By Jeanne Yacoubou, MS

“Vegetable L-Cysteine”?
Companies which use non-animal sourced L-cysteine may wish to distinguish themselves from the majority of companies which use feather- or hair-derived L-cysteine. So for marketing purposes they will state on their labels that they use “vegetable” or “vegetarian” L-cysteine.

Kontos® Foods
For example, The VRG recently saw this: http://www.kontos.com/product/pocket-less-pita-white-3/

We asked Kontos what the source of their vegetable L-cysteine is.
We were told by their executive chef that they were currently testing several L-cysteine alternatives and planned to remove L-cysteine entirely from Kontos’ products by August 2018.

He described the replacement process to us saying that removing one ingredient and replacing it with another influences how other ingredients work (or don’t work) in the recipe. Achieving a balance so that one ingredient is not “fighting” with another takes time.

We were told that besides vegetarians, people inquire about L-cysteine for religious reasons. He hopes that removing L-cysteine from their recipe will provide assurance to everyone who asks about their source that their bread is vegetarian.

The Chef followed up with a letter which states:
Regarding the request for information of the L-Cysteine, utilized by our company in the manufacture of our Flatbreads.

Providing individuals and/or companies, with the brand and/or source(s) of the raw ingredients used in our manufacturing process, is proprietary, and therefore, cannot be shared. We would however point out; our ingredients are audited, and manufacturing process is inspected by two (2) Certification Agencies; a Kosher Certifier and a Halal Certifier, simultaneously. With respect to our Flatbread, as they are both Pareve and Halal, they are clearly 100% Vegetarian. We do not classify them as vegan, as there is no set ‘standard’ available, which would provide a clear definition.”

Five Star® Gourmet Foods
The VRG also contacted Five Star about the “vegetable L-cysteine” listed on their Mediterranean Falafel + Hummus product:
http://fivestargourmetfoods.com/products/mm2g-mediterraneanfalafel-hummus/

We heard back from YoungAe Zhang, R&D/QA Supervisor at Five Star. He wrote in April 2018:
“We apologize for late reply – we reached out to our supplier for this information and this took a while…Unfortunately, the source of L-cysteine was not shared with us since it is proprietary information…However, our supplier has shared that this ingredient is kosher & halal certified & 100% vegetarian…”

In a follow-up email, Young wrote:
“This product is not in stores as of right now…Unfortunately, there is no set date as of today. We’ll contact you when we have an update.”

“Vegetarian L-cysteine” is Redundant & Ambiguous
Concerned consumers should check with the company selling products with L-cysteine labeled in this manner to identify its source.

The term “vegetarian L-cysteine” is redundant. Even L-cysteine derived from hair or poultry feathers is technically vegetarian because it is not derived from edible meat, fish or poultry (including their byproducts).

This term is ambiguous because it gives the impression that some L-cysteine is non-vegetarian (which technically is not true). L-cysteine derived from feathers is not vegan but it is vegetarian.

L-cysteine from human hair would also be vegetarian. In 2010, we were told that hog hair could be used as a source of L-cysteine. The Orthodox Union states, “it is the OU’s position that l-cysteine derived from human hair is acceptable.” See https://oukosher.org/blog/consumer-kosher/what-could-be-wrong-with-l-cysteine/

In other words, the phrase “vegetarian L-cysteine” is not meaningful and does not tell us product source information.

However, companies or suppliers who state it in this manner believe they are providing source information. The VRG assumes the companies mean that their L-cysteine source is microbial. It would be clearer if they just declared it as “microbial L-cysteine.” Or, we hope they would at least tell us their source rather than claim it is “proprietary” when we inquire. Some restaurant chains have revealed their source (both microbial and feather- or hair-derived). We hope all companies using L-cysteine would do so as well. (Petrochemically-derived L-cysteine, which would be considered vegan, is no longer being commercially produced today.)

“Vegetable L-Cysteine” Is Scientifically Inaccurate
The term “vegetable L-cysteine” suggests that its source is vegetable. For instance a restaurant chain told us (but later retracted it) in 2017 that their L-cysteine source was sugar beets. Vegetables are unlikely commercial L-cysteine sources. (L-cysteine is a type of amino acid which is found in protein.)

In 2017, we asked Joel White, General Manager at Ajinomoto®, a major manufacturer of microbial L-cysteine, if L-cysteine is ever commercially extracted from sugar beets. He replied:
“Cysteine is not extracted from sugar beets. They are most likely buying product produced from fermentation by Waker® at their plant in Slovakia. They use sugar beets as their glucose source for fermentation. It is common for fermentation companies to reference vegetable source on their Country of Origin [statement].”

For information on other ingredients, see https://www.vrg.org/ingredients/index.php

The contents of this posting, our website, and our other publications, including Vegetarian Journal, are not intended to provide personal medical advice. Medical advice should be obtained from a qualified health professional. We often depend on product and ingredient information from company statements. It is impossible to be 100% sure about a statement, info can change, people have different views, and mistakes can be made. Please use your best judgement about whether a product is suitable for you. To be sure, do further research or confirmation on your own.