lets make a DONT EAT THIS list

has anyone else ever found out they have been "tricked" for quite some time by a seemingly "safe" food, and then later discovered it has non-vegetarian ingredients?

i felt so sick the day i caught out of the corner of my eye "anchovy" on a packet of:

caesar salad dressing

can anyone add more items to make a list of things to watch out for?

There are DHA supplements on the market from Expectra(R).  They say the DHA is from a non-fish source, but then the capsules are coated in gelatin, and they are colored with carmine, a bug extract.

I understand not using fish oil in a pregnancy DHA supplement (mercury!  PCB's!  Ack!), but why use a non-fish source, but then use gelatin and bugs?  It makes no sense....

When I was vegetarian (semi-vegan), I found it was easier to simply avoid fast food all together. That stuff is so bad for you! Super tasty, but so unhealthy.

I try to make a lot of my own stuff with raw, organic ingredients. That way I know where it comes from.

I don't think it's realistic to be able to avoid EVERYTHING but being hyper-aware really helps.

Beware HORIZON brand!

I heard last year that they use milk from dairy cows that is not certified organic.

I've boycotted them ever since. Fool me twice....

magnesium stearate, a preservative made of beef, is in lifesavers, most vitamins, some gum, tic-tacs, etc. check the back of your hard candy packages for this ingerdient because its not vegetrarian

marshmallows have gelatin as well :(

wow i have learned so much today! does anyone know if jack in the box tacos are vegitarian? i heard the cheese is soy (although after reading the thread i'm concerned with it.) is the meat too? haow bout the oil they fry them in?

Many thick salad dressings, like the oriental dressing at Applebee's, have chicken fat in it. 

my favorite, disgusting ingredient is found in MOTHER'S frosted oatmeal cookies.....  fish gelatin.  not regular hoof gelatin, but fishy gelatin.  scales and bones.  creepy!

wait, high fructose corn syrup isn't vegetarian? i thought it was another word for sugar?

Also,  stop and shop brand semi sweet choc chips are actually vegan! they use soy lechtin instead of milk. maybe this is the wrong thread, but interesting enough lol

actually about 1/4 white sugar is made of bone char which isnt vegetarian....

but isnt sugar grown? from sugar cane?

My solution to the HFCS in bread was a different approach. I still get the 100% Whole Wheat because it is the lesser of evils. Instead I use no-sugar (or splenda) added PB&J. Natural PB&J is obviously great for vegetarians and I use fruit only jelly (that may be a no-no for vegetarians but i don't think the 365 (whole foods) brand geletin).  This way I at least eat less HFCS with what I can easily cut it out of.

 Funny story: I made a PB&J for one of my friends and he was like "it's gunna be so bland blah blah) so I told him I would use my roommates pb&j but didn't. In the end he said it was a really good sandwich and asked what kind of jelly I used. Yay 365 Blueberry fruit preserves (also cheap $1.50/jar).

    I worked at mellow mushroom,  i think we all know that the Esperanza sauce is not vegan but its not veg...it has anchovies in it....i had to tell loads of people who were comming in for soy chesse pizzas..i think they would rather not have known....they looked very disappointed

Would you really consider splenda vegan?  I mean its white sugar they use, and they process it with chlorine molicules. 

I'll stick to Stevia, Xylitol and Erythritol.  *shudder*

'Chicken Fat". How can any sane person read that on a label (i'm talking a vegetarian or not here) and say "okay i want this in my body."

I'm Vegetastic. 

One that surprised my mom(veg of 28 years) when I told her was Beano, which is a supplement taken to prevent gas caused by eating lots of vegetables, has fish derivitives in it.

Many chewy candies have gelatin.

Many brown/mushroom gravies have meat as well.

Some white sugar is bleached with bone char(for the vegans).

A lot of makeup is also made using animal sources, such as lanolin, which is an oil secreted by sheep.

Some of these may have already been mentioned.

I find that the easiest thing to do is just to make it all myself. You can't catch everything, but you can do quite a bit by just avoiding prepackaged foods or shopping at stores that have certified vegan/vegetarian products.

It's getting scary to eat ANYTHING that's not whole foods. Did you know that many products with added calcium are getting that calcium animal sources? They don't waste a thing!

Some of my friends and I are upset that many beers and wines are filtered with bone char. Here's a list of veg-safe alcohol:

http://tastebetter.com/features/booze