College Voices
5 Foods that Should be Vegan, but Aren’t
In American culture, we have seen a rise in the amount of people who are vegan. While the reasons behind this very from being an animal rights activist, to being environmentally conscious, to doing it for health reasons, how you go about it is usually all the same.
This includes avoid eating meat and animal by-products.The second half is harder than you would expect. There are a lot of ingredients that sneak their way into everyday foods that should be vegan.
Here are five things that should be vegan, but have a few ingredients you should be looking for:
1) Bread
For every carb loving vegan out there, this is tragic. However, it should come as no surprise that a lot of bread recipes contain milk, eggs, and butter. Luckily, there’s a long list of super market breads that are vegan friendly to include Ezekiel, Glutino, Nature’s Own, and Trader Joe’s brand bread.
2) Chocolate:
While the plant chocolate comes from, Cacao, is vegan, chocolate is not. Even dark chocolate has a bit of milk in it. As well, it’s possible some brands slip milk by-products whey and casein in there. While places like Whole Foods sell their own vegan chocolate, expect it to be a little pricier than your average Hershey bar.
3) Beer and Wine:
This one is just tragic, but true. Some beer and wine companies use an ingredient called isinglass, a gelatin-based fish by-product. Isinglass is used as a clarifying agent. Casein and egg whites also sometimes find their way into beer and wine. Since none of these ingredients would be listed, make sure to ask a salesperson or distributor if their product is vegan.
4) Candy:
Marshmallows and gummies are a no go for all vegans. Gelatin is a very common ingredient in candy and just so happens to be derived from animal collagen. Luckily, this is easier to find than the animal by-products in beer and wine.
5) Veggie Burgers:
This one definitely sounds as ridiculous as it should. Some veggie burgers contain eggs and dairy. This seems very counterproductive given a veggie burgers purpose. There are still plenty of supermarket brands that are 100% vegan though.
As you can see, going vegan can be harder than expected. So if you’re going for a lifestyle change, or even just a more environmentally sustainable diet, make sure to check the ingredients on the food you buy first.