3 Common Ingredients That Aren’t Actually Vegan | America's Test Kitchen (2024)

FAQs

What ingredients are not vegan friendly? ›

About vegetarian and vegan diets

A vegan diet is another form of vegetarianism where only plant foods are eaten and all foods from animal sources are avoided (meat, seafood, dairy, eggs and sometimes honey and gelatine).

Each of you probably knows the typical non-vegan materials, such as leather, down, silk, wool, or fur. After all, these products very obviously come from animals. Leather is the skin of cows, sheep, or pigs. In the skinning process, the animals are often not adequately anesthetized, so they suffer incredible pain.

A vegan diet is based on plants (such as vegetables, grains, nuts and fruits) and foods made from plants. Vegans do not eat foods that come from animals, including dairy products and eggs.

Nuts. Nuts are a nutritious food that many vegans eat. However, some varieties, such as Planters Dry Roasted Peanuts, contain gelatin. Gelatin is a protein that comes from collagen, a material that makes up bone, cartilage, and skin.

Why can't vegans eat figs? Some vegans see the mutual relationship between wasps and figs as animal exploitation and ultimately animal consumption. They, therefore, avoid figs entirely. Most vegans, however, consider figs to be vegan and consume them.

While avoiding all animal products like meat, dairy, and eggs, vegans often supplement their meals with plenty of fresh plant varieties. But there's one pesky fruit, the fig, that doesn't exactly fit into the "vegan-friendly" category.

It's usually straightforward to tell whether a bread is vegan. You can easily distinguish vegan from non-vegan bread by looking at the ingredient list. Bread containing eggs, honey, royal jelly, gelatin, or dairy-based ingredients like milk, butter, buttermilk, whey, or casein isn't considered vegan.

What do vegans lack most? ›

Intake and status of vitamin B12, vitamin D, iron, zinc, iodine, calcium and bone turnover markers were generally lower in plant-based dietary patterns compared to meat-eaters. Vegans had the lowest vitamin B12, calcium and iodine intake, and also lower iodine status and lower bone mineral density.

Fruitarianism is more restrictive than veganism or raw veganism, as a subset of both.

You may have heard that regular white sugar is non-vegan because they filter it using bone char - that is, charred and powdered animal bone. BUT you'll be pleased to know that that really only applies in the US. In the UK, most regular sugar brands are vegan. There is one exception to this, though - icing sugar.

For this reason, vegans avoid eating foods of animal origin, such as: Meat: Beef, lamb, pork, veal, horse, organ meat, wild meat, etc. Poultry: Chicken, turkey, goose, duck, quail, etc. Fish and seafood: All types of fish, anchovies, shrimp, squid, scallops, calamari, mussels, crab, lobster and fish sauce.

Vegans try to avoid or minimize all forms of animal exploitation, including that of bees. As a result, most vegans exclude honey from their diets. Some vegans also avoid honey to take a stand against conventional beekeeping practices that can harm bee health.

While avoiding all animal products like meat, dairy, and eggs, vegans often supplement their meals with plenty of fresh plant varieties. But there's one pesky fruit, the fig, that doesn't exactly fit into the "vegan-friendly" category.

Worcestershire Sauce

Other condiments that are often beloved but aren't vegan-friendly include horseradish, fish sauce, and mayonnaise. However, if you do some digging, you can often find plant-based replacements for these condiments.