vegans: what foods do you have to avoid?

what unsuspecting foods are actually NOT vegan friendly?

thanks :) I'm new to the vegan lifestyle!

Look out for honey and dairy products in breads. Make sure to read the ingredients in soy and other alternative cheese, a lot of them contain casein which is a milk byproduct.

If I think of anymore I'll post.

  What about the honey?

  This from a strict omnivore who is curious.

-CD

Quorn products, which are meat alternatives actually contain eggs.

Original Post by clandaddy:

  What about the honey?

  This from a strict omnivore who is curious.

-CD

 Honey is technically not vegan, as it is an animal product. I know, it didn't occur to me either until I became vegan and started reading up.

Many vegans will go either way about this issue, however. It is a personal choice.

OP: Kashi products!!!

You'd think, judging from their reputation and healthy front that most of their stuff would be inherently vegan, but nope! It was the cereals that took me by surprise. They offer many wonderful vegan items, but I've learned the hard way never to assume.

Also: SoyJoy bars. Soy automatically makes me think vegan, but those little bars have milk, eggs AND cheese! WHAT?!

Anyway, I'm interested to hear some other responses, I know I've made more than a few mistakes along my vegan journey. But I'm loving this path to personal health even more each day!

I am not vegan but due to my work had to cook for vegans often, the thing that took me by surprise was worcestershire sauce, this actually has anchovies in it!

Chili paste actually has anchovies in it, depending on the brand. Just read the label carefully. Mock meats sometimes contain eggs.

Soups! Most are made with chicken stock, but progresso makes vegetarian soups. You should still check the label for things like eggs and milk. Sometimes the eggs show up in noodle soups.

Be careful of white sugar. Sometimes sugar is processed using bone char. I'm not exactly sure about the whole process... you'll have to Google for me!

I remember someone here posting that Tropicana omega-3 fortified juice contained fish oils so read the labels on anything with omega-3s.

Some beer. spirits & wine are considered non-vegan. Here's a directory in case you want to check a particular brand: http://www.barnivore.com/beer

I'm a waitress & have a funny vegan story to share. 

A man and lady came in for dinner one night and although we don't have anything vegan on the menu, the chefs will prepare a vegan meal upon request.  So, the man asks for a vegan meal and is very specific that he doesn't want mashed potatoes because they have butter and wanted to make sure we used olive oil on his veggies instead.  Then, his girlfriend and he asked if they could start by sharing a caesar salad.  I said, "there is anchovy in the dressing... are you ok with that?"  He said, he'll deal with it...  I went back out and said, "there are raw eggs in the dressing... are you ok with that?"  He said he'd deal with it.  pfft!  WTF???  I forgot to mention the cheese on the salad, but I guess if a vegan can eat anchovy & egg, then cheese should be ok!

Watch out for Omega-3 ANYTHING (there's a margarine, a salad dressing, and a CHOCOLATE with fish oil in it). Make sure you read all soup labels (even "vegetable soup" is often made with beef stock), gravies (even ones that seem inconspicuous like "brown" or "mushroom"), and anything that vaguely brings up an animal in the title (Chicken in a Bizkit, anyone?)

You'll pretty much need to read every label in the store the first few shopping trips, but it'll get easier!

Original Post by marmarl:

I'm a waitress & have a funny vegan story to share. 

A man and lady came in for dinner one night and although we don't have anything vegan on the menu, the chefs will prepare a vegan meal upon request.  So, the man asks for a vegan meal and is very specific that he doesn't want mashed potatoes because they have butter and wanted to make sure we used olive oil on his veggies instead.  Then, his girlfriend and he asked if they could start by sharing a caesar salad.  I said, "there is anchovy in the dressing... are you ok with that?"  He said, he'll deal with it...  I went back out and said, "there are raw eggs in the dressing... are you ok with that?"  He said he'd deal with it.  pfft!  WTF???  I forgot to mention the cheese on the salad, but I guess if a vegan can eat anchovy & egg, then cheese should be ok!

He obviously wasn't a vegan.

Original Post by cellophane_star:

Be careful of white sugar. Sometimes sugar is processed using bone char. I'm not exactly sure about the whole process... you'll have to Google for me!

I remember someone here posting that Tropicana omega-3 fortified juice contained fish oils so read the labels on anything with omega-3s.

Some beer. spirits & wine are considered non-vegan. Here's a directory in case you want to check a particular brand: http://www.barnivore.com/beer

Beet sugar isn't refined with bone char, so it's safe.  Again, you have to read the labels on the bags.  Meijer food stores label their sugar.  Any cane sugar, unless you buy 'organic' is refined with bone char.  A good substitute for honey is agave nectar or brown rice syrup.

Thanks guys :)  I will def start analysing ingredients labels!