What do vegans don't eat is easier to answer than what do they eat. Vegans don't eat food that are derived from or created by animals. Here is a simple list of foods that vegans don't eat and reasons why. I knew vegans don't eat animal products.
But did you know that vegans don't eat marshmallows??? I had no idea.
Here are the list of ten things vegans don't eat, according to Shine.
What Vegans Don't Eat
1. Meat. - obviously, yes.
2. Fish and shellfish - for obvious reasons they don't eat the whole fish or shellfish but for this reason, Omega-3 Fish Oil supplements are also off limits, as well as calcium if they are derived from shells of shellfish.
3. Dairy products. - everything from milk and yogurt to cheese and butter.
4. Eggs. - that means mayonnaise and anything else made with eggs like Caesar salad dressing (it also contain anchovies,) most baked goods, and some sauces like Hollandaise sauce.
5. Honey. - Bees are animals. Bees make honey. Vegans don't eat it.
6. White sugar. - Some white sugar is processed with bone char, according to PETA. (I had no idea!!)
7. Most beer. - Guinness Beer is filtered using tiny amounts of gelatin derived from fish bladders. While some beers are vegan, others are filtered using egg whites or sea shells, according to barnivore, a vegan beer and wine guide.
8. Some breads. - while many simple breads are a-OK, containing just four ingredients (flour, yeast, water, and salt) many breads and baked goods are made with whey (a dairy product) or with butter, eggs, or sugar.
9. Marshmallows. - these and other foods, like gummy candies and Frosted Mini Wheats cereal, are made with gelatin -- a protein made from boiling skin, bones, and other animal parts. Surprisingly, though, a lot of junk food qualifies as vegan, even if it is unhealthy.
10. Salad dressing. Salads are great for vegans, but not necessarily the dressing. Scan the ingredient list, and you'll often find lecithin, which helps keep oil and vinegar from separating, and can be derived from animal tissues or egg yolk (both no-no's for vegans) or from soy (OK). Again, Caesar salad dressing has egg yolk and anchovies.
Some surprising foods that are NOT vegan are:
1. Kimchi (many store bought ones contain fermented shrimp or fish sauce. But my homemade Authentic Korean Kimchi recipe doesn't use fermented shrimp or fish sauce so you can always make it at home! Fermented shrimp or fish sauce is optional if you can't eat it.
2. Miso Soup - many miso soups use fish soup base
3. Chocolate - as obvious as they may sound, chocolate contain dairy or sugar (see above)
4. Candy - contains sugar (again, see above)
5. Red foods - may contain an ingredient called carmine or cochineal or carmic acid, which is derived from an insect, cochineal scale.
Emilygrace_022 says
I don't know if I would consider myself vegan. I do not like meat and most dairy things because I find them very unappetizing to me. It's not because I am against eating or using things from animals...I just find myself gagging when I eat those certain things. I also eat white sugar,honey, and marshmallows because I like them and they are very eatable to me. So I don't know if i would consider myself vegan. Plus I'm very young and this will effect my school lunches next year at my school, because they only serve milk and to get water cost extra. The lunches almost every day have meat in them or something dairy, and I think it's ridiculous that I have to pack my own lunch and have my parents spend more money for the food I want in my lunch. It will also be in my locker for a good part of the day and it will get gross or warm which is unfair to other people who pack because the school will not let the kids store their lunch in the cafeteria. I am homeschooled this year and will be going back next year as an 8th grader and my "vegan" eating will effect alot.
fryebrandon1 says
Thanks Karen for the list of Don'ts and Mel for the list of Do's. I agree that it is just a matter of eductation. I, too, didn't have any clue where to start when I switched to Vegan. I just ate salads for a while. In the last few months, I have been incorporating foods into my diet that I never heard of before. It is truly amazing, the amount of foods that I never tried. All I ever knew was chicken, beef, pork, eggs, cheese, milk, and a few veggies. Today, my veggie vocabulary much improved. Like Karen mentions, it is important to understand that animal products can sneak into foods where you wouldn't expect them. This includes gelatin, like in marshmallows. For any beginner starting out, please review this list of things you should be eating
http://www.forkstofeet.com/2013/05/vegan-diet-foods.html
I hope that helps. It can seem over-bearing, making the switch to plant-based, but there are many resources out on the web. Do your research, and you will be fine. You can look forward to a happier, healthier, more sustainable way of living!
Mel says
As someone who was not vegan or vegetarian for 38 years and has been vegan for only 12 months it is just a matter of education. I was completely ignorant of a vegan diet and lifestyle when I embarked on my journey. All I knew is that I could not unlearn what I had learnt about the atrocities of the dairy industry after being handed a leaflet one day by a stranger which led me to research how all other animal products I was eating, wearing and using were produced.
A year later and I have met many other vegans, learnt where to get information from, what items default as vegan in main stream supermarkets (of which there are many), which restaurants and cafes are vegan friendly (more than your realise) and just what vegan cooking entails. I LOVE cooking now. I have learnt so much about nutrition and health and have been using a myriad of ingredients I had never used before. I can honestly say that I eat more of a varity of foods now than i ever did before. There are health food shps with entire walls dedicated to vegan beer and winses and websites which tell you which ones are vegan friendly.
There are quite literally hundreds of thousands of vegan recipes online and many vegan cookbooks. I highly recomment "Mouthwatering Vegan Recipes" online and Vegan Yum Yum the book is great too. My husband has commented that we have more junk foood in the house now I am vegan than we ever did. IGA Black and Gold brand milk bottles default as vegan for instance. Chemist jelly beans are vegan. Many dark chocolates are vegan.
Examples of the dinners we make - felafel wraps, lentil shepherds pie, lasagne, Moroccon pizza, pasta, gnocchi, risottos, lentil burgers, bean burgers, chick pea burgers, Thai vegetable Laksas, mushroom and soba noodles, Gado Gado, chilli beans and rice, macaroni and "cheese", enchildas, bean and corn burritos, soups and home made herb and garlic breads, quinoa, barley, pearl cous cous, Moroccon tagines, chick pea ragout, store bought samosas and home made daal and many many more Indian dishes, "pesto" pasta, gyozo, nachos, satay glass noodles, rice paper rolls, spring rools, sushi, vegetable curries, brown rice dishes, vegetable curries, "sausages" and mash, corn fritters, singapore noodles. The list goes on and on and on.
I make cupcakes, brownies, chocolate spiders, chocolate fudge. Although I prefer whole foods and keep meat substitutes and soy products to a minimum I eat vegan marshmallows, vegan mayo, vegan cheese, vegan sausage rolls, vegan ice cream which is simply made using plant based milks such as coconut milk. It takes a little more planning and sometimes mean less choice when I eat out but I feel like I am missing out on nothing except for the contribution of cruelty towards animals.
I am the happiest and healthiest I have been in years. I have lost 12 kgs without even trying simply by not eating animal products. For there record most dressings are fine, I have never had an problem with bread, most sugar is fine and instead of honey I now use maple syrup or brown rice syrup on my pancakes and in my tea 🙂 It seemed completely overwhelming to me at firts because eating animals is all I knew but now it feels natural and right and I adore everything I eat. Once you see things through different eyes you see all the things you can have. Veganism is not about sacrifice. Its just about non violence 🙂
ecokaren says
WOW. Thanks for the list of great mouth watering vegan ideas! I've been trying to cut down on animal meats too and while I only eat fish occasionally, I find myself feeling better not eating animal meats. Thank you for your awesome advice!
Mary says
I haven't eaten a real marshmallow in many years for this reason. However, I discovered the best marshmallows ever made at Sticky Fingers, a vegan bakery here in DC (http://www.stickyfingersbakery.com/). These vegan marshmallows by Sweet & Sara are amazing, and come plain or rolled in toasted coconut. You can mail order them, at http://www.sweetandsara.com/
Karen says
OMGsh! Now you've done it! I'm gonna have to try Sweet & Sara. I think I passed by that building when I was in LIC recently! Thanks Mary!
Tasha Chawner says
I had no idea about the marshmallows!
I haven't eaten red meat for 13 years now. I don't insist that the family does it (although Husband has to cook if we are having anything red), but to go vegan... I think they would all leave home!
Karen says
I am going to work on my follow up post to this and talk about "alternatives" to this list. It seems like there are a lot of options out there that *I* personally don't know about. I do buy Organic Raw Sugar for my coffee but since I don't cook with white sugar for anything, it's not an issue but my DD loves to bake so now I know to not buy white sugar.
Off to do more research for the follow up. Don't mind me if I use some of your ideas. 😀 And if you come up with more, please e-mail me. Thanks. 🙂
linda stein says
You can get gelatin by boiling flax seed in water. And now there is sunflower lecithin in addition to soy lecithin. some Celaic disease patients react to lecithin. I am vegetarian. You can get a case of sugar in the Raw from a restaurant supply store. Yuk on the marshmallows and Frosted Miniwheats, which are now added to my to do list. I cannot cook for my carnivorous family, but they do like a lot of my "pretend" (as my kids call it) food. Linda
Lisa says
I do believe that there is vegetarian gelatin so homemade marshmallows are do-able.
I respect peoples eating habits I just don't get the honey as it is a gift from the bees!
Becky says
I think this list is pretty flawed. It makes veganism seem impossible and has some half truths on it. Here are a few at first glance:
+Vegans don't eat mayo, but Veganaise is just as delicious and cruelty free.
+There are lots and lots of vegan beers.
+Marshmallows aren't just not vegan. They aren't vegetarian. Sweet and Sara and +Dandies makes vegan marshmallows that are just as good as good as the kind made with crushed up bones.
+Salad dressing? Come on. There are tons of vegan dressings out there, and all you have to do is read the label to find what is and isn't vegan. As far as lecithin, more often than not companies use soy lecithin because it's cheaper.
Karen says
I think the article was just a general list and implying that the most common items that we see in grocery aisles are not so vegan-friendly. But in reality, it's really not vegetarian friendly and not just vegan. And you know what I learned from the list? I can only eat #3 and #4, now that I know what's in other items. Beer filtered from "Gelatin derived from fish bladders???" Eeeew.....But I should have mention in the article that there are many many vegan/vegetarian-friendly substitutes.
And the beer thing? The link does give you a list of vegan beers. At least they did that. 🙂
Jennifer says
I try to avoid gelatin as a vegetarian, but you'd be surprised what it turns up in: yogurt, Planters peanuts, frozen french fries, mousse, Hostess snacks...eew. I still eat dairy, so most of the stuff on your list is fine by me. Have to say...I think if I were presented with a puffy, golden, perfectly toasted marshmallow, I'd still eat it. 😉
Jen on the Edge says
One thing that I find interesting is that, even though gelatin is not vegan-safe, it is, however, kosher. A friend of mine is a rabbi and even he was surprised when he learned this.
Karen says
All gelatin? Do they all say, "kosher" or they don't have to be stated to be kosher???
BTW...I never knew the sofas you adore are called "Marshmallow Sofas"!!