Foods That Might Not Be Vegan
Unfortunately, animal products can sneak into foods you assumed were naturally vegan. Your best line of defense when buying any product is to read the ingredient list, but here are some common offenders.
Sugar
Believe it or not, not all sugar is vegan. Most white sugar is filtered through animal bone char to bleach it. Some companies turn to granular carbon to do this job, but it’s impossible to be sure, so conventional sugar is out for strict vegans. The same goes for brown sugar since it’s made by adding molasses to white sugar. (If you’re not a strict vegan, feel free to use conventional sugars when cooking.)
Where Sugar Hides: Ketchup (the test kitchen’s favorite ketchup, Heinz Organic Tomato Ketchup is vegan), sandwich bread, bread crumbs, shredded coconut, chocolate, jams, jellies, and preserves.
Choose Instead: Organic granulated, brown, and confectioners’ sugar are never processed with bone char. If you’re strict vegan, look for organic products and condiments.
Pasta
We’ve found pastas of all varieties, from spaghetti to lasagna noodles, with eggs in the ingredient lists. But don’t worry—there are alternatives.
Choose Instead: Most of our favorite pastas are vegan, including spaghetti (De Cecco Spaghetti No. 12), elbow noodles (Barilla Elbows), whole-wheat spaghetti (Bionaturae Organic 100% Whole Wheat Spaghetti), and fettuccine (Garofalo Fettucce). For no-boil lasagna noodles, we used Prince Oven Ready Lasagna. So while a lot of pasta isn’t vegan, a lot of the best pasta is.
Wine
Wine fining agents include casein, albumin, gelatin, and isinglass (fish bladder), and traces of these items can end up in the wine. But many producers are now using bentonite clay or activated charcoal, which are vegan. Check labels for a vegan demarcation or ask a store clerk.
Other Nonvegan Ingredients
Albumin, casein, gelatin, lactose, and whey are all nonvegan, since they are all animal products.
Albumin is an animal protein (most notably found in eggs) that is used as a binder.
Casein is a protein found in milk that gives some nondairy cheeses meltability.
Gelatin is used as a thickener, especially in desserts, and is made from animal bones and skin. (Agar-agar is a vegan alternative.)
Lactose is a milk sugar found in many confections.
Whey, a byproduct of cheese making, is found in snack foods and even breads.
Be careful too with anything that contains colorings—many red dyes are made from crushed insects.
