Vegans and Vegetarians: What to Watch Out for?

[Gem Flower]

To start off, this thread is not to become a debate on the ethics of vegans and vegetarians. I want to know, as someone who is becoming vegetarian, what foods I should watch out for because one wouldn't expect them to contain animal products such as rennet, etc. Does anyone know?

[Evil DM Mark3]

You asked me not to get into the whys too much so I wont but one thing I will say is to keep an eye on your vitamin and mineral intake, despite what many people expect giving up meat can really knock those about. Be aware of B vitamins in particular, there are some of those that are found only in meat at levels that are of much use to humans. Or not. People disagree. Just be aware of it.

As for foods to be aware of, be careful around crisps and other processed foods. They put all sorts in those things. Speaking as a person with a food allergy what you want to do is go around the supermarket and check everything. Vegetarian status is clearly labeled on most foods, but where you don't see it peer at the ingredients carefully. Be glad you are not looking for tiny print allergy warnings. After a while you will get a feel for it and be able to make best judgment calls. Brand names will be better on processed foods as they are less likely to have the cheapo ingredients to hide.

[Pyrian]

Well, marshmallow comes quickly to mind, and everything else containing gelatin.

Really, most vegans I know steer far clear of processed foods in general except those specifically made for vegans; they don't even really shop at normal grocery stores.

[Roland St. Jude]

Sheriff of Moddingham: Please don't restart locked threads without permission. Not even if you think you can create a more civil version. We will likely return to the vegan/vegetarian discussion eventually, but we really need a cooling off period.