What do Vegetarian Groups Consider Vegetarian & Vegan?
By Karen Leibowitz, Laura McGuiness, Reed Mangels, and Charles Stahler
Numerous food companies developing products have asked us about what should be considered vegetarian or vegan. We (The Vegetarian Resource Group) define vegetarian as the abstinence from meat, fish, and fowl, and vegan as the abstinence from meat, fish, fowl, dairy, eggs, and other animal products. What does this mean to individuals and groups that practice and promote vegetarianism and veganism?
In order to respond to this question, we conducted a national Harris Poll and asked the opinions of those who eat one or more vegetarian meals per week. We also did a less formal survey of dietitians who said they see vegetarian clients. For this information, see: http://www.vrg.org/nutshell/faq.htm#poll.
In order to give a fuller answer, in 2013 we conducted a survey of vegetarian and vegan groups, animal advocacy organizations, and religious groups, plus we included in the survey a few doctors and dietitians who often consult with animal groups. Thus, we hoped to have a cross section of the wider movement of people who are vegetarians and vegans and promote vegetarianism and veganism. In this study, we were not looking at those who may eat and promote vegetarian foods, but aren’t really vegetarian or vegan. There were beliefs that most vegetarian/vegan representatives agreed on, as well as other opinions that were varied. Some groups were happy to have input, but wished to remain anonymous. At least one animal advocacy group did not want to give their opinion.
The American Vegan Society
The American Vegan Society was formed in 1960. We tend to think of their interpretation as a “top standard,” much like the OU for kosher rules.
They define vegan as:
Product: Made entirely from plant sources (plus some minerals such as salt and baking soda)
Person: Excludes use of animal products to the greatest extent possible and practical while functioning in society.
Vegan pertains to food, clothing, cleaning, toiletries, cosmetics, entertainment, sports, and gardening.
They define vegetarian as:
Product: Contains no meat, fish, fowl (or derivatives such as gelatin and animal broths)
Person: Eats from plant kingdom with or without the addition of the use of eggs and/or dairy
The American Vegan Society says that for packaged foods to be labeled vegan, all ingredients must be vegan, even the small microingredients. Anything essential to the processing of the product must be vegan. For example, fish bladder is not acceptable to clarify wine, despite the fact that it does not remain in the wine. This standard also applies to the vegetarian label. All ingredients must be vegetarian. AVS states, “At this state of society, we are happy to have factories make their best efforts to clean everything prior to making vegan products. Complete 100% vegan factories are a future goal, but not yet practical for most manufacturers. Labeling that they MAY contain dairy (or other ingredients) due to shared facility is acceptable. In that case it is NOT an ingredient, microingredient, or processing aid, but an accidental contaminant. The manufacturer should be allowed to label the product as vegan with a cross-contaminant disclaimer.”
In regard to restaurants, AVS states, “Restaurants should adhere to the same standards as stated above for food packaging. However, it is understood that the restaurant relies on accurate food packaging labels to determine suitability for vegans and/or vegetarians. The restaurants should not have to do serious research to determine vegan products. It should be clearly marked on processed foods. If it is not clearly marked, it should not be touted as vegan on the menu. Another option is to make it in-house thus controlling the ingredients.”
Definition of Vegan
Most groups surveyed agreed that vegan meant no animal products, with many also excluding non-food products such as leather, wool, silk, and any products tested on animals. A few of the groups people tend to associate with promoting veganism mentioned variations of being practical and doing your best rather than relying on purity. One Seventh-day Adventist said that honey is generally not considered an animal product, though he was not reporting an official SDA position. A few groups, such as Go Vegan Radio and Animal Rescue in Pennsylvania, specifically stated that honey is not vegan. A Hare Krishna devotees group included in their response a definition of vegan, “to kill animals or use animal products only if it is required in the devotional service of the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna is the Hare Krishna’s definition of veganism.”
Definition of Vegetarian
The Toronto Vegetarian Association said that a vegetarian is “someone who lives on a diet free of the flesh of any animals with or without the addition of dairy products, eggs, or honey.” A Hindu group said that egg is not vegetarian. Another Hindu group reported that vegetarian does not prohibit milk, milk products, or honey. Strict Jains would exclude eggs and honey, as they would not consider them vegetarian.
Some respondents stated that vegetarians eat dairy, while others used the word “may” eat dairy. So, in one case (if using the word “may” and implying may or may not) all vegans are also vegetarian (which is the traditional definition), while in the other cases (not using the word “may,” thus implying that all vegetarians use dairy) vegans and vegetarians are not overlapping categories. Go Vegan Radio stated that vegetarian is vegan, but if the word includes dairy and eggs, it is then meaningless if it allows animal products.
We asked, “As long as an item does not contain meat, fish, or fowl (or obvious items like gelatin), is it okay to label products as vegetarian in a restaurant without worrying about the microingredients?” Eighteen said NO, and sixteen said YES. We didn’t see a pattern in the answers, as some animal rights, vegetarian, vegan, and religious representatives said yes, while others said no.
We asked, “As long as an item does not contain meat, fish, or fowl (or obvious items like gelatin), is it okay to label products as vegetarian on a food package without worrying about the microingredients or processing aids?” Twenty four said NO, and ten said YES. This is consistent with our other polls where more people care about the stringency of how manufactured products are labeled, as compared to food served in a restaurant, which is somewhat harder to ascertain.
“As long as a product does not contain meat, fish, fowl, dairy, eggs, or honey (or obvious items like gelatin), is it okay to label products as vegan in a restaurant without worrying about the microingredients?” Eighteen said NO, and fourteen said YES. (Two fewer answered this question than for vegetarian above.)
“As long as a product does not contain meat, fish, fowl, dairy, eggs, or honey (or obvious items like gelatin), is it okay to label products as vegan on a food package without worrying about the microingredients or processing aids?” Twenty eight said NO, and six said YES. There’s much more consensus when we’re talking about the vegan label on food packages. The yes responses were from two vegetarian groups, two representatives of religious groups, and two representatives of animal groups. There wasn’t a pattern of all animal advocacy groups, all religious groups, or all vegetarian groups feeling the same way as we might have anticipated.
“As long as a product does not contain meat, fish, fowl, dairy, eggs, or honey (or obvious items like gelatin), is it okay to label products as vegan on a food package without worrying about the processing aids?” Twenty said NO, and fourteen said YES. There’s a little more split when talking about processing aids. Some of the yes replies may not be from respondents the public might expect, but we think they are the ones out there who often have to deal with the practicality of some of these issues when working with food businesses, rather than just philosophical discussions.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR FOOD COMPANIES?
Though vegetarians in America often include eggs because mass-produced eggs aren’t fertilized here, if you are thinking about Hindus, Jains, and many animal rights advocates, it would be preferable not to use eggs in a product labeled vegetarian.
There are many varied opinions in the wider vegetarian movement. You are safer to be on the stricter side when labeling items vegan or vegetarian. However, whether or not someone labels a product vegetarian or vegan, anyone producing a vegan or vegetarian product should be sure to label sources of ingredients carefully, plus include this information on their website so that consumers can make their own decisions. You don’t want to miss consumers who might use your product, or alienate customers for whom a particular product may not be acceptable.
Is it okay to label products with the following ingredients as vegan?
The number of representatives from 36 groups queried who answered yes for each of the following:
| Cysteine from an animal product | 4 |
Cysteine from human hair |
8 |
Soy yogurt culture that started as a gene over 20 years ago from a dairy culture |
20 |
An otherwise vegan burger cooked on the same grill where meat is cooked, if the grill is cleaned first |
25 |
Unknown source of sugar (May or may not contain cane sugar whitened through bone char) |
11 |
Fruit covered with wax from an insect secretion |
11 |
A meat alternative grown from animal cell DNA, obtained ten years ago, which does not |
11 |
Vitamin D from lanolin |
5 |
None of these |
8 |
Thank you to the following groups which participated in this survey:
American Vegan Society, Animal Place, Animal Rescue, Animal Rights Foundation of Florida, Christian Vegetarian Association, Compassionate Action for Animals, Winston Craig, PhD, MPH, RD (Seventh-day Adventist), Saurabh Dalal (Jain), Factory Farming Awareness Coalition, Farm Animal Reform Movement, Friends of Animals, Go Vegan Radio, Hare Krishna Devotee Group, William Harris MD, Hindu Center of Charlotte, Hindu Temple Society of North America, International Society for Krishna Consciousness, ISKON of Alachua, ISKON Atlanta, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Quaker Animal Kinship, San Antonio Vegetarian Society, Toronto Vegetarian Association, University of Rochester Student Association of Vegan and Vegetarian Youth, Vegan Outreach, Vegetarian Society of DC, Veg Worcester, and Vegan Vegetarians Victorious. Others participated anonymously.
