A Question for Vegetarians?

Question

I am vegetarian and have been for 2 years or so and the more research I do the more foods I find I cannot eat. I was wondering if all vegetarians do the following:

Eat only free range eggs
Only eat cheese that has non animal rennet
Eat yoghurt that does not contain gelatine
Use products that are not tested on animals and do not contain animal ingedients

Is there anything else I should be avoiding?

Answer 1

There is a lot of processed foods that are made with slaughter by-pruducts.

Unfortunately these are often hidden and its suprising what they put into seemingly vegetable-based foods.

You either have to go with the "suitable for vegetarians" label, know the source of the ingredients, or avoid the food.

We run a guest house so often write to manufacturuers to check, you'd be amazed what foods are not suitable ( including frozen vegetables sometimes !! ) and the manufacturers usually are very helpful.

check out bread, wine, beer, preserves / Jams, icecreams, fries / chips, chips / chrisps, candy / sweets...to be honest, the list is endless.

If you don't check them out, the diet becomes guesswork and you cannot really say you are a vegetarian. Sounds like you are asking the right questions though, you will find it gets really easy after a while

There is no such thing as hardcore / easy / level of vegetarian ( as above ). People are either vegetarian, or not.
best of luck with it

I cannot begin to understand some thought processes...Its OK to eat slaughter products when you eat out, but not at home....Is there some magical Rennet harvesting process that resturants use or something ? The cow is still dead, you are not a vegetarian if you eat animal rennet, no matter where you are.

Answer 2

The only eggs I eat are few and from free range chickens only. I do not eat cheese at all (unless it's vegan, but even that I don't care to eat) or consume any dairy unless it's milk or milk powder in a very small quantity as an ingredient in pastry or chocolate, for example. I don't eat anything that contains gelatin, unless it's vegetal gelatin made from agar-agar, for example. If the product doesn't specify what kind of gelatin it has then I'll just assume it's the disgusting kind and not buy it. I avoid products that are tested on animals and that contain animal ingredients as much as I can, which depends on my knowledge of what companies do and what companies don't test on animals, and I'm not always sure, unfortunately. Gummy bears and stuff like that also have gelatin, so they're outta the question, as well as some chewing gums and other kinds of candy that also use gelatine (you just have to pay attention to the lists of ingredients).

And I'm not starving. I get by just great and I'm pretty healthy.

Answer 3

That's basically what I do. I'm a lacto-ovo vegetarian. Been one for exactly 364 days haha. Anyway, I'm not too careful about the no animal testing one. If I'm trying to decide between 2 different products to buy and one says cruelty-free and no animal testing, of course I'd buy the cruelty-free/no testing one. I think anyone would. For example, just today I picked up this new mascara at the store and saw it said that exact thing. So from now on, I'm gonna make sure that my makeup is crueltyfree/no testing since I know that it's out there. Another thing I try to look out for, but it's hard to avoid, is carmine in red makup. Carmine gives the reddish coloring to a lot of make up and even some food. It's really crushed Peruvian beetles. Yuck. Even if I wasn't veg, I'd try to stay away from that. Hope this helps!!!

Answer 4

I'm not even vegetarian and I do some of these things. I buy only free range eggs. I also stick with organic milk and meat. I like meat but I don't like the idea of all those growth hormones and antibiotics that they feed the animals.

I am quite careful about not using products that are tested on animals. I'm surprised that some vegetarians don't care much about this. What's the thought process there? It's ok to torture animals but just don't kill and eat them? Seems a little weird to me.

Answer 5

Your diet sounds a lot like mine except I try to avoid *any* eggs. We're close to Trader Joe so it's not hard to find several types of gelatine-free yogurt-- I usually get unflavored, fatfree Greek style & either mix it with fruit or use it like sour cream.
It's surprising that gelatine is used in so many things & it really doesn't seem necessary. I've become an automatic label-reader b/c we got tired of bringing things home & discovering that we couldn't use them.
Also, you might want to avoid carmine, a food coloring which is made with beetles. It has another name but I can't recall it @ the moment, it's something like cochaneal.
It's getting easier all the time to find cosmetics & household cleaners that are cruelty-free. My biggest challenge right now is finding a hair coloring without ordering it online or having to travel a bit-- they don't sell Herbatint or other natural dyes anywhere near us.
It hasn't been difficult to find shoes without leather although I usually have to go online to find a good belt or wallet.

Answer 6

I'm not vegan so I'm a "little" ok with by-products. I still can't eat eggs as much as I used to. I don't usually eat cheese unless it's between grilled pieces of bread, and even if i wasn't a veggie I'd never use products tested on animals.

Answer 7

Know the sources of ingredients...one I overlooked when I first became veggie was amylase...not sure how I missed it but I did....anyhow....get a product source list and investigate.

Oh, something else you might want to avoid is urea. It can appear in pretzels - to make them brown! Yuck! Also, if you are avoiding animal products in non-foods urea is in nearly every grocery/drug store product...lotions, shampoos, etc.

But, if you are still eating cheese, eggs, and milk products urea might not be of concern to you...

From what I have read, urea was first discovered in urine...and today it can still be derived from urine - or processed from ammonia. Either way, I have yet to see one product which contains urea labeled as "vegan" or listed urea as non animal derived.....Just a thought...

Answer 8

Just a warning: free range does not mean cruelty-free. By the standards used to determine free range, it just means they have some access to the outdoors. That doesn't mean that the animals are still no crowded in to too small cages or killed when they are deemed spent.

Only thing I can add is that gelatin is very elusive. It's in many candies as well.

Answer 9

You need to find your own comfort zone.

I have non-rennet cheese at home, but don't worry about it when I'm out. I'll eat any eggs or milk. I would never buy a fur coat or leather jacket, but shoes are too hard to avoid. I don't go crazy over animal testing. Gelatin - boy that's in a LOT of stuff. I do not eat jello, yogurt with gelatin, and it's in tons of candies - skittles, most candy corn, gummy things. I get very excited when I find candy corn without it.

Answer 10

well i have been a vegetarian since i was born. i have no clue wat meat tastes like and also i have never eaten fish. and i eat eggs as u know they only have 23 chromosomes, sometimes we dont realize and eat cheese that might contain animal rennet, and sometimes gelatine, and if ur talking about products i bet a lot of vegetarians wear leather and many such things! xD