V Is For Vegetarian Certificate

People are vegetarian for lots of reasons. For some, it’s simple: they don’t like the taste of meat. Others may actually love meat, but worry that animals are treated badly; they refuse to eat meat for moral reasons. Stricter vegetarians may believe it’s wrong to kill animals for food. Some—especially in East Asia—are motivated by religion.

Lacto-vegetarians will eat dairy foods. Ovo-vegetarians will eat eggs but not dairy products. The strictest vegetarians—vegans—refuse any kind of animal product. And again they may do so for a variety of beliefs.

According to the US Vegetarian Resource Group, about 40 per cent of Americans are ‘flexitarians’, who occasionally eat meat. Many consumers in developed countries are also ‘meat-reducers’ who eat less and less meat (usually red meat) because they worry it’s nothealthy. How do you come up with a certification scheme that covers them all? Well, you can’t. Vegetarian certification is fragmented. Different countries and different organisations have different schemes. It can be a bit of a mess. Some vegetarians, especially in North America, look for kosher (Jewish) food certification, that states no animal products were used.

The Vegetarian Society in Britain has a well-established certification scheme that many vegetarians seem to respect and accept.

It trademarked its ‘Seedling Symbol’ in 1969. Several thousand products are licensed to use it—and the scheme has spread outside Britain too. Manufacturers pay at least US$500 a year per product for the right to use the symbol. You find some surprising names on the list. Burger King, for example. But think about it, and it does make sense: fast-food firms in Asia are pragmatic. They will use ‘turkey bacon’ instead of pig meat in their burgers to make sure they don’t lose Muslim customers. Why not get vegetarian certification for salads and beanburgers too, to give vegetarians assurance that they can eat these items. (The Vegetarian Society also mentions a ‘vegetarian accountants’—we’re not sure how they got on.)

Fast-food firms in Asia are pragmatic. They will use ‘turkey bacon’ instead of pig meat in their burgers to make sure they don’t lose Muslim customers. Why not get vegetarian certification for salads and beanburgers too?

There are several key conditions to get the Seedling Symbol:

• Your products must be free of animal flesh, meat or bone stock, animal carcass fats, gelatine, aspic, or any other products resulting from slaughter.


• Products and ingredients should not have been tested on animals.


• Eggs used must be free range.


• Products must be free from genetically modified ingredients


• Products must also be free from cross-contamination with nonvegetarian products and ingredients in the production process.

‘Unfortunately many food manufacturers do not understand the potential stumbling blocks with the vegetarian diet,’ the society says. ‘For example, many manufacturers think fish is an acceptable part of the diet or forget about animal rennet in cheese products. These misunderstandings make manufacturers’ own ‘V’ symbols worthless.’

ALCOHOL: Alcohol is in theory vegetarian. But there are potential drawbacks. Some beers, wines and spirits use non-vegetarian clarifying agents such as gelatine or egg white (which is usually from battery hens). Vegetarians also object to isinglass, which is made from the the swim bladder of the sturgeon fish, and chitin which is derived from crushed lobster or crab shells.

CHEESE: Rennet, an enzyme from the stomach of slaughtered calves, is often used to make cheese. This is not acceptable to the Society. Vegetarian cheese made with synthesised rennet is widely available.

BUTTER: Butter is acceptable to the Vegetarian Society, but other animal fats and fish oils are not. Vegetable oil, solid vegetable fat, sunflower or olive oil can be substituted, but they shouldn’t include genetically modified ingredients.

MARGARINE: Some margarine contains E471 (mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids), whey or vitamins A, D or E, which may be derived from non-vegetarian sources. It is safest to use a margarine that has Vegetarian Society approval as an ingredient.



HONEY: The Vegetarian Society says honey is acceptable, as it is a by-product of an animal that is then discarded. But it says royal jelly (which is secreted by worker bees to feed larvae that become queen bees) is not.

FRUIT JUICE: Most fruit juices are vegetarian. But some have been clarified with gelatine.

WHEY: The Vegetarian Society says whey or whey powder is acceptable provided it comes from a vegetarian cheese-making process that uses synthesised rennet.

WORCESTER SAUCE: This usually contains anchovies. There are however vegetarian versions available.