Common Products that are NOT VEGAN
Marshmallows, Jello, Gummy Bears & anything with Gelatin
To manufacture gelatin, one of its processes requires boiling down animal bone, skin, tendons, ligaments… (pretty much anything that most people do not eat from on an animal) with water until an acid solution is made.
Items such as Jell-O, candies, marshmallows, cakes, ice cream, and yogurts, vitamins as a coating and as capsules, shampoos, face masks, and other cosmetics.
Honey
The most common dietary vegan question – Why is honey not vegan? Well, honey is a combination of nectar and the bees’ enzymes that are regurgitated out of their mouth. Bees actually use their honey for hive ventilation and food for their babies. Simply put, honey is not made for humans to consume. Bees are amazing pollinators and their numbers have been drastically declining. Using bees for their honey does not help stabilize their populations. We must stop intervening with nature so that ecosystems can thrive.
Alternatives include: Bee Free Honee, Agave Nectar, Maple Syrup, Date Paste, Coconut Nectar
Fish, Clams, Oysters
Something we have heard many times – “Fish aren’t animals, right?!”. Indeed, fish are animals!! Fish are most certainly thinking, feeling beings that have the capacity to suffer. Bivalve mollusks are in a category of their own as they have a protective exterior shell that covers a soft-bodied invertebrate. Just like fish, mollusks are categorized as animals. As vegans, we do our best to not cause others to suffer needlessly. It is possible to live happily and even thrive on a diet that does not consist of any animal products, including sea creatures.
Milk (anything with Dairy)
The dairy industry is one of the most unsustainable and cruel farming industries. Just like human beings, a cow must have a baby in order to lactate milk which is used to nourish their young. In order for the industry to meet the demand across the U.S, dairy farmers have to technically “rape” these cows by artificially inseminating them time after time until they are no longer useful. Their calves are taken away within hours or days which is very stressful on the calf that are typically shipped away to be placed in small crates as veal or to the slaughterhouse. Sadly, all these cows are eventually sent to the slaughterhouse to produce meat.
The culture of our time has always advertised that drinking a glass of milk a day will strengthen your bones, however there are so many plant based alternatives that exceed the benefits of dairy milk. (Example: Almond milk, cashew milk, rice milk, soy milk)
Resources:
http://www.cowspiracy.com/facts/
http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-food/factory-farming/cows/dairy-industry/
http://www.pcrm.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/health/Nutrition-Fact-Sheets/Dairy-Fact-Sheet.pdf
http://www.madcowboy.com/01_AboutPS.000.html
Alternatives Include: Almond milk, coconut milk, rice milk, soy milk, cashew milk.