Suprise...It's NOT vegetarian!

Ummm-so I HATE McDonalds anyway but those sneaky devils tricked me back with there fruit and walnut salads with gelatin-free yogurt and the Asian salad.  However-be warned-the NEWMAN'S SOUTHWEST dressing is NOT vegetarian.  Read the label!

So-my purpose here today is to simply get people to list surprise non-veggie foods.

It may be old news but gelatin is a pork product (mcd's shakes, Skittles, Starburst, Ice breaksers gum, etc...)

Please add as many foods as you can so that people can just glance at the list and know where NOT to eat and when they must eat at cetain places, they know what NOT to eat.  Thanks!

Altoid's. It's got something with beef in it. No joke. It's been years since I looked at the box, so I forget. But there you have it.

Obviously, ceasar salad dressing-if you're vegan, the spring rolls are brushed with egg to make them stay shut-I've been veggie for 10 years, there's a lot in my head, and absolutely nothing coming out here right now! LOL! Isn't that always the way...

Unfortunately, alot of packaged rice has chicken or beef fat in it. Mayo is pretty much made up of lard, which obviously isn't vegetarian. Like dreaasha said, lots of bakeries brush their pastries, bagels, and just about anything in egg. Some refried beans are a no-no, so check your labels!

So many supposedly 'vegetarian' items that you should feel safe eating are made with animal products. It's unnecessary.. ):

gee, my mayo is made with canola oil - not a speck of lard. It IS made with eggs, though.

EDIT: Oh, and canola is a genetically modified form of rapeseed oil, if that's a concern.

PPS:  the egg yolk is a thickener; of course if the sauce was lard-based it wouldn't need a thickener. The mayonnaise I'm thinking of is Safeway Select, a house brand that may only be available in Canada, I don't know.

And I've given up on yogurt because every brand I like contains horrible gelatin - ain't that sad?

one that always took me by suprise was wine and beer, im a bit sketchy on how, but from memory, some aspect of animals blood is used as a refining agent,

and the only way you can find out is if you ring and ask the brewer, as its either in miniscule quantities or consumed in the brewing process

carling isnt veggie, calsberg is if your interested

i love mexican food but make sure at restaurants i always check whether the beans are vegetarian or not - a lot of restaurants have lard in the beans.

cake fillings. watch out. some of them use puddings (chocolate, lemon, etc...) which contain gelatin. i know, shouldn't be eating cake that often anyway, but if you DO splurge, make sure to ask what's in the filling!

About yogurt: yes, most conventional yogurts contain gelatin, but just about any natural yogurt does not, and that includes low-fat and fat-free varieties. You can find yogurt without gelatin at places such as natural food co-ops, Whole Foods, and Trader Joe's. In terms of more conventional grocery stores, many carry Stonyfield Farm yogurt, which is vegetarian.

I've also learned to read the labels on icecream, frozen yogurt, and other frozen cakes and desserts. Some companies use gelatin as fillers in these products as well.

Another tricky food is cheese. Many cheeses are made using rennet, which comes from enzymes produced in the stomachs of calves. At the food co-op where I shop, there is a listing next to the cheeses as to whether they contain animal or vegetable rennet. Generally speaking, going with all-natural or organic brands is probably best in order to avoid rennet.

Marshmallows - that nasty gelatin. 

Very often when you order vegetable dishes in oriental restaurants the vegetables are cooked in chicken broth and/or chicken fat.  It's not usually listed that way on the menu, so you have to ask.  It's guaranteed that the servers will look at you funny, but it's really the only way to make sure.

I'm going to miss s'mores at camp! But I miss the friendly little pigs slaughtered every day a thousand times more.

Watch out for canned soup. I'm not talking about (dur) chicken soup. Vegetable soup can have chicken broth or chicken fat (ew!)

I saw these crackers at the store called "chicken in a biskit". I read the label and it's basically a cracker with chicken fat in it. And chickens are dying for this???

Someone mentioned Mexican restaurants... make sure you read your packages of tortillas. Some are made with lard, especially where I live (We have REAL Mexican food; South Texas).

I have never heard of a mayonnaise with lard in it, but then, I was always a Hellmann's user until I had to change the way I eat. Most mayonnaise is made with oil and eggs.

As for flamels' predicament: I don't know what is carried in the stores in Canada... but if you check out health food stores, they're going to have good, old-fashioned yogurt... the runny, tart kind.  For fruited yogurt, I use Cascade Fresh, and for unflavored yogurt I use White Mountain Bulgarian yogurt.

Homemade puddings don't have gelatin... they are made with milk, but can be made with soy milk. The thickener is corn starch.

I heard the other day that Mars brand candybars like snickers and milkyway are no longer vegetarian. Thet used to be but as of May they started adding Rennet (I think). I might have one candy bar a year, so I am not too crushed by this, but why would they start adding it NOW?!!

this isn't necessarily a vegetarian concern, but more so vegan is that i looked on the back of this non-dairy creamer we had at work and lo and behold ....it states "contains milk products" what the hell?? mostly it's casian (sp?). so all you vegans and lactose intolerant people beware.

marcy - don't worry.  Masterfoods was only ever going to add animal rennet to the UK production, and they backed down and apologized when the Vegetarian Society made a scene.  Your chocolate candy will remain flesh-free.  :-)

ashley3183 - there are a lot of "non-dairy" products that contain casein (you were close!) which is a milk protein as is whey. many soy cheeses contain casein. i have found, but would still suggest checking labels, that if something is labeled "vegan" it should be casein-free. so if you are looking for dairy free cheeses, look at the ones labeled "vegan".

my wholefoods has a couple of varieties of vegan cheeses, although they all tend to have some form of soy which i am currently not eating so am currently cheese free :o(

does anyone know of good non-dairy, non-soy based cheeses??

I think a lot of the confusion is that products made for people who can't handle lactose (a sugar) often contain other dairy ingredients (such as proteins). This make it necessary for you good vegans to be especially careful reading the labels (I'm not vegan so my task is watching out for stuff like gelatin and rennet in my dairy products).

Apparently any food that says it has 'natural ingredients' could actually have unlisted meat products in so things like tomato ketchup (some brands only) are NOT veggie friendly, i found that from a waitress in a vegan bar.  

Heres an amazing link: http://www.seedlingshowcase.org.uk/approved_p roducts.asp?id=191

All of the foods on the database are vegetarian society approved so if your unsure about something you can search the database

Edit: Sorry I just realised its not a full database so you won't find everything on there but there is quite alot of stuff