Making the switch to being a vegan – someone who does not consume or use any products that contain animal products – is undoubtedly a huge lifestyle change, and an admirable one at that. Walking by those big tubs of ice cream, leaving the gooey cheese off your sandwich and skipping the omelet bar line can be difficult, and making the change takes some extreme dedication.
Even all these measures may not be enough. Animal products are lurking in the most obscure places, sneaking their way into your foods, your beauty products, and your clothing, even when you thought you had escaped them completely.
Ever heard of Amino L-cysteine? Me neither, but it’s creeping into your baked goods. It’s a product derived from animal hair and feathers, and it can be found in the ingredient lists of bread and crackers. Breads enriched with whey protein or omega-3 fatty acids also don’t fall into the vegan-friendly category since whey is a milk product and omega-3’s can contain fish oil. Scan your bread labels carefully for these ingredients, but chances are a bread with a laundry list of chemicals shouldn’t be entering your stomach anyway.
One of the most ambiguous categories of food where you would never expect to find animal products (with the exception of milk chocolate) is candy. Marshmallows and Jell-O both contain gelatin, a product made from animal bones. Any food or candy containing lard (pie crusts, many fried frozen foods, cookies, candy and everything else dangerously delicious) are a no-no; lard is pig fat and that’s definitely not vegan.
Even some food coloring can slip onto the prohibited list. Red food coloring is generally made from cochineal. If being vegan doesn’t deter you from eating this, learning what cochineal actually is will. Ready? It’s a parasite native to South America and Mexico. Yes, it is made from insects and that should be a food group strictly confined to “Fear Factor.”
Hidden animal products don’t just creep into what you eat – they can be around your house, too. First, any product that doesn’t have a label that says something along the lines of, “This product was not tested on animals,” most likely was. Many soap products are made with sodium tallowate, which is just a fancy name for animal fat.
If you’re ever not sure of an ingredient in a product or a food, it never hurts to do a quick Google search before you buy anything. Do your homework if you commit yourself to the lifestyle of eliminating animal products from your life. Being a vegan isn’t about depriving yourself of everything you once loved, but rather exploring new options and choices that suit you and your new lifestyle too.