Tofutti in the UK

[RedWellies]

I hope that's true! I have emailed Tofutti here but did not receive a reply. Maybe I should call them. Has Mary spoken to them?

[Marrers]

It was quite a while back I emailed her about it, when everyone was saying Tofutti wasn't vegan. It does say on the packaging that it is produced in the Uk doesn't it? In which case as far as I know they would struggle to find non-vegan sugar (whereas in the States the opposite is true!)

[RedWellies]

It does say on the packaging that it is produced in the Uk doesn't it?

I think it does, yes. I wondered if they imported the ingredients though..I know, sounds stupid but you never know.

[Marrers]

I highly doubt it, would be economic madness! I'm imagining it is some sort of franchise, that they allow other countries to make it using their name and recipe.

[Mr Flibble]

The thread I linked to earlier has a letter from them which states:

This would be true of all our products sold anywhere that do not list organic sugar as an ingredient, in which case they would be certain not to have passed through animal bone char.

[Marrers]

But to me that is like saying 'may contain nuts' - they are just covering themselves (cos bone char sugar is the norm for them).

Do you know of any sugar available in the UK which is not vegan?

[aubergine]

Silver Spoon, although they are nowhere near as prolific as Tate & Lyle which is Vegan.

[Mr Flibble]

Silver Spoon claim these days that all their products are ok, except the stuff that contains eggs

[aubergine]

Good stuff.

[Bic]

It was quite a while back I emailed her about it, when everyone was saying Tofutti wasn't vegan. It does say on the packaging that it is produced in the Uk doesn't it? In which case as far as I know they would struggle to find non-vegan sugar (whereas in the States the opposite is true!)

If I recall correctly, only 25% of US sugar is filtered through bone char. US Tofutti has a 75% chance of hitting on a supplier that doesn't process through animal bits.
Can't find where the percent I remember came from, but this is from Wikipedia:

After any remaining solids are filtered out, the clarified syrup is decolorized by filtration through a bed of activated carbon; bone char was traditionally used in this role, but its use is no longer common.

In the article on cane sugar, under refining.

[Soul Rebel]

I like Soy Delicious but I don't think they make it in the UK.

Rice Dream is nasty, tastes like a bunch of chemicals.

That is the brand my wife and I buy, Soy Delicious, and it is wonderful.

[fluerpot]

Ooo, I love tofutti ice cream cones, the ones' that look like cornettoes. So yummy!! I also love swedish glaze.

I love Rice Dream milk, the change to it from dairy milk was sooooo easy.

[Cumin]

After several email exchanges with the UK distributor of Tofutti,
I am happy to say that they've convinced me it is vegan.
Unfortunately, this only clarifies the issue for europe, not the US.
Here are the key points:

"This is to confirm that we do not use Bone Char for filtereing our
sugar in any of the cheeses that we offer."

I then asked him to confirm if this was just the soft cheeses.
"Yes I can confirm that even though they are produced in the US all
our products including the Frozen Desserts, are specially produced
for us according to European standards and none of them contain
sugar that is filtered through Bone Char. So all our products are
absolutely Vegan and you can use them without any hesitation."


ME: You said "So all our products are absolutely Vegan". As not all
your products are even labelled vegan (for obvious reasons), please
confirm that you actually meant "all of your products which are
labelled vegan are absolutely vegan. "
"All products that we distribute in Europe are marked as suitable for vegans "

ME: Please clarify the situation with regard to the conflicting
statement from Tofutti US that I sent you earlier. Unless you can
explain how they gave a different answer back in July then I'm afraid
we are no further forward as one of you has to be wrong.
"As far as the statement by Tofutti USA is concerned the contradiction arises only because they may have been talking about products on sale in the USA. I can assure you that all products distributed in Europe are produced according to European standards and are therefore all of them are suitable for Vegans. "

ME: You said " none of them contain sugar that is filtered through
Bone Char". Please confirm that this is not done by any other party
before the sugar is supplied to you. That you either buy raw
unrefined sugar, or that you buy sugar which you can guarantee was
not bone-char filtered.
"The sugar used in our products is organic raw cane sugar which has obviously not been refined using bone char."

[Kiran]

Thanks for the update Cumin. We should recommend them to change the info on their FAQ page regarding possibility of using bone-char refined sugar.

[Cumin]

Hi Kiran, I thought you might pick up this post quickly.

Good idea about the FAQ. I will recommend your tip to them.

[Cherry]

Thank you Cumin

[RedWellies]

Don't get fat now, Kiran!!!!

[RachelJune]

It's a shame they have only just decided to clarify this After choosing to avoid it while the vegan status was still debatable, I've now discovered an alternative brand, Scheese, which is not only less expensive but also free of hydrogenated fats so healthier too!

[alisont]

That Scheese is wonderful - apart from the cheddar style one too strong, the garlic one and chives ones are great!

Only know of one stockists 20 miles from me so have to keep stocking up when i go there!

[mjj48]

I wish I could find a supplier of the scheese blue version, found it online but the company wanted something like £9 in postage - ouch.

My favourite vegan ice cream is the mango and passion fruit one... mmmmmm.

[nikrorke]

Toffuti used to be amazing especially the better pecan, creamy and lovely and nicer than Swedish Glace then it changed and became icy horribleness. Make sure you also don't try the ricotta that is like frozen and defrosted tofu that's been blended with something sweet

[LouiseAbel]

Please get an ice cream maker! I have a litre one and it was only around £20. It's SO easy to make and works with all kinds of milks. I made cookie dough and peanut butter oat milk ice cream the other week and it was AMAZING. As good as Ben and Jerry's from what I can remember.

[road2cairo]

Can't really comment about Tofutti in the UK, but I can comment on it in the US- I really like it....especially the Tofutti Cuties (ice cream sandwiches)-they are my favorite I have never seen the ice cream cones here, though I would guess the cone would get soggy after so long.

I will say that there are probably some refrigeration issues-not just with Tofutti, but most soymilk-based ice creams - if you let them melt and try to refreeze them, they do tend to crystallize up a bit.

[Blueberries]

I don't really buy much from Toffuti, their cheeses are okay but other brands are better (such as Cheezly and Vegusto). I've never had a tub of Toffuti ice-cream, I've only ever seen the fruit ones and they were expensive. I did get Tofutti cuties once (they're hard to get in Ireland and was delighted when we got them in where I was working at the time) and they were very nice. I think I had the Rock 'n' Roll cones years ago and I remember them being fine. I always get Swedish Glace, it's pretty amazing, I've yet to meet a non-vegan who has tried it and not liked it!