Five Things You'd Think Would Be Vegan–But Aren't


It's not easy to be an observant vegan. None of us here at Fork are vegan, but we all know plenty of vegans, we respect vegans for the most part, and we know it's hard to follow that diet in a meat-centric world. Some foods are obviously not vegan: no tuna salad in the world is vegan, and Thai food is fraught with peril. Some foods are surprisingly vegan: Bac-Os, for example, are completely vegan. But then there are the pitfalls. Some things that should be vegan contain animal products, sometimes in surprising places. Here are five of those products.
]

1. “Heart Healthy” orange juice


“With Omega-3” ought to be a big tip-off to vegans that
the product probably contains squeezed fish, but it shows up in the
oddest places. Tropicana Pure Premium Heart-Healthy Orange Juice
contains fish oil–in orange juice. Trader Joe's Omega Carrot Orange Juice contains both fish oil and tilapia gelatin. Fortunately, the normal, presumably
heart-unhealthy orange juices in the Pure Premium line and the normal fresh-squeezed orange juice at Trader Joe's each contain a
comforting list of exactly one ingredient: orange juice.


2. General anaesthesia



That's right. If you're a vegan and you're about to be challenged to
count backwards from 10, you're in trouble. Propofol, the usual drug
used to create the unaware state, is emulsified with egg phospholipids.
Regardless of how far these are from anything recognizable, the fact is
that they can't be made without starting with eggs.

3. Non-dairy creamer


It's non-dairy, right? It certainly
doesn't contain any tiny bits of meat, and it's sweetened with the
oh-so-healthy high-fructose corn syrup, so why is it not vegan? Well,
the so-called “whitener” contains sodium caseinate, a milk derivative so
processed that it's actually considered non-dairy by the government. It starts with milk, though, so it's not okay to bring any to a
PETA meeting.


4. Holy Communion in many churches


We're not
talking about transubstantiation here. (Is transubstantiated Eucharist
vegan?) Vegans and omnivores can argue the point of God giving dominion
over the animals to Adam until the cows come home, but one thing is
certain: most sacramental wines go through a process called “fining”
that involves isinglass, an extract of the swim bladders of certain
fish. At least if it's kosher wine, the bladders won't be from the
desperately overfished Beluga sturgeon (which is not kosher), and that's
better, right? Right?



5. Dry-roasted peanuts

It wouldn't be unreasonable to think dry-roasted
peanuts would have exactly two ingredients–peanuts and salt–but the
ingredients list of Planters brand dry-roasted peanuts, and presumably
any store-brand they supply, is quite a surprise. Peanuts, sugar,
cornstarch, MSG, gelatin, torula yeast, corn syrup solids, paprika, onion and garlic powders, and spices.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *