6 Foods That May Contain Animal Products
Heya people!!!
Do you know that your favourite food products may have non-veg additives in them? :O If you are a vegetarian you need to watch out for certain foods that look vegetarian but are actually non veg. Most food companies have a green dot that signifies that they are vegetarian and that is a sign of relief for most vegetarians. But still there are companies that don’t label their foods.
In India, manufacturers do take care to add vegetarian ingredients in their products as they are sensitive to their target audience. India has a large population of vegetarians of which some don’t even eat eggs. While on one hand companies are being extra careful, on the other hand, companies like Nestle are selling Maggi products with a green dot and adding animal derived products into it. If such a renowned brand can do so you never know what is happening in other companies. Read about the animal derived additive in Maggi here! 🙁
Extra care should be taken when you are buying imported products as they may contain animal derived additives in them. Some products have the brown non-veg dot but it is mentioned on them that only eggs have been added. As consumers it is our right to know what is being added to food products.
Here is a list of foods that can possibly have animal derived additives in them:
1) Fruit juices
Enjoy fruit juices? Well they come in tetra packs and are easy to carry around. It can be called perfect convenience food even if they are not healthy. But do you know that some of your packaged fruit juices are fortified with nutrients such as omega 3 fatty acids and vitamin D? You may think what is wrong with that? After all they are good for health. Well, let me tell you that the omega 3 is derived from fish oil and vitamin D is obtained from lanolin which is a natural oil present in sheep wool!! Trouble for vegetarians! The next time you go to the supermarket do check what your brand of juice is fortified with.
2) Red candy
The red pigment in red candies is extracted from an insect, ewww!! ‘Cochineal insect’ to be precise. It is called carmine, carminic aid or cochineal in the ingredients list. Vegetarians watch out!! It is present in several other red coloured stuff like vinegar and wine too. Even if you eat non-veg you want to give this particular thing a miss!!
3) Cake mix
Cake mixes have lard or beef fat added in their ingredients just to make them taste better. If you happen to be a vegetarian it is advisable that you make your own cake instead of relying on the pre-packaged mix. Common, it just doesn’t take much time to make cake at home without the cake mix. You can check out some great and healthy cake recipes (they have egg) made from scratch here and here!
4) Parmesan cheese
A little bad news for the lovers of Parmesan cheese! Parmesan cheese contains an ingredient called rennet that is added during the curdling process. If you don’t know what rennet is, let me tell you it is made from the stomach lining of new born calves.
5) Barbeque flavoured products
Companies like Lays too add chicken fat in barbeque flavoured products. Just buy their variants that have a green dot. It shouldn’t be much of a problem with other flavours.
6) Hard candies
Hard candies have a coating called shellac. Shellac is a resin and it is secreted by the female lac bug. It is usually listed in the ingredients as the confectioner’s glaze. The same ingredient is found in hairspray, fertilizers and furniture polish. 😛
Just be aware of the ingredients in your food.
Xoxo
Tarun
Make the right choice and please read labels!
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