Another UK Company Has Dropped Vegan Labelling (the Handmade Flapjack Co.)

[Jonny Nexus]

The Handmade Flapjack company have been marking those items in their range that are suitable for vegans as "Suitable for Vegetarians and Vegans" since the early nineties.

They really were pioneers. And for the fifteen or so years since then, I've universally declared their Chocolate Flavoured Special Flapjack to be my favourite food in the entire universe, ever.

So I was a bit gutted when I walked into a shop near where I walk, saw a box of their flapjacks - with new packaging - and found that both the Chocolate Flavoured Special nor the Raspberry (both of which had previously been okay) were now marked as "Suitable for Vegetarians" only. I phoned them up and got the standard response one always seems to get in these cases.

- no, the recipe hasn't actually changed;

- yes, they have changed the packaging policy so that it no longer says "vegan" on it, even where the product is suitable for vegans;

- no, they don't actually know why this decision was taken or for what reasons;

- they can send out an information sheet if the caller would like.

Having said that, the woman I spoke to was very nice, and she did say that she would send on my request that they reinstate the vegan labelling to the director concerned.

However, I think the more of us that contact them, the more likely they are to do this. After all, to be fair, if no one except me is bothered, why should they? And it did seem to work with Sainsburys.

Their website is at:

http://www.handmade-flapjack.co.uk/

...you can phone them on:

024 7658 8350

...you can email them at:

info@handmade-flapjack.co.uk

[harpy]

Pesky, aren't they? I'll drop them a line.

[flying plum]

they sell these in my uni...i had no idea some were vegan! that's pretty exciting and depressing to discover in one day

i'd love to know if the Smart Cookie Bakery maple and pecan one was ok. it looks it from the back, i think. i keep meaning to write and i keep forgetting until i'm in the canteen and want one again!

amanda

[Kevster]

Some seem to drop the VS trademark, like with Montezumas chocolate in the new packaging. It says suitable for vegans in miniscule writing.

The chocolate is now wrapped in plastic as well, which in my opinion is wholly unecessary and they've made the packaging slightly chunkier, but the chocolate is still the same size. I'm slightly disappointed by this, and i don't eat much of it nowadays.

[harpy]

They have to pay to use the Vegan Society symbol, don't they, so I suppose it's understandable if a company that was struggling dropped it. But putting the word "vegan" on the packaging doesn't cost anything, even if it's in large type (grumble)

[Kevster]

It does cost money, but you're supporting a good cause!

And get plenty of publicity and support out of it.

[RedWellies]

I thought the Vegan Society gave that logo for free? Maybe companies drop it because they have to comply with exactly what the Vegan Society defines as vegan (eg. no cross-contamination), which may be difficult?

[harpy]

There is a licensing fee, I think to cover the costs of assessing the product http://www.vegansociety.com/html/bus...plications.php

I agree it's a good cause and it would be nice to think that having the trademark brings in extra business to offset the fee, but I suppose if you were strapped for cash the trademark might be seen as expendable.

[lozza]

Be very careful..

I used to eat these flapjacks in my Uni all the time.. and if its the same ones I am thinking of, they all have hydrogenated fat in them! Very very bad!

I steered clear of them after that.

[Jonny Nexus]

They have to pay to use the Vegan Society symbol, don't they, so I suppose it's understandable if a company that was struggling dropped it. But putting the word "vegan" on the packaging doesn't cost anything, even if it's in large type (grumble)

The Handmade flapjacks didn't have the logo on there. Just a think saying "Suitable for vegans and vegetarians". So it isn't a cost issue.

Be very careful..

I used to eat these flapjacks in my Uni all the time.. and if its the same ones I am thinking of, they all have hydrogenated fat in them! Very very bad!

To be honest, given that they're packed full of sugar and chocolate, I always assumed they weren't too hot in the food stakes, much as when I get vegan burgers and chips from Red Veg I'm not expecting it to do my insides much good.



I do try to eat a bit healthily, but I'm very much a burger, chips, and chocolate man who became a vegan for 100% animals rights reasons. (No-one ever believes me when I say that I don't like fruit and I'm not that wild about vegetables).

[harpy]

Yes, this isn't something I'd eat regularly but (if it's the brand I'm thinking of) it was occasionally useful to be able to grab one at a station when stuck without anything else.

IIRC I did e-mail them about the labelling but don't seem to have had a reply.

[Dr Phibes]

I used to live on these flapjacks when on road protests, most disappointing that the vegan label has gone!

Of course it could simply be a matter of trying to appeal to a wider audience by not being so, well how can I put this, freakish! How dare I, vegans freakish?!? Never. I'm afraid in some people's pathetic excuse for minds the sandal-toed hippy vegetarian of yesteryear has been replaced by the extremist freak vegan of today and occasionally the fear of guilt by association hits the marketing departments of companies such as Sainsbury's and Handmade Flapjack.

In reality it's probably nothing at all to do with that but I'm very tired at the moment and have a tendency to ramble on when I'm like this. Has anyone got a cure for extreme fatigue (busy job/stressful life)? Answers on a postcard please...

[Mr Flibble]

I used to live on these flapjacks when on road protests, most disappointing that the vegan label has gone!

and at the same time never seeing commercial flapjack again seems like quite a pleasent prospect

[RedWellies]

Has anyone got a cure for extreme fatigue (busy job/stressful life)?.

Sleep?

[Dr Phibes]

Thanks RedWellies I think I already get enough sleep (if it's at all possible to ever get ENOUGH sleep). I feel really tired all the time, I've been vegan for over 20 years and have never felt so tired as these past 6 months. Nothing much has changed lifestyle-wise - I've always been busy and almost always stressed out. Perhaps a care-free holiday will help...

Regards
Phibes