from baby calves’ stomachs, is used for in cheese production.

Stearic Acid—It may sound less gross than "lard," but stearic acid, which often rears its ugly head in chocolate and vitamins, comes from a fatty substance taken from slaughtered pigs’ stomachs—or from cows, sheep, or dogs and cats euthanized in animal shelters. Still want to chew on that piece of Fido?

Cetyl Palmitate—Check your head if you’re using margarine that contains cetyl palmitate, the fancy term for the waxy oil derived from sperm whales’ heads or from dolphins. "I can’t believe it’s not " oh, wait. It is" Whale head wax"?

Urea—Urea comes from urine and other "bodily fluids." It’s used to "brown" baked goods, like pretzels. Um, yeah. And the oven is for ??


Whey- The watery part of milk that separates from the curds, as in the process of making cheese.

I'm not a vegetarian, but my god.. Those are crazy ingredients.

thanks jill, i hated the no honey in being vegan cause it's in so many things and i didn't really know what the impact on the bees were but geez what a massacre! it will make it easier to stay away from honey now!

blech....I think I can give up cheese now...

thanks for the summary....blech...

I have a booklet from Viva USA that lists ingredients that aren't vegan. I swear, some things are just down right nasty.

Oohh a booklet would be helpful! I do agree some things I read and I'm like OH MY! GROSS!

A wallet card(s) would be great. If you know someone who has a laminater (you'd be surprised), you can make your own.

A wallet card would be amazing! I think I might try to make one. I hate not buying things I might normally want because of questionable ingredients.

I can't remember where it is, but some sites have a list of animal ingredients you can download to your iPod. If you carry your iPod around, the list is always with you!

I couldn't find the booklet I have from the Viva USA site, but I found a website that pretty much lists the same ingredients. It's from the Happy Cow site.

Oh that would be helpful to have it in your ipod! That's awesome.

Here is one that is found in some grape drinks as coloring...

Carmine. Cochineal. Carminic Acid.
Red pigment from the crushed female cochineal insect. Reportedly, 70,000 beetles must be killed to produce one pound of this red dye. Used in cosmetics, shampoos, red apple sauce, and other foods (including red lollipops and food coloring). May cause allergic reaction. Alternatives: beet juice (used in powders, rouges, shampoos; no known toxicity); alkanet root (from the root of this herb-like tree; used as a red dye for inks, wines, lip balms, etc.; no known toxicity. Can also be combined to make a copper or blue coloring). (See Colors.)

here is a really long list with many more if anyone is interested
http://www.happycow.net/health-animal-ingredients.html''

also a great site for finding vegetarian restaurants.

and don't forget carmine color which comes from beetles and it's in much more than people realize

I recently found out about Carmine and have discovered it's in alot of foods!! and it's been used for years as natural coloring they just had to start calling carmine last year.
Disgusting. I'm pregnant and the Dr gave me a sample of omega 3 tablets and I looked at the ingredients and there it is Carmine.
Gross stuff.

This might be more of a Brit thing but if you see suet listed as an ingredient, avoid like the plague (unless it says vegetable suet that is).
Suet is shredded beef fat, which sounds gross enough, but it is from the fat that surrounds cows' kidneys - and we all know what job kidneys do!