Whole Foods "fake" Vegan Labeling

[veggiemaya]

I have just stumbled upon this article on the Living Vegan website and it is seriously disappointing!! Apparently there have been a few instances where Whole Foods is labeling things as vegan when the food is NOT vegan! some of the foods even containing eggs and whole milk!! I guess this just goes to show you that even if you clearly see something marked as "vegan", it pays to read the ingredients!

tsk tsk, Whole Foods!!

[Healthy]

Doesn't surprise me in the least!

I haven't shopped at Whole Foods in two years. There was always something fishy about them.

Plus I couldn't stand the attitudes of the workers there -- it's all about "team members" and not about customers.

I can share stories that would make your head spin about that place, especially the one in Montclair, New Jersey. I even called the Vice President of the area an asshole.

[MillieAnne]

This makes me so extremely sad because i literally just got back from Whole Foods with a "vegan" chocolate cupcake and am now scared to each it.

[Healthy]

I'd return it Millie.

[MillieAnne]

I'll just give it to one of my omni roomies.....damn their delicious frosting!

Thanks for the heads up

[Roxy]

Maybe, as it seems to be a problem in one particular area, the employees could be playing stupid pranks and deliberately mis-labelling products? Just a thought.

[Healthy]

Roxy, I think it's more like the employees are just plain stupid period.

Of all the Whole Foods I've been to, New York and New Jersey, no one seems to know their ass from their elbows. You can't go in expecting these people to know anything. Perhaps it's different in other parts of the country or Canada, but in my experiences, not one of them was anything special.

The one that they speak of that misled the public was in Union Square, NYC ... When I used to sell my art in the streets at Union Square, I choose the Farmer's Market over Whole Foods ... they had everything, including raw sauerkraut -- at half the price.

[veggiemaya]

I'll just give it to one of my omni roomies.....damn their delicious frosting!

Thanks for the heads up

yeah, i guess just to play it safe, i would only get things with the ingredients listed from whole foods now.

[Healthy]

yeah, i guess just to play it safe, i would only get things with the ingredients listed from whole foods now.

Yeah, but wasn't the point of the article that food is being mislabeled?

[veggiemaya]

Yeah, but wasn't the point of the article that food is being mislabeled?

yeah, but i mean, i have actually come across things that are supposed to be vegan or dairy free..and will see that honey or some form of dairy is listed in the ingredients section. as far as it being something that doesnt list the ingredients...yeah, i would just avoid it altogether.

[Healthy]

Okay, gotcha, thanks Maya

[bryzee86]

Wow, I've never had any problems with WF or Fresh & Wild here. I'll keep my eyes peeled when I'm over there.

[veggiemaya]

..Of all the Whole Foods I've been to, New York and New Jersey, no one seems to know their ass from their elbows...

hahaha....i've never heard anyone except for myself and my mother use that ass/elbow phrase! love it!!
do you ever wonder if it's just the attitudes of the people in general that are in our area? i mean, i have been sometimes shocked with how friendly and helpful people can be in other parts of the country, because i have always lived here.

[Healthy]

Maya, yes, definitely! When I traveled to other states, or even further south Jersey ... people are soooooo nice!! Actually I'm in Union County and people are pretty nice here. I work in North Jersey though ... and it's really annoying how nasty people can be.

[Healthy]

P.S. Maya -- your cat looks sooooo cute and innocent in that icon! I wanna snuggle with him! Does he snuggle?

[snivelingchild]

YES, the whole food I used to shop at would have a 'vegan' meal OBVIOUSLY containing the same egg noodles as the dish next to it. The vegan dish would just say noodles, and the non-vegan one had the ingredients IN the noodles, which were eggs. I almost complained a million times, but whenever I left, I was always so mad I didn't want to stay there another minute.

They even put honey in their sushi, which annoyed me.

[Roxy]

When I used to sell my art in the streets at Union Square, I choose the Farmer's Market over Whole Foods ... they had everything, including raw sauerkraut -- at half the price.

Yes, they definately are expensive!

[veggiemaya]

Maya, yes, definitely! When I traveled to other states, or even further south Jersey ... people are soooooo nice!! Actually I'm in Union County and people are pretty nice here. I work in North Jersey though ... and it's really annoying how nasty people can be.

haha, its crazy what a difference such a short distance makes, isnt it? one of the reasons i decided to move south was because when i would come down this way to go out with my cousins who have always lived down here..i would find myself with an overall better disposition. and i would wind up slipping back in to an attitude when i would get back home. (i grew up in essex county) first time my dad came to visit he said a gas station attendant was so nice, he was leary of him! haha! funny....yet sad

[veggiemaya]

P.S. Maya -- your cat looks sooooo cute and innocent in that icon! I wanna snuggle with him! Does he snuggle?

actually, its a she. and she definitely does snuggle. she will jump up on my lap, sometimes pat my cheek with her paw..and push her little forehead in to my face so i can give her a kiss. its amazingly sweet! but...i must admit...she can be a maniac too. shes also been known to smack me clear across my cheek when shes in a feisty mood. of course, i still think its amazingly sweet.

[Healthy]

Sniveling -- urgh!! That's one of the reasons I knicknamed Whole Foods: assWhole Foods!

Maya -- I grew up in Essex County too! I'm in Union County, and wow, what a difference. I make friends in the A&P

[veggiemaya]

Whole Foods: assWhole Foods!

hahaha, good one!

Maya -- I grew up in Essex County too! I'm in Union County, and wow, what a difference. I make friends in the A&P

no way!! what town, if you dont mind me asking.

[Sarah_]

I shop at Whole Foods all the time, though I admit it is expensive. That and Trader Joe's are my two stores that I basic ally frequent because I like the convenience of being able to go to a store that caters to veg*n diets instead of picking and choosing my way through a Ralphs.
The one I go to (it's in Long Beach where a Wild Oats used to be) is very nice. I've never had problems with them, and I've never had mislabeling issues-perhaps because I read all ingredients anyway, regardless of what the label says. The staff know what they're doing even when I go to them with weird obscure questions. Perhaps it's just the benefit of living in Orange County.
The folks at my Trader Joe's are a little less than updated on their vegan ingredients. I asked one of the store people whether the Trader Ming's boxed noodles were really vegan (as it was labeled vegan but contained lactic acid) and the store person seemed a bit lost and gave me a sort of "why not just try it" attitude. I know that there's more than one way to get lactic acid, but still. Also, there was a woman who was giving out samples and I saw a man eat some of whatever it was after the woman told him it was vegan. I looked on the label and it was NOT.

Sorry to rant, but all in all my Whole Foods experience has been nice.

[veganwitch]

I love Whole Foods and have had very positive experiences there. I've asked questions of the employees and if they aren't sure they've always gone to check with someone else to be sure. Last year my husband ordered me a birthday cake there. When he went to pick it up it wasn't quite ready because they were trying to come up with a vegan suitable way to write a message on top. They felt so bad he had to wait that they didn't charge him for the cake.

[Roxy]

Awww what a lovely husband. If I don't buy my own birthday cake, I gotta make it

Well, we have a Wholefoods here and admittedly, I do like shopping there. It's quite a drive from here though, so I tend to only go there if I'm over that way for something else. It is pretty expensive too. Actually - it's super expensive lol.....but it's a nice shopping atmosphere and they do stock some products which are can be really hard to find anywhere else.

[veganwitch]

Our WF is an hour away which is probably a good thing. It is always a triple digit shopping bill when we go there. My hubby jokes that if we lived near there we'd be broke.

[Roxy]

lol...same here. Mine is about half an hour to forty minutes away. I'd be twice the size and half as broke if I lived nearer, I'm sure

[Sarah_]

I live less than ten minutes away from mine, so I always have to make a list and STICK to it when I go. Also, I have to eat something beforehand because hungry and shopping in Whole Foods is a baaaaad idea.

[veggiemaya]

Sarah, that's so true. I think also it's because they have so many things that typical stores don't have, I tend to just wander and somehow convince myself that I need 3 more types of ground flax, or hemp protein powder...or $15 guacamole!

by the way, your kitty is adorable!

[Zero]

Roxy, I think it's more like the employees are just plain stupid period.

I think it comes down to education by the employer, if they want to cater to vegans they should be making sure that every employee understands what vegan means. Of course they are no different than any other large capitalist machine.

I wish I could just boycott everywhere that sells any animal products! (unfortunately it's hugely impractical )

[august]

Someone sent me an email with a link to this article- it's pretty interesting:

'Lee Hall’s speech at the recent London Vegan Festival, which took a hard look at the international expansion and the “Animal Compassion” rhetoric of the organic superstore Whole Foods Market, is a magnificent study in how certain sections of the animal rights movement caved in to financial interests and to self interest. In personal correspondence with the editor of the Abolitionist, Lee Hall had this to say:'

http://www.abolitionist-online.com/07l_hall.shtml

[Sarah_]

Sarah, that's so true. I think also it's because they have so many things that typical stores don't have, I tend to just wander and somehow convince myself that I need 3 more types of ground flax, or hemp protein powder...or $15 guacamole!

by the way, your kitty is adorable!

So true about the guac!!!

PS thanks! Yours is super cute as well.