I gave up eating meat many years ago, but stayed with eggs and milk. Recently I have heard/read reports on some animal welfare issues that has made me look again at the eggs and milk I consume and decided to have a look at what alternatives are available. I spent quite some time today on the Asda website where I do my online shop and came across some items that were labelled as 'Vegan' - but when I looked at the ingredients I found - May contain Milk / Eggs. How can these products be labelled as Vegan if this is the case ? In my personal opinion - they should 'not' be. If I am wrong - perhaps someone could enlighten me as to why ?
"Vegan" and "organic" are two much-maligned words. I can understand the struggle for those trying to maintain ideological purity, but if you have a food allergy, you're really screwed. Why not send off emails to those product manufacturers as well as the stores that carry them? In today's world of emails and copy/paste, it should not take too long. They need to hear from you.
It might be that they are vegan foods, but manufactured in a facility that also makes non-vegan foods; so they put it on the label just as a warning. Some places that make gluten-free foods like oatmeal, might also process grains like wheat that do have gluten in them; so then they have to say on the label that the oatmeal may contain gluten, even though it probably does not. Some people want/need to be sure that the food does not contain something that they do not want to eat (or are allergic to), and do not want to take any chances of getting some of that food. Especially when it is a religious reason, people might want to avoid food made with something they do not eat, even if it was a minuscule amount.
Luckily the products do have a separate warning in bold print so it stands out clear and no doubt anyone who is either allergic to or cannot have milk or eggs (or any other ingredient) for some other reason will check the products as I did. I can see how manufacturers will be wanting to keep themselves safe from possible lawsuits and take all precautions.
It's a weird spot to be in. Even if the likelihood is small, they gotta put the same warning on it. I gotta wonder how vegans can eat at any restaurant other than one that is 100% vegan. There's no way you can trust the purity of the kitchen.
Is there such a thing as 100% Vegan restaurants in the US ? I don't think we have any - though I could be wrong on that. Maybe places like London might have them.
I looked up Vegan restaurants in the university town up the road from me. They all have "vegan options." I guess there's not that deep of a market.
I'm sure there probably are some vegan restaurants; I know there used to be a raw foods restaurant in Dallas so there's all kinds of specialty eateries.
I just looked up "vegan restaurant" in Arlington VA. The 1st hit was a "vegetarian friendly" African restaurant, the second serves burgers and the third is a pizzeria. DC seems to have a couple of them, but they both call their sandwiches "burgers" without telling you whether or not they are meat or soy (man, I am so glad I don't live up there anymore.) At least they compost every night.
Move to Portland. HAHAHA https://pdx.eater.com/maps/best-portland-vegan-and-vegetarian-restaurants-cafes-map
It's many years since I gave up meat and as I remember, there weren't many places that provided vegetarian options on their menus and many stores either didn't sell at all or had only a limited choice of options. These days it's a lot easier to buy and more cafes etc seem to offer at least alternatives to meat..
The only vegan restaurant I have ever eaten in was one in Sausalito, California. It was okay, but that was over 50 years ago.
Want to look like an advisement for starving people, be a diabetic and go on that diet, I did, and my ass isn't all I lost, it was just the first to go. Even worse at my age no gaining it back either. Not so sure all the fads are good.
It amuses me when I see vegetarian or vegan options at a fast-food place. If you want to eat healthily, don't go to MacDonalds.