"I can't believe that it's ACTUALLY vegan!"

[veggiegirl3]

I found PETA's shopping guide a few months ago, and it's very helpful when I need to buy something at the SMALL supermarket in my tiny town or don't feel like reading tons of labels. However, I noticed that some of the items were not vegan! So, I thought I'd start this link. Anyone who knows of any common foods that are available in most stores, please add them to the list!
http://www.peta.org/accidentallyVegan/

[veggiegirl3]

Here is the cereal list. I put questionable ingredients nex to each item. I also don't know what alkali is, so I put that next to cereals with cocoa that was processed with it.

• Cinnamon Life: Natural flavorings, riboflavin
• Cocoa Puffs: Natural flavors, riboflavin
• Chex Mix Frosted Cereal, riboflavin
• Fiber One Bran Cereal (General Mills): Riboflavin
• Kashi Organic Promise Autumn Wheat: Natural flavoring
• Life Cereal: Riboflavin
• Post Shredded Wheat
• Malt-O-Meal original flavor: riboflavin
• Malt-O-Meal Chocolate: Natural and Artificial ingredients, riboflavin
• Malt-O-Meal Maple and Brown Sugar: Natural and artificial flavors, riboflavin
• Malt-O-Meal Maple and Brown Sugar instant cereal: flavorings, riboflavin
• Malt-O-Meal Apple and Cinnamon instant cereal: natural flavors, riboflavin
• Nature Valley cinnamon crunchy granola bars
• Nature Valley brown sugar crunchy granola bars
• Poptarts: Unfrosted strawberry, unfrosted blueberry, unfrosted brown sugar, unfrosted cinnamon brown sugar
• Quaker regular flavor instant packets: Riboflavin
• Quaker Cinnamon and Spice: Riboflavin
• Quaker Instant Raisins and Spice: Riboflavin
• Quaker Instant Raisin, Date, and Walnut: Riboflavin

[veggiegirl3]

Beverages:

• Alpine Instant Spice Cider: flavorings, caramel color
• Ghirardelli Hot chocolate (Double Chocolate and chocolate mocha)
• Ghirardelli White Mocha Hot Chocolate: Flavorings
• Ghirardelli Chocolate Hazelnut Hot Chocolate: Natural and artificial hazelnut flavors
• Ghirardelli Unsweetened baking chocolate
• Kool Aid Jammers: Flavorings
• Kool Aid (I think they are all vegan, but there are so many. I found the ingredients for unsweetened Orange): Flavorings
• Nestle Nesquik Strawberry syrup: Flavorings
• Nestle Nesquik chocolate power: flavorings
• Nestle Nesquik very vanilla syrup and chocolate syrup: Can’t find ingredients online

[Seaside]

Alkalis are minerals, veggiegirl3. They are either lime (calcium carbonate) which is also used in processing corn for tortilla chips, etc., or potassium carbonate, as used in processing "dutch" cocoa. Plain old lye (sodium hydroxide) is used in processing olives.

Keep an eye on the Ghiradelli chocolate. They used to have three varieties that were vegan, but a few weeks ago I was checking their labels and they started putting milk fat in all the chocolate products I could find on the shelf that day.

[DancingWillow]

veggiegirl, yes, I noticed something similar with the Compassionate Consumer guide from PETA. Some products/companies they listed as vegan, had beeswax or some other non-vegan ingredient. I emailed them and they thanked me and updated the guide... perhaps you can do that with this PETA guide? Another possibility is that somebody from PETA has already contacted the companies that produce these products and has found out that the natural/artificial flavors they use are indeed vegan in those products.

Seaside, the Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips are vegan (the double chocolate/60% cocoa, which were my favorite, are NOT vegan)... I think some of their chocolate bars are still vegan as well.

[Mr Flibble]

this was discussed about 6 months ago on the forum, thou I can't find the thread. Several people wrote to them and were fobbed off with the usual 'well it's as good as........you don't want to make it too hard for people' crap

[DancingWillow]

you're referring to PETA, not the Compassionate Consumer, right? Because the woman from CC with whom I communicated was vere polite and thankful...

[chickendude]

Maybe if we suggest to them that they indicate which products are 100% vegan? Their "disclaimer" states that the items are only 99% vegan, which could explain some of the discrepancies.

[veggiegirl3]

Good idea!

[Stu]

*sigh*

How can something be "99% vegan?" That is total nonsense. Something is either vegan or it isn't.

And how do they come by this definition, anyway? Is it measured by the mass of the product? It all sounds a bit fishy to me, and probably isn't compiled by vegans.

[UrbanVegan]

http://www.peta.org/accidentallyVegan/

Now that's a very helpful link.

[UrbanVegan]

*sigh*

How can something be "99% vegan?" That is total nonsense. Something is either vegan or it isn't.

I was thinking the SAME thing. 99% vegan is vegetarian.

[Seaside]

Seaside, the Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips are vegan (the double chocolate/60% cocoa, which were my favorite, are NOT vegan)... I think some of their chocolate bars are still vegan as well.

Hi DancingWillow,
I checked the Ghiradelli chocolate bars today at the store. The only one that didn't have milk fat was the unsweetened baking bar. They were out of chips. I only mention it because they are made only a few miles away from where I live, and if they have changed their formula, it might take longer for you to see the changes, considering turnover, etc. But keep an eye out, because they definitely have milk fat in them here in SF.

[DancingWillow]

Thanks for the heads up, Seaside I only buy the chips, and I hope they won't change their formula, but I'll keep checking the ingredients before I buy each time...

Why do they have to take something that's vegan and make it non-vegan??? How is a small amount of milk fat going to improve the quality of chocolate? Grr. Btw, can lactose-intolerant people digest milk fat? If not, I might write to Ghirardelli and point out that if they change the formula, they'll be cutting out all their vegan and lactose-intolerant customers.

[seanymph]

whats in nesquick powder then?

[Seaside]

Thanks for the heads up, Seaside I only buy the chips, and I hope they won't change their formula, but I'll keep checking the ingredients before I buy each time...

Why do they have to take something that's vegan and make it non-vegan??? How is a small amount of milk fat going to improve the quality of chocolate? Grr. Btw, can lactose-intolerant people digest milk fat? If not, I might write to Ghirardelli and point out that if they change the formula, they'll be cutting out all their vegan and lactose-intolerant customers.

I don't know, and I am disappointed, since Ghiradelli is local and a tradition in my family.
Lactose intolerant people have trouble with milk sugar rather than fat. I have heard of intolerances to milk protein and milk sugar, but not milk fat. Still its worth complaining about! Why don't they just put in more cocoa butter?

[treehugga]

I wouldn't buy anything from Nestle whether it's promoted as vegan or not. Their ethics are deplorable check it out on the companies you boycott thread.

[veggiegirl3]

Will do. Haven't even seen that thread! Thanks!

[Haniska]

As far as the cereals listed above. Do they use animal derived vitamins?

[veggiegirl3]

They don't have vit. d, which is the only one I know of that can come from animals.

[Haniska]

Cool. In "How it all vegan" they say that riboflavin is iffy.

[fightback]

i noticed alot of the cereals are of that brand, i think its general mills, who fortify their cereal with an animal derived 'vitamin'. anyone know which it is.. from wool i think. gotta watch out for that

[fightback]

oh someone above me just posted it.. witamin D. i just checked a few boxes, they do have vitamin D.

[veggiegirl3]

The ones that I listed above don't have vitamin D. I don't know about riboflavin though, I have to check.

[veggiegirl3]

I added the ingredient riboflavin to the list.

[vegan1969]

I bought Wysong 'vegan' dry dog/cat food and found out the source for vitamin D in the food is derived from sheep's wool. I was really mad and wrote them a letter.

[moochbabe]

if it's vitamin D2 it's fine, it's D3 you need to watch out for.

[snail]

even if these foods are vegan it doesnt mean they are healthy. vegan doesnt mean healthy. whole, natural and organic foods = healthy. you could be vegan and still have a worse diet than a meat eater if your only aim is to eat foods with no animal products.

who cares if nestle crap is vegan or if burger king crap is vegan. you should feel bad that you are giving money to some shitty corporation and putting bad food into yr body

[Haniska]

I agree that vegan does not equal healthy. I've got some angry replies concerning that but I stand by it.
However, its nice to grab some crap while you are in town. Its nice to show your friends that being vegan is fun and easy. Also nice to eat some crappy bad food sometimes. If you eat whole natural foods in general those foods start to lose their apeal (slushies taste like chemicals, white bread is just styromfoam mush etc)
I don't care who gets my money in general, if I am not buying meat/animal products/ products tested on animals then it does not concern me.

[foxytina_69]

if it werent for all the convenience foods that are vegan, it wouldnt have opened up many peoples eyes that are vegan now, or are on the road to becoming vegan because of it, in my life. i love telling people what regular grocery items are vegan because they realize that being vegan isnt bad!

[foxytina_69]

I don't care who gets my money in general, if I am not buying meat/animal products/ products tested on animals then it does not concern me.

i agree. i like burger king veggie burgers. i give my money to them because i think its great that they offer a vegan option.

[Syren]

... don't Burger King veggie patties contain eggs? Therefore, it's not a vegan option.

And anyways, blegh. Burger King.

[Haniska]

Nature Valley has some new granola bars out that are vegan. That is, if you eat sugar.
They are:

Almond crunch and Peanut butter

Do you eat sugar?

[Jane M]

I will eat beet sugar...not cane. Beet sugar hasn't been processed using bone char. I can't say I eat a lot of it though. It's just a now and then thing...special occasions and the like.

[Tigerlily]

I eat sugar. I am not an ingredient Nazi. That probably makes me a "bad vegan" but whatever.

[Roxy]

who cares if nestle crap is vegan or if burger king crap is vegan. you should feel bad that you are giving money to some shitty corporation and putting bad food into yr body

Actually a lot of people care and I don't believe anyone "should" feel bad because you tell them that what they are doing in your opinon is wrong.

A lot of times, new vegans can find the whole new world of veganism a little overwhelming and it's easy for them to still rely on vegan conveniece foods such as slurpees, burger king veggie burgers, chips, fries and whatever else.

As they begin to learn and understand more about the vegan diet and lifestyle, they sometimes begin to make changes to their own habbits weather it be out of conscience for their own health, or morals concerning large corporations, or other reasons perhaps.

Most people don't like others standing on a pedestal though and telling them how they "should" feel about things. Personal choice is a good thing and not everyone has their epiphanies or grand awakenings at the same time.

[Mystic]

Well said Rox

[Roxy]

Thanks, stickydate.

[Conrad]

nestle's chocolate bites, but they did just purchase the green and black's co. so there is still hope for those who want to support a multinational and fair trade at the same time
I'm holding out for organic skittles

[psychocandy]

Wasn't it Cadbury's who bought Green and Blacks?

[foxytina_69]

... don't Burger King veggie patties contain eggs? Therefore, it's not a vegan option.

And anyways, blegh. Burger King.

syren, canadain ones are vegan.

http://veganforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9226

[~Lenore]

syren, canadain ones are vegan.

http://veganforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9226

Ours aren't, boo.

[veggiegirl3]

nestle's chocolate bites, but they did just purchase the green and black's co. so there is still hope for those who want to support a multinational and fair trade at the same time
I'm holding out for organic skittles

Well that makes me VERY happy! Cheap vegan chocolate for when I'm broke!

[my3labs]

Riboflavin is not vegan? Crap. My daughter and I thought it was.

[Tigerlily]

Source for that? Ribflavin is vitamin B2.

[my3labs]

Source for that? Ribflavin is vitamin B2.

Well, that's what I thought. Earlier in the thread there was talk that it might not be vegan.

[Tigerlily]

Well, if that particular one comes from an animal, it's not vegan. But B2 also comes from vegan sources.

[paulvegan]

you can get b2 from these
Dark green leafy vegetables, wheat germ, brewer's yeast, enriched and whole-grain breads and cereals, legumes, nuts, fruit. hope its some help