New at vegan so bit confused
Posted by serpentbite on Jun 19, 2007 · Member since Jun 2007 · 11 posts
Are all bread vegan? I found out yesterday that people buy vegan bread or make it them self's. I didn't know that bread cannot be vegan.
Also is diet red bull vegan? I read that cane sugar is not vegan so i'm confused if sweeteners in fizzy drinks are vegan.
So that means anything with sugar in it i have to avoid?
Bread isn't vegan. Some have milk in it, eggs, egg whites as a wash on top.
The sugar I'm still confused myself all I buy is raw sugar though.
Oh right, i'll just have to buy vegan bread. :o
I think startaurus means bread isn't vegan by default.... it COULD be vegan though.
A cooked or pre-packaged food may, or may not be vegan. That is why vegans read the ingredients to see if the item contains ALL vegan ingredients. IF bread has egg in it, then it is not vegan. If it has milk in it, it is not vegan. etc. That is why one checks ingredients.
Sugar cane itself IS vegan, however, the way most sugar, from sugar cane is processed is NOT vegan. It is processed thorugh animal bone char to whiten it. You can only be sure of it's processing methods by calling the company and asking though. ....The ingredient "sugar" on a label may be vegan sugar or it may be bone char processed sugar. Sometimes you have to guess by guessing about the type of company that makes the product...
.........
If you are asking if Sugar Free Red Bull is vegan you'd need to check the ingredients:
Sugar Free Red Bull Ingredients:
Carbonated water, sodium citrate, taurine, glucuronolactone,caffeine, acesulfame k, aspartame, inositol, xanthan gum, niacinamide, calcium pantothenate, pyridoxine HCL, vitamin B12, natural and artificial flavors, colors
Questionable ingredients are taurine, calcium pantothenate (vitamin B5) and the Vitamin B12, these could come from animals... but you would have to call and find out their source.
Having said that Red Bull is horribly unhealthy. ;)
Just on Saturday a friend and I were talking about taurine in Red Bull. One commercial source of taurine is from cow intestine, but it can also be made synthetically. We went to the Red Bull website and found a statement that no ingredients are animal or animal-derived (and certified as kosher and halal). Information is power, but I feel bad helping clear Red Bull because I agree with jenniferhughes about Red Bull not being good for you.
I don't eat bread regularly, so I'm not entirely up to date, but I've never seen animal in sourdough bread, I've seen it sometimes in French bread, and it's not in the ezekiel, et. al. breads from Food for Life. Most of the time you'll find that bread in the freezer section of a HFS because there are no preservatives in it. I've seen it at Trader Joes on the bread shelf a couple of times. Reading the labels takes a while the first couple of times, but then you get to know which breads are okay. Occasionally read the labels because sometimes recipes change.
I'm going to have to agree with Jennifer and Humboldt_Honey about Red Bull (and all diet drinks). I like the way it's described in the book Skinny Bitch :
"Soda is liquid Satan. It is the devil. It is garbage. There is nothing in soda that should be put into your body...Aspartame (an ingredient commonly found in diet sodas and other sugar-free foods) has been blamed for a slew of scary maladies, like arthritis, birth defects, fibromyalgia, Alzheimer's, lupus, multiple sclerosis, and diabetes. When methyl alcohol, a component of aspartame, enters your body, it turns into formaldehyde. Formaldehyde is toxic and carcinogenic (cancer-causing)."
Scary stuff! :o
Also, some of the "artificial and natural flavors" could be animal derived.
At my stores, I have a better chance of finding vegan bread in the bakery section. Or there are the "health brands" but sometimes I just want some kind of white bread. I'm bad, I know.
Definitely give up the Red Bull. ICK!
I may get shot by some "angry vegans" for this statement, however, I was informed by someone who I respect and trust as far as the information they provide me with that because of contamination and such white sugar CAN NOT be processed with bones that come from animals which have been killed for the sole purpose of their bones or taken from animals who were slaughtered for some other purpose. Instead, they have to use bones which they dug up from years and years and years ago (like hundreds or even thousands) because they're more mineral than bone at that point.
and even if you don't buy into that, I've heard that the filtration process is the same used in bottled water. So I think the sugar thing is something you should call yourself. I buy Domino sugar because people have claimed it's vegan and it's cheap and good. But as far as products with sugar in them such as your Red Bull, go for it :) (as long as the other ingredients are vegan of course :))
I may get shot by some "angry vegans" for this statement, however, I was informed by someone who I respect and trust as far as the information they provide me with that because of contamination and such white sugar CAN NOT be processed with bones that come from animals which have been killed for the sole purpose of their bones or taken from animals who were slaughtered for some other purpose. Instead, they have to use bones which they dug up from years and years and years ago (like hundreds or even thousands) because they're more mineral than bone at that point.
and even if you don't buy into that, I've heard that the filtration process is the same used in bottled water. So I think the sugar thing is something you should call yourself. I buy Domino sugar because people have claimed it's vegan and it's cheap and good. But as far as products with sugar in them such as your Red Bull, go for it :) (as long as the other ingredients are vegan of course :))
ACK!!!! :o
I am far from an angry vegan (as we all know)
but that is soooo not true.
Domino uses bone char. http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=16218.0
And yes the bones are "byproducts" from slaughter houses. The are heated (as you can read in the letter from Domino) to remove organic matter (i.e. don't worry you won't get mad cow from sugar) but YES the bones come from animals who were killed.
And not bottled water ISN'T filtered the same way, unless you use charcoal to filter your water at home and then, YES it's going thorugh bone char and NO, IMO, then the water isn't vegan.
About the bottled water thing--
"Home Charcoal Filtration: These systems are easy to install, relatively inexpensive, and cover the basic functions of filtration. Water filter charcoal medium carbon is derived from coconut husk . This absorbs impurities as the water passes through. This form of filter comprises possibly 95% of those in use domestically. They are simple to install, relatively economical, and depending on micron level, will filter out the most deadly of contaminants, Cryptosporidium and Guardia.
An average charcoal filter will last a family 6-9 months. Some charcoal filters are enhanced by the use of activated nano-silver, which provides extra antibacterial protection, killing around 650 known types of organisms. Minerals in solution can still permeate a charcoal filter. These minerals are essential to health.
In situations where sediment is a problem it is worthwhile to add a second separate in-line sediment prefilter. Otherwise the more expensive charcoal filter will become clogged up long before its normal lifespan.
Charcoal water filters come in various forms
a. Carbon Block is a solidified form of honeycombed carbon. It is the best form of filter but flow rate is significantly slower than with loose charcoal.
b. Activated Silver Impregnated Charcoal. Sometimes called Chlorgon, this adds chloramine exclusion and bacteria killing ability to the basic carbon.
c. Micron Rating."
I don't know if this will help but I'm pretty sure Mrs. Baird's Whole Wheat, Sugar Free Bread is vegan. Meaning to my unexperienced eye there were no overtly non-vegan ingredients listed on the label. Frankly my life is too stressful to obsess over small traces of vitamins, if that makes me a bad vegan-wannnabe, so be it. I figure that they wouldn't kill an animal for just that little bit of stuff and therefore, I'm not "saving" an animals life (even symbolically) by not eating it. The logic seems a bit convoluted and the rationalization that it is but for tiny, tiny bits, I can live with it. God only knows how many tiny bugs I've eaten in with my canned beans! Back to the bread, It tasted pretty good too; not quite to the standards of the vegan bread my DH bakes for us, but pretty good. Unfortunately since I found the bread once at our grocery store once, I haven't found it since!
While it is not common, most prepackaged products now have a small line at the end or under the ingredients that says Allergen Informations: Contains Wheat, Dairy, Egg, Soy. While this will not clear the source of things like B12 or Sugar, it helps when picking up breads in your store bakery.
As for sugar, its up to you how far you want to take it. I personally prefer to buy Sugar in the Raw, which is Turbinado sugar. As well as various organic, vegan, kosher sugars (brown, powdered) when needed.
I heard a report on NPR last week about an increase in dairy prices. They were talking about how it will affect things other than milk and cheese. Anyway, at some point during the report, they mentioned that Red Bull has whey in it. I have never read the label, so I'm just going on what I heard. Also, I don't know if this would be different for Diet Red Bull.
God only knows how many tiny bugs I've eaten in with my canned beans!
One of my dad's first jobs was as an inspector for Fig Newtons. They're allowed a certain proportion of infestation. My dad's friend inspected a plant that processed canned tomatoes. Apparently it's worse with the tomatoes than with the figs. Neither of them will eat the product they inspected after see what "else" went into them.
Questionable ingredients are taurine, calcium pantothenate (vitamin B5) and the Vitamin B12, these could come from animals... but you would have to call and find out their source.
i know that taurine made in the US is synthetic and red bull does use synthetic (vegan) taurine. as far as the other two go, i'm not sure.
God only knows how many tiny bugs I've eaten in with my canned beans!
One of my dad's first jobs was as an inspector for Fig Newtons. They're allowed a certain proportion of infestation. My dad's friend inspected a plant that processed canned tomatoes. Apparently it's worse with the tomatoes than with the figs. Neither of them will eat the product they inspected after see what "else" went into them.
see, that is how vegans get their protein
;D ;D ;D
God only knows how many tiny bugs I've eaten in with my canned beans!
One of my dad's first jobs was as an inspector for Fig Newtons. They're allowed a certain proportion of infestation. My dad's friend inspected a plant that processed canned tomatoes. Apparently it's worse with the tomatoes than with the figs. Neither of them will eat the product they inspected after see what "else" went into them.
see, that is how vegans get their protein
You mean I've been ingesting all those sexy fluids for nothing?
God only knows how many tiny bugs I've eaten in with my canned beans!
One of my dad's first jobs was as an inspector for Fig Newtons. They're allowed a certain proportion of infestation. My dad's friend inspected a plant that processed canned tomatoes. Apparently it's worse with the tomatoes than with the figs. Neither of them will eat the product they inspected after see what "else" went into them.
see, that is how vegans get their protein
You mean I've been ingesting all those sexy fluids for nothing?
ROTFL! Stop you guys are gonna make me pee my pants!
Oh and the original poster lives in England, so she doesn't have the same "brands" of bread that we do. Things are labeled slightly different but allergy info remains and things there are often labeled officially as "vegetarian" items but not vegan. :(
God only knows how many tiny bugs I've eaten in with my canned beans!
One of my dad's first jobs was as an inspector for Fig Newtons. They're allowed a certain proportion of infestation. My dad's friend inspected a plant that processed canned tomatoes. Apparently it's worse with the tomatoes than with the figs. Neither of them will eat the product they inspected after see what "else" went into them.
I believe it...my high school physiology teacher told us that the "crunch" you sometimes get with a bite of Fig Newtons is usually dead ants/wasps/something like that (can't remember exactly). Yummers!
I saw a documentary on figs about a hundred years ago. Seems in order for the figs to ripen some kind of spider goes into the fig and lays its eggs. The eggs hatch and out come the baby spiders leaving some kind of egg sac or sacs behind. Then a special wasp comes in and eats the remains of the spider egg sacs and then finally the fig can ripen. Or else the wasps come first and then the spiders? I really can't remember, it was a hundred years ago I watched this documentary.
Needless to say, I don't eat Fig Newtons. I've also heard that chocolate is just as filthy, but I don't know what goes on there.
BTW, canned tomatoes don't have skins because they soak in a LYE bath until the skins disintigrate!
Also, referring to TinTexas's comment about not really being able to call yourself vegan bc you aren't vigilant. Using some extreme definitions of vegan, none of us could call ourselves vegan as it is virtually impossible to eliminate all animal products/suffering from our lives and still stay alive! I say whatever you can live with--do it. Just think of all the animals that are LIVING with what you're doing!
Ezekial bread is vegan, and can be found at some major grocery stores, Trader Joe's, and health food stores.
Also, some of the breads, including bagels, they sell in those bins at Vons for fresh baked goods have no dairy in them too. They have the laminated ingredients lists nearby.
This link might help answer your question on vegan breads.
http://www.vegsource.com/jo/qa/qabread.htm
Also, this "I Can't Believe It's Vegan," link shows bread brands. Although, I know some would argue that not all of these are vegan.
http://www.peta.org/accidentallyVegan/VeganShoppingQS-BakedGoods.asp?Category=Baked%20Goods
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