Beginner's Guide to Vegan Grocery Shopping
One of the most memorable things about turning Vegan is your first trip to the supermarket. You'll stand there reading the ingredients list of pretty much everything you touch like a mad man and you'll put most of them down because you'll come to realise that almost everything contains milk or animal products argh!
Don't worry, you are not alone and I promise you after some time you will get used to what is cruelty free and shopping will be much faster again! I have put together a list of things to look out for to hopefully help make your grocery haul less stressful. My biggest tip though is, if you want it, just read it, even if you think it would definitely not be Vegan! You would be surprised at what things are accidentally Vegan, like Oreos, Shape's Roast Chicken biscuits and Massel's chicken and beef stock!
1. Bread
Not all breads are vegan! Some contain butter, egg, milk, depending on the variety. Brioche always has butter or milk (unless you've found a Vegan labelled one) and a lot of naan breads contain egg too. Different bakeries do things differently so don't just assume that because one place was vegan all of them are.
2. Chips and snacks
If you are a snacker and love your potato crisps/chips then this one will hit you hard. Pretty much every flavour will include milk or cheese for absolutely no reason at all. I normally stick to the safe chilli, salt and vinegar, salted flavours but just read each packet before you get them.
3. Sauces and condiments (mainly Asian sauces)
A lot of Asian sauces and curry pastes contain fish sauce so make sure you read the jars when buying things such as kimchi, curry paste, Worcestershire, Japanese okonomiyaki sauce or char siu sauce. Some marinades and sauces even have honey even if it doesn't name it that for e.g. BBQ sauce so check for that too!
4. Mock Meats
Just because it isn't meat doesn't mean it's Vegan. Some brands are only Vegetarian and will still contain eggs, cheese and milk such as Quorn. Quorn will have a huge Vegan logo on the front if it is Vegan otherwise it will 100% contain egg whites.
5. Chocolate
Just because it is dark doesn't mean it's dairy free. Read your labels!
6. Gelatine
Anything with gelatine is not Vegan because it is made out of animal skin and bones and is most commonly found in products like marshmallows, jelly beans, jelly and even vitamin capsules!
7. Wine
Wine is often processed with egg whites and milk (arghh completely unncessary right?). The tricky thing with wine is not all bottles will list their ingredients so you have to look out for a few things. Most of them will say on the label whether the process was made with eggs or milk and that it may contain traces. The safest bet though is to buy Organic wine as they don't use animal products for them!
8. Fresh Noodles and Pasta
Egg noodles are pretty self explanatory but keep in mind most fresh noodles/pasta that look yellow have egg in it so make sure you check the labels. Dried versions often don't contain egg so they can last longer so don't worry, there will always be an alternative for you!
I hope you found this useful! Let me know in the comments below if you have any questions regarding a plant based lifestyle as I would love to help!
Oreos are not vegan. Their sugar is processed using bone char and they have cross contact with milk products.
https://www.everythingvegan.com/blogs/is-it-vegan/are-oreos-vegan
If you have a problem with honey, then refined sugar is just as bad, if not worse.
Bone char seems to generally be a problem in the US. It is not a practice that occurs in Australia/NZ/Europe, so you're safe there. I can't speak for other countries.
Not all oreos are vegan and the link you have provided has explained enough about the fine line of determining what's vegan or not. A lot of products have possible cross contamination with milk products because they are manufactured in the same factory which is inevitable at this point in time. However the point of restraining myself from consuming/purchasing products with animal products in it is to encourage the economy to grow in a more humane direction. It doesn't mean that I am allergic and will be sick because of cross contamination. There is a difference.
Just because I don't want to use honey doesn't mean I only use refined sugars. You can use non refined vegan sweeteners such as pure maple syrup, agave, date or coconut nectar.
Thank you for your input.
Once the meat industry stops, there will be no animal bones to grind down, hence no bone char. They will use charcoal or some other material. I beleive Jack Daniels use the charcoil from their used barrels to filter the whiskey vs using animal bone char.
That's actually really cool I've never heard about that one. But I agree once that industry stops there will be non animal alternatives for everything but it's a long process that doesn't just happen overnight.
This is a great post my friend =) I love how you listed it all up =)
Thank you! I just thought it would be helpful for people who are transitioning so that they wouldn't be put off from just shopping!
I really don't understand why manufacturers have to put milk in EVERYTHING. It's so annoying.
I know! Even for shampoo and hand wash. Just everything!
It's ridiculous. Why does milk go in shampoo? There's 0% reason for that.
Wine???? For what purpose? I think I am sticking to making my own!
I know! That one blew my mind!