Which foods are often not vegan or vegetarian, even though you were actually sure that they are free from animal suffering? Here's a clear answer to this question!
I also experienced a few surprises when I decided to do this, Become a vegetarian or (in the meantime) live vegan. In fact, there are countless products that I would never have dreamed of having any animal ingredients in their conventional form.
In this article, I would like to introduce you to these foods and explain why they are not always vegetarian or vegan. Use this knowledge to skilfully avoid typical pitfalls. Let's go!
These 15 foods are often not vegan and not even vegetarian
So let's talk straight! In which products so parts of dead animals are hidingalthough we would not suspect it at first?
As promised, you will now get a whole range of examples. I'll also introduce you directly to the suitable alternative before.
1. parmesan cheese
Most people knew that Italian Parmesan cheese is not vegan because of its Cow's milk base certainly aware of this. But unfortunately, it is not even vegetarian in its original form.
Like many other varieties, Parmesan cheese is made with the help of animal rennet (mostly from the carcasses of calves) is produced, through which the milk coagulates.
Alternative: There are also many traditional supermarkets and also here online meanwhile vegan parmesan*. A vegetarian alternative is hard cheese, which is produced with microbial rennet (molds cause the milk to coagulate). It may not be sold as Parmesan, however, as the term is protected.
Notice: Pecorino, Grana Padano and Gorgonzola also contain rennet. Cream cheese (e.g. with Bresso) is not always vegetarian - because animal gelatine is sometimes used as a thickening agent.
2. beer
At the Beer clarification gelatine and other non-vegetable ingredients may be used. This is not often the case, but it is possible. As the label glue in many types of beer consists of animal ingredients, a 100 percent vegan Beer not always guaranteed.1
Alternative: Fortunately, German beer is generally at least vegetarian due to the Purity Law and, apart from some labels, also vegan. If you want absolute certainty, you have to ask the manufacturer. Nothing helps!
3. chips
Oh yes! Some providers flavor their chips for example with game, poultry or fish. Veal rennet is also used from time to time in the production of some potato chips. Of course, the potato chips are then neither vegetarian nor vegan. They are vegetarian if, for example, only whey powder or similar is found in the list of ingredients.
Alternative: There are many vegan chip varieties, such as. these corn chips from PLURAL* or some types of potato chips from the brands Funny Fresh and Lay's Light. As always, just look carefully at the ingredients.
4. pesto
Pesto also requires special care, as not all products are vegetarian. The Pesto Genovese from Barilla contains, for example, Grana Padano and Pecorino cheeses, which in their original form are combined with animal rennet can be produced.
Alternative: A look at the ingredients list usually shows which cheese is part of the product. The Barilla Pesto Basilico Vegan* and the Alnatura Organic Pesto Basilico for example, are delicious vegan alternatives. However, you can also easily make your own pesto from radish leaves or carrot greens.
5. cornflakes
Some cornflakes are so shiny. Then, unfortunately, it is not unlikely that they are contaminated with animal gelatine (skin, bones and connective tissue of animals) or with Honey so that the coated sugar layer holds better. So even the breakfast cereals are not always vegetarian and vegan.
Alternative: Fortunately, most cornflakes do not contain gelatine. The original Kellogg's Corn Flakes for example. You can play it safe by taking a close look at the list of ingredients on the packet.
6. miso soup
Unfortunately, Asian miso soup usually only tastes so spicy because it contains Dashi is located. Unfortunately, the fish stock turns the delicious Mido soup into a non-vegetarian or non-vegan meal.
Alternative: Not every Asian cuisine uses fish-based dashi. Sometimes dashi is also made from shiitake mushrooms. If you want to be absolutely sure, simply ask the restaurant owner or the respective provider. Alternatively, you can make your Vegan miso soup with this recipe but also easy to prepare yourself.
7. marshmallows
Today, marshmallows are usually made with gelling sugar. This usually contains pectin and is therefore even vegan. However, this plant-based polysaccharide is expensive. That is why it is often replaced by cheaper and unfortunately animal gelatine which means that, strictly speaking, the food is no longer even vegetarian.
Alternative: Take another close look at the ingredients. There are also vegan marshmallows* without gelling sugar, with which you are on the safe side. Otherwise, the only thing that helps is to ask the manufacturer in question.
8. gummy bears
Many people already know that gummy bears are not vegetarian. Maybe you've heard about it too and were a little surprised. Because as delicious as the Haribo Gold Bears are, you unfortunately contain animal gelatine. So they are not vegetarian and not vegan either.
Alternative: There are many gummy bears that are vegetarian. For example, the vegetarian bears from Original Bärengarten. Also Haribo now has alternative vegan fruit gums in its range, such as Pasta Frutta and Pixel.
9. orange juice
Both orange juice and other fruit juice drinks are often clarified in their products with gelatine. This consists of fish or pork bones, for example, and is therefore neither vegetarian nor vegan.
Alternative: A look at the vegan label but also asking the respective manufacturer can help here.
Notice: I am not omniscient and many things improve over time. If you notice any mistakes or have any suggestions for improvement, just write me a comment below the post. I'm completely open-minded 🙂
10. rolls, bread & pretzels
There are certainly some bakeries that make their baked goods, such as bread, rolls or pretzels, in the traditional way with Pork lard bake. As you know, this is processed pork fat and is not vegetarian and, of course, not vegan.
Alternative: Most baked goods are made without lard and are at least vegetarian. In the supermarket, animal ingredients have to be labeled anyway, but you should ask your trusted baker to be on the safe side.
11. wine
You heard right: Not every wine is vegetarian and vegan. For the clarification of wines, some winemakers use Egg white. Also Gelatineobtained from skimmed milk Casein and even the swim bladder of the Beluga sturgeon are used from time to time in the clarification process.2 The latter is also used in the production of some types of vinegar.
Alternative: There are now many vegan wines on the market that are simply clarified with activated charcoal or the mineral clay bentonite. For example the Organic Vine Chardonnay White wine from REWE or the Organic Rheinhessen/Pfalz Regent QbA Red wine from Aldi North. You can play it safe by asking the producers or wines specifically advertised as "vegan".
12. figs
It is said that there is at least one dead wasp in every fig. Because Fig wasps use the fruit to lay their eggs.
Sometimes the fruit is too tight, so that the wasp can Loses wings and can neither lay eggs nor escape from the fruit. Instead, it dies there and an enzyme in the fig then digests it.3
We don't taste the wasp, but that's why the delicious figs are usually strictly speaking (possibly) not vegetarian and also not vegan.
Alternative: I eat figs anyway. There is no exploitation of the fig wasp to produce the fig and it only dies in the fruit under certain circumstances. There is no absolute certainty here.
Good to know: Even organic bananas are not always vegetarian, as they are sometimes sprayed with a pesticide made from crab shells and shrimps.
13. yogurts
Low-calorie yogurt is usually nice and creamy! As delicious as it may be in the end, this may also be due to the added Gelatine. Unfortunately, not every yogurt is automatically vegetarian. Either way, it is on Milk base then logically not vegan either.
Alternative: Just look for the vegan seal on a yogurt - this yogurt from Alpro* based on soy, for example, is vegan. Some also explicitly state that they do not contain gelatine - which means that they are usually at least vegetarian.
14. jam
If, for example, a strawberry jam contains additional colorants, it could be that it is a non-vegetarian food. The jam often gets its intense red color from the animal dye carminewhich is obtained from female scale insects.4 Animal gelatine is also often found in jams.
Alternative: Sounds kind of disgusting? Then you should take another close look at the list of ingredients. If it says "pectin" and not "gelatine", you have a good chance as a vegetarian or vegan. A safe and vegetarian or vegan alternative is, for example, the Strawberry fruit spread by Alnatura.
15. M&M's
Even the delicious M&M's contain the only by drying and cooking female scale insects producible Carmine colorant. So they are not even vegetarian. I'm sure that very few people know that. And they're not vegan anyway because they contain animal milk as an integral part.
Alternative: These vegan Choc Drops* from Vantastic are also addictive 😉.
Keep your eyes open, not all foods are vegetarian and vegan!
Figs, cornflakes, potato chips and parmesan cheese are not supposed to be vegetarian and vegan? Phew, I would have but earlier strongly doubted! And I have to be honest: I didn't know all of these examples of surprisingly non-vegetarian foods before I started researching this post (FYI: it's a revised version from 2020).
The exchange with long-time vegans, the look at the Lists of ingredients, the Question of products and the Inquiries with the manufacturer always helps immensely.
"The world is not an inferior product, and animals are not a fabrication for our use."
Arthur Schopenhauer (more at Veganism Quotes)
Do you have any questions or suggestions about the article on non-vegetarian and vegan food? Or can you think of other examples? Then I look forward to your comment.
Stay animal-friendly,
PS: Have a look around the blog. Learn next, for example, Why I don't eat honey as a vegan or simply learn more about the Factory Farming.
References:
- Arne Ewerbeck: Is beer vegan (vegetarian)?, available at https://vegetarian-diaries.de/ist-bier-vegan-vegetarisc. [22.01.2025]. ↩︎
- PETA Germany e.V. (2023): What does vegetarian mean? Everything about vegetarian nutrition, available at https://www.peta.de/vegetarisch. [22.01.2025]. ↩︎
- Weekend Online GmbH (2015): Would you have guessed? Figs are not vegetarian, available at https://www.weekend.at/lifestyle/fitness/feigen-sind-nicht-vegetarisch/11.958.341. [22.01.2025]. ↩︎
- missMEDIA GmbH editorial team: These 9 foods are actually not vegetarian, available at https://www.miss.at/diese-9-lebensmittel-sind-in-wahrheit-nicht-vegetarisch. [22.01.2025]. ↩︎
