Plain sugar doesn’t have any obvious animal product in it, yet still might not be vegan. That’s because bone char is often used during the refining process. Maybe you’ve heard this, but want the full story, and that’s what I’m here for. I’ve done the research so you don’t have to. This post will walk you through the facts so that you can make your own decision about whether or not...
Amylase is in a whole bunch of food products, but most vegans come across it in bread. It’s a type of enzyme that converts starches into sugars, which can be useful in bread-making to speed up the rising process. But amylase is found in both animal and plant sources, and can be cultivated with bacteria or fungi. How Is Amylase Made Commercially If you read a little bit about amylase...
Like any legume, chickpeas are known for causing people to get a bit gassy. However, chickpeas generally cause less gas for most people than other types of beans for a few reasons that I’ll be going over shortly. If canned chickpeas are giving you more gas than other beans, it’s likely due to not rinsing them off as thoroughly (possible since their liquid isn’t as obvious)...
It drives me nuts that “vegan” companies like Earth Balance use palm oil in their “vegan” butters. I’ve written to them about it and received no response. But you and I both know that palm oil is not eaten by many vegan for ethical reasons. Unfortunately, it’s fairly hard to find a good vegan butter without palm oil. Most common “natural” and plant-based brands like Country...
Many crackers turn out to be accidentally vegan. So let’s put Ritz Crackers to the test. Ingredients in Ritz Crackers I just looked at the original crackers here, but all the other varieties are similar. Here’s what’s in Ritz, I’ve highlighted a few ingredients of interest: Unbleached Enriched Flour (Wheat Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Soybean Oil...
You see them on many ingredients lists: “Natural Flavors” This is a catch-all term for many ingredients that are added for flavoring purposes. Some of those flavors come from vegan sources, and some do not. So this puts us in a bind. It’s NOT safe in most cases to assume that natural flavors are vegan-friendly. Where Do Natural Flavors Come From? In the United States (and similar in most other...
Pistachios and peanuts have a similar shape and size, but there are some significant nutritional differences between the two. I’ve created a simple side-by-side comparison here to look at how these 2 snack nuts differ. All data on this page is per 100 grams of each nut (yes, I know peanuts aren’t “nuts”). Nutritional Value Comparison of Pistachios and Peanuts The macro profiles for...
Brazil nuts and hazelnuts may not be the most common nuts to snack on, but do provide unique tastes. Beyond taste, I wanted to compare the nutritional value of each nut side-by-side. We’ll look at the biggest differences and similarities of brazil nuts and hazelnuts per 100 grams on this page. Nutritional Value Comparison of Brazil Nuts and Hazelnuts The macronutrient profiles for...
More pizza places are offering vegan cheeses (even vegan parmesan) and meat substitutes like Beyond Meat crumbles. Most pizza sauce is also vegan, although not all, so pizza bianca (no sauce) is also a safe option. But there’s one more thing to consider: The dough might not be vegan as well, since many pizza dough recipes have dairy and other animal products in them. I’ve tracked down...
Warning: Super long post. I went vegan cold turkey one night and I was faced with a difficult question: “What am I supposed to eat now?” I was used to a typical North American diet, so I was out of my comfort zone. My gut told me: Go to Whole Foods. I had no clue what to buy, so I aimlessly wandered around and eventually picked out a few things. This guide is my attempt to...