This week on the podcast we discussed the important of label reading as a vegan. When you go vegan you realise there are so many different names for animal products and you discover that many of the processed foods that seem like they’d be vegan actually aren’t. We’re looking at you chips with milk powder!
So I have gathered up 25 sneaky names for animal products that you might find lurking in your favourite processed foods.
1. Whey Powder – comes from milk and you’ll find it all sorts of processed foods, sauces, chips and snack foods.
2. Isinglass – this is actually a fish product and it is commonly used in the filtration process for wine or beer.
3. Rennet – this comes from the stomachs of mammals, rennet is in some cheeses which is why you will see some cheese listed as vegetarian.
4. Ghee – Ghee is often found in Indian cuisine, it is clarified butter meaning the fats pulled from the butter.
5. Albumin – egg whites and you might find this in processed foods or as a part of the filtration process of some wines and beers.
6. Carmine (Cochineal) – from the beetle, this was famous red food colouring which used a lot less now, but it is actually ground beetles.
7. Gelatine – the ground up skin, bones and tendons of cows, pigs and other animals. Gelatine is found in jelly lollies, processed foods, marshmallows etc.
8. Glucose – sometimes plant-based sometimes from animal tissues and fluids, glucose is found in lots of processed foods and sweets.
9. Lactic acid – this comes from cows milk and is often found in cheese, processed foods, pickles and sauerkraut.
10. Lactose – another derivate of milk found in various processed foods.
11. Stearic acid – this comes from tallow (animal fat) it’s in vanilla flavouring, sometimes a conditioner in bread.
12. Lard – fat from pig’s stomachs is often found in baked goods and frosting.
13. Lecithin – this one is sometimes derived from plants sometimes from animal tissues, it’s often in margarine, cereals and candies.
14. Lutein – a deep yellow colouring found derived from egg yolks, found in processed foods.
15. Oleic acid – this one comes again from tallow (animal fats) and it’s synthetic butter, oils and processed foods.
16. Pepsin – an enzyme from pig’s stomachs often in cheese.
17. Suet – a hard white fat that surrounds the kidneys and lions of animals it’s used in baked goods.
18. Tallow – a solid fat from sheep and cows used in all kinds of processed foods.
19. Vitamin A – sometimes this one is from a plant-based source sometimes from egg yolks and fish.
24. Casein – comes from milk and is in all sorts of processed foods but also oddly found in condoms sometimes as a lubricant.
20. Vitamin B12 – often from animal products however synthetic B12 is safe for vegans and used to fortify lots of vegan foods.
21. Vitamin D3 – can be plant-based but it also sometimes comes from fish.
22. Castoreum – comes from the beaver’s castor sacs, a gland between the annimals pelvis and the base of it’s tale and bizarrely it is used in perfume.
23. American sugar – this one is on the list because it is often refined with bone char.
25. Guanine – also called pearl essence this comes from fish scales and is found in some nail polishes and lipsticks.
Have you found any unusual names for animal products? Let us know in the comments!
May Contain Traces of Soy 