Some species of fig, including those we eat, contain non-vegan elements. Photo / 123RF
Some species of fig, including those we eat, contain non-vegan elements. Photo / 123RF
The casual eater might have been perplexed to hear the furore around Tesco's greengrocer section, which has come in for criticism for selling non-vegan fruit.
What is a non-vegan fruit, you might reasonably ask? Well, the fruit itself isn't the issue, rather the wax used to keep it fresher forlonger. This is primarily sprayed on to citrus fruits and can be made from either shellac, secreted by lac beetles, or beeswax made by bees.
Tesco has already announced it is looking for alternatives, but that non-vegan fruit exists at all has been a cause of bemusement for some.
"I think it'll keep getting easier and easier to be a vegan and not have to go hunting around the packets or asking the companies directly how they manufacture their products to avoid this stuff," says Samantha Calvert, a spokesperson for the Vegan Society.
The Vegan Society has registered 61,000 products worldwide as suitable for vegans since 1990, and has seen an enormous uptick in the number of manufacturers coming forward for registration in the past five years, since veganism started to go mainstream.
"We have good labelling legislation in the UK and Europe but that's only for ingredients, not processing aids which is where things become tricky," says Calvert. "It's easy to avoid milk or shellfish because those are common allergens, but if you're looking at a wine which has been clarified with fish products, they don't have to be labelled. That's where looking for 'suitable for vegans' labels is helpful to check whether the tests have been done."
These days, Calvert says, most non-vegan products used in manufacturing can be replaced with vegan-friendly alternatives, so the process of making products vegan-friendly without compromising on taste, texture, smell or look is usually easy.
Even so, there are still a few surprising products for which vegans should be careful to check the ingredient lists or speak with manufacturers. We've rounded up a few of the most unexpectedly non-vegan products below…
Some citrus fruits are covered in a wax made from shellac, a substance originating from beetles. Photo / 123RF
Many citrus fruits are covered in a wax made of shellac, a substance secreted by the female lac beetle. It is used to keep fruit, particularly citrus fruit, fresh while in transit and helps them last longer in the fruit bowl. It is also sometimes called confectioner's glaze and used to give a shiny finish to products, so you'll also find it on some liquorice, chocolate and ice cream cones. Look out for E904 on the ingredient list, as this is shellac.
Figs
Some species of fig, including those we eat, contain dead wasps. Figs are inverted flowers and, like many flowers, come in male and female varieties. Female wasps climb inside figs to lay their eggs. If the wasp flies into a male flower she lays her eggs and leaves. The eggs will hatch and the wasps will fly off covered in pollen to begin the cycle anew while the fig will fall to the ground, inedible.
If she accidentally flies into a female fig the wasp will get trapped and die of starvation. An enzyme called ficin produced by the fig breaks down the wasp's body and absorbs it into the fruit. Not all figs contain wasps as they can be pollinated by hormonal sprays. Many vegan organisations decree that figs are vegan, because this is a natural process in the fig and wasp's life-cycle and isn't forced upon by humans.
Luxury vanilla flavouring
Castoreum, used in some vanilla flavourings, is exuded from sacs beneath beavers' tails. Photo / 123RF
The 'natural source' used in the production of vanilla flavourings is castoreum, a yellowish substance exuded from sacs beneath a beaver's tail, near their anus. It used to be an immensely popular product in the 19th Century, but these days 94 per cent of vanilla flavourings are made without it. However, if you're eating a particularly luxurious vanilla product it may still be included, though you won't find it on the ingredient list as it can be referred to as a 'natural flavouring'. The good news is it can be extracted from beavers without cruelty, so no beavers were necessarily harmed.
Red foods
Raspberry jam, strawberry yogurt, some ketchups; if you're eating anything red or pink, keep an eye on the ingredient list. If it contains E120, otherwise known as carmine or carminic acid, it isn't vegan. The red colouring is made from ground up cochineal scale insects native to South America. However, if your red product instead uses 'red dye 40' it will be vegan, as this is a synthetic red dye made from petroleum.
Chewing gum
Many chewing gums contain gelatin, a product made using animal hooves, skin, hide and bones. Photo / 123RF
The substance nebulously referred to on ingredient lists as 'gum base' is often not suitable for vegans. It commonly contains gelatine, a collagen product reasonably well-known to vegans (and a reason why most gummy sweets are not vegan friendly). It is made from the hooves, skins, hide, and bones of pigs and cows. Gum base can also contain lanolin, a wax derived from sheep's wool, stearic acid made from animal fats, and lecithin made from eggs. Most of these can be made from plant-based sources, however, so do check whether the gum in question is approved for vegans.
Flour and bread
While it's generally better to stick to wholemeal bread for a variety of health reasons, vegans would do well to keep an eye out for E-numbers including E910, E920, and E921 otherwise known as L-cysteine. This product is made from animal hair and feathers and used as a proving agent in bread and other baked goods. Also be mindful that some artisanal breads may contain milk or eggs in their finish.
Beer, wine, fruit juices and vinegars
Some beers and wines are filtered using isinglass, a product derived from fish swim-bladders. Photo / 123RF
Nowadays a lot of beer, wine, vinegar, and fruit juice is filtered with synthetic alternatives, though the use of isinglass does persist. This product is made from the dried swim-bladders of sturgeon fish and is used as a filter in beer and wine. Unfortunately, because isinglass is a filtering product and not an ingredient, manufacturers aren't mandated to include it on the label, so it's best to look for those which actively feature a suitable for vegans accreditation.
Sugar (particularly from America)
For American vegans, it's worth keeping an eye on the ingredients in refined sugar, as this sometimes involves using bone char, made from animal parts, as a whitening agent to make the sugar look nicer. Here in the UK, bone char doesn't tend to be used in sugar manufacturing, so it is almost always vegan anyway. If you're consuming sugar or sugar products from abroad, keep an eye out.
