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Thread: Vegan labelling in France?

  1. #1
    auntierozzi's Avatar
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    Default Vegan labelling in France?

    Here in France there don't seem to be any labels on any kind of food stating whether or not it is suitable for a vegan or even vegetarian diet. I was wondering if anybody knows how that labelling system came about in the UK. In order to help us campaign here in France for a similar system. I don't really have any experience of this in other countries but the difference is really marked between here and the UK.

  2. #2
    baffled harpy's Avatar
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    Default Re: Vegan labelling in France?

    Maybe you could write to the Vegetarian Society and the Vegan Society to ask for information about how their schemes got off the ground - I'm afraid I don't know any of the history.

    I imagine having a critical mass of veg*ns asking about ingredients is probably quite helpful as there must come a point where it's less trouble for the manufacturers to pay to get the certification.

    Of course, there are unofficial marks here as well; supermarkets etc will mark things as suitable for vegetarians or vegans. But you can't rely on those to the same extent as the official ones.

  3. #3
    told me to Mr Flibble's Avatar
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    Default Re: Vegan labelling in France?

    When i turned vegan in 2000 there was only labelling on health food products, but supermarkets had already created lists you could get if you sent off for them. In about 2002 sainsburys started labelling all their stuff, tesco followed suit but have been completely retarded at implementing it and virtually no things specify vegan. Sainsburys have recently started getting worse at vegan labelling. In about 2003 there was suddently a cholesterol fad, which helped us get fresh soya milk and icecream stocked in supermarkets. Some of the cholesterol free producers don't label things that are vegan as so, potentially because they know it's a waste of time as most vegans boycott them (such as unilever's Adez)

    I believe that it was the big supermarkets that encouraged other manufacturers to start labelling and sadely may encourage people to stop if they do too.
    "Mr Flibble - forum corruptor of innocents!!" - Hemlock

  4. #4
    auntierozzi's Avatar
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    Default Re: Vegan labelling in France?

    Thanks Harpy and Mr.F, I think that my new year's resolution must be to be come more proactive about this. I will try and do some research.
    I am a member of the "Végétarienne Alliance" too and I will see if they have any ongoing info.
    In France it seems that the 'Bio' (organic) is gaining more support but French vegetarians are few and far between, let alone vegans. The best places to be are those where there are plenty of English people like the Dordogne.

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    baffled harpy's Avatar
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    Default Re: Vegan labelling in France?

    At least soy products such as soy milk and (I think) yoghurt seem to be quite widely available there, aren't they? I assume it's for the lactose intolerant rather than the vegan, but still.

    Are macriobiotic diets popular there, auntierozzi? Some of the more-or-less vegetarian restaurants in Paris seem to be macrobiotically-inclined.
    Last edited by harpy; Dec 19th, 2006 at 08:53 PM. Reason: Spelling correction

  6. #6
    auntierozzi's Avatar
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    Default Re: Vegan labelling in France?

    You're right Harpy, soy products are definitely becoming more available and nut milks too. Paris is probably influenced quite a bit by the many tourists and different cultures. The French in the countryside where I live are massively proud (as everybody knows) of all their regional specialities and this is a big sticking point in getting people to consider life without all these things.
    If you read womens' magazines here (which I do pretty rarely) they always feature very skinny models and ideas for dieting which are rubbish. Things like "Day 1 - mash up one lettuce leaf and drink 9 pints of boiled water"...all this in preparation for dropping 1 stone before stuffing yourself at Christmas..It's a bit of boulemic attitude really.

  7. #7
    baffled harpy's Avatar
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    Default Re: Vegan labelling in France?

    Sorry I spelled your name wrong in the previous message, auntierozzi.

    Yes, I was discussing that book "French Women Don't Get Fat" with a Frenchwoman and she snorted and said her French friends were permanently on diets. (Not sure that women's magazines here are much healthier though - they are always going on about peculiar fad diets too I think.)

    I was quite surprised to see a lot of locals in one or two of the veggie restaurants in Paris but perhaps they think it will make them thin. Macrobiotic food seems quite pleasant (apart from the optional fish ) and not unhealthy. It doesn't seem to be at all fashionable here though; time for a revival perhaps.

    At least they have nice vegetables in the French countryside, even though they don't want to give them to you in the restaurants without a slathering of butter or foie gras or something.

  8. #8
    auntierozzi's Avatar
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    Default Re: Vegan labelling in France?

    I know what you you mean about restaurants here. The veggies are often cooked much too long for me too even if they escape the slathering!!

    The best salads that I have eaten in a restaurant in Caen (the biggest town near to us) is in an Italian restaurant where they are happy to substitute nuts instead of ham etc..
    The veg. in the market is good and in the supermarket there is always plenty that is grown locally too. Is there a good market near you?

  9. #9
    baffled harpy's Avatar
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    Default Re: Vegan labelling in France?

    Yes, we often end up in non-French restaurants when we're in France, mainly because the French ones seem a bit stroppier about it all. We went to a nice Lebanese one last time we were over.

    I love French markets though they sometimes seem a bit specialised. Once we rented a gite in Brittany and the local small market seemed to have mostly artichokes and onions/shallots/garlic, all of which were delicious but perhaps not enough for a balanced diet

    I'm in London, so there are street markets, farmers' markets and posh places like Borough Market. I'm afraid we hardly ever get to any of these though - we get an organic vegetable and fruit bag delivered and then supplement it from health food shops and supermarkets.

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    Default Re: Vegan labelling in France?

    Hello auntierozzi

    My partner and I are both vegan and visit France quite a lot (my partner is French). We too would love to see more detailed labelling of French products although the Bio sections in supermarkets such as E.Leclerc (http://www.e-leclerc.com/home.asp) and Intermarche (http://www.intermarche.com/) are always well stocked in the basics.

    When in France we use Bjorg Vanilla Soya Milk and dairy free cream. They also make some delicious chocolate wafer biscuits. Sojasun is another must, sadly we don't get the whole range anywhere in the UK and I have to wait until my French visits before I can taste the Cafe flavour again!

    We also use the network of Biocoop's (http://www.biocoop.fr/) while visiting to pick up such treats as the Wheaty range of Seitan products, organic chocolate and various other comforts we have become used to in the UK.

    We contacted the French Vegan Society (http://www.geocities.com/vegorg02/) but never got a response. It would be good if the French Vegetarian Society was to make waves and get more labelling on French products. That's kind of how it started here in the UK. The animal rights movement grew quite quickly in the 80's and with it the number of vegetarians and vegans. Membership of the Vegan and Vegetarian Societies swelled and the members pressured those societies for some sort of product identification. They convinced manufacturers that it was in their interests to introduce product labelling so those looking for ethical food could find it easily. The Vegetarian Society logo started appearing on foods throughout the UK, this was followed by the introduction of the Vegan Society logo. Both labelling schemes have continued to grow. If your organisations let you down then you could try posting to french forums and asking for help:
    http://www.vegetarisme.org/echanges/forums
    http://www.vegetarisme.biz/forum/For1/listemessages.php
    would probably be a good start but I'm sure you know of more.

    Hope all this has been of some help to you. Bonne chance...
    Regards
    Phibes

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    auntierozzi's Avatar
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    Default Re: Vegan labelling in France?

    Thanks Philbes,
    I have since found a couple of vegetarian/vegan noticeboards and am trying to network a little bit. I am a fan of Biocoop but find that they quite often run out of things all of a sudden..I tend to buy up a big stock of the things I know I will be using.
    Good to meet you.

  12. #12
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    Default Re: Vegan labelling in France?

    Hi auntierozzi

    There does seem to be a lot of difference in the way the different Biocoop's are run. The first one we went to was excellent, always had what we needed and had (it seemed) daily deliveries. But others have been less impressive. I suppose it's the price one pays for supporting coop's!

    It's a shame VegieWave is no longer trading as that site was a constant source of vegan pleasure. Unfortunately, as with most other things I suppose, the delightful woman who ran the business just couldn't generate enough business to stay afloat.

    Anyway, let us know how you get on and if you need any help. I'm sure we can drum up some support for you...

    A bientot
    Phibes

  13. #13
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    Default Re: Vegan labelling in France?

    Don't forget www.monmarchand.com , they sell all sorts of soy-based items.

  14. #14
    auntierozzi's Avatar
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    Default Re: Vegan labelling in France?

    Thanks Yorbo!
    This is new for me.
    Last edited by flutterby; Jan 28th, 2007 at 12:27 PM. Reason: the few posts about visiting Paris and Caen are now in http://www.veganforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=772&page=4

  15. #15

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    Default Re: Vegan labelling in France?

    no, unfortunately, there's no vegan label in France, even not a vegetarian one, some products, some marks or shops got their own, but we should look every ingredients here

  16. #16
    Aurore's Avatar
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    Default Re: Vegan labelling in France?

    there's no vegan label per se, though i'd say the organic ones are usually a good start. but we still have to check the labels. i recommend sojasun, their yogurts are the best in my opinion.

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