... but still not Vegan.
I am offended. I’ve been duped twice recently and had one close call. The close call was false excitement that I had found a new Vegan friendly ice-cream to add to the ranks of So Good Chocolate Bliss and Tofutti tubs. When I happened across this Co Yo coconut milk ice-cream, which labelled itself as lactose free, soy free and gluten free, I thought “F**K YEAH!!” (may have actually been my exact thought) but then when I turned it over to see what was actually in it, I found out that they were being specific about no lactose as it still had dairy products in it. Seriously, why not go the whole way? I am disappoint. I shall keep dreaming about Luna & Larry’s Coconut Bliss.
For years growing up, I had mini-chol as a cheese replacement due to being lactose intolerant, and when I checked the ingredients it always seemed to be entirely Vegan. There are other soy cheeses in the supermarket that contain rennet so I’ve always been paranoid about it. Then a reader left a comment notifying me of it’s non-Vegan status (on my post about making pizza) that made me go back and do some research. The way it seems to me is that either the Mini-Chol manufacturing, ingredients or labelling is inconsistent and they are hard to contact for clarification but it looks like it isn’t Vegan friendly after all. Or it could be, but isn’t worth the risk.
Not that long ago I bought a selection of vegetable dumplings from an Asian grocery. All the bags had translation stickers over the ingredients list with the list written in English, except one type of dumpling. I asked about it and the woman behind the counter assured me they were vegetarian but they just hadn’t been able to get stickers for them yet. Well I bought them anyway as I figured she’d know the product. What I didn’t count on was her interpretation of vegetarian dumplings including those that contained shrimp product, as I discovered when I got curious and Google translated the ingredients list.
It just goes to show that sometimes you think you are being really diligent with ingredients, asking waitstaff and servers, researching and preparing ahead but that there are so many products that contain unnecessary animal products and too often people will dismiss your need for certain dietary requirements as simply being a food dislike, “not important” or “fussy” or anything else. Well, I’m sorry that my Veganism is such an inconvenience to you, but it’s for the benefit of my health and compassion for animals and respect for the environment, so it means a lot to me!
Well, I’ve learned that lesson! I’m chalking it up as taking another step on my Vegan journey, and can now be even more diligent.
Have you learnt the hard way about ingredients in one of your regular (and assumed-friendly) food items?
Bummer – so disappointing when you get excited about a certain product, and then booooooo. I haven’t tried the tofutti tubs – haven’t seen it around up here in Queensland (only the cream cheese) Is it any good? So Good chocolate bliss is my FAV. I’ve even found meat by-products in “vegetable” stock cubes… just goes to show how diligent you need to be, meaty bits and pieces get snuck in everywhere!
You can make rennet from thistles and other plants so it may be worth finding out what type of rennet it is, although most likly it will be calves stomach.
You could have a vegan cheese making weekend and do it yourself if you have the time…. lol… “if you have time” I crack myself up!
Is it not illegal to sell food without a list of English-language ingredients?
Apparently! She was very adamant that they were on their way.
CoYo made me so excited when I first saw it, then so sad. Why don’t they just go the whole way and make it vegan!
Hi Susan, apparently Co Yo is now Vegan-friendly. I have been advised they have changed their recipe so if you come across it, double check and see if your retailer has updated their stock!