Veganism has become a very popular and appealing lifestyle for consumers. Plant-based diets are great because they help the environment, prevent animal cruelty, promote healthy eating, and avoid heavily processed foods.
There are a significant number of brands on the market that have now started bringing out vegan products. However, not all these companies are legitimate. They want to capitalize on the popularity of veganism, as opposed to genuinely help the cause. As such, consumers need to recognize which vegan food products are legitimate and which ones may not be.
This is easier said than done. Fortunately, we’re here to help readers with this predicament in this article. So, keep reading to find out how to distinguish genuine plant-based products from the fake ones out there.
Check the Ingredients
First things first, you should always check the ingredients. Some products are marketed as vegetarian friendly, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re vegan friendly. For example, certain vegetarian sweets contain beeswax, which obviously comes from an animal.
You should also be on the lookout for things like albumen, casein, cochineal, gelatine, confectioners glaze, food-grade wax, and isinglass. Judging by the name, you wouldn’t guess that these ingredients aren’t vegan, but unfortunately, they are indeed made from animal products. So, don’t be fooled by seemingly innocuous foods. Always research the logistics and origins of their ingredients.
Clear Labelling
Some food brands might be deliberately misleading with their marketing, tricking people into buying their product because they think it’s fully vegan. For example, they might say ‘0% meat’ on the package, but they’re still could be animal products within the food. Of course, companies can’t make false claims because this would be illegal. But that doesn’t mean they won’t be crafty to attract vegan customers. As such, you should always look at the label. If the product is legitimately plant-based, it will be clearly marked with a ‘suitable for vegans’ logo.
Product Traceability
For the vegans among us that are particularly thorough, you might want to look at suppliers that use a food traceability system.
This means manufacturers will know everything that you will need to know about the product. This includes where it was produced and dispatched, how the manufacturer disposes of waste, who has handled the food, everything in the food production process will be recorded.
With this information, manufacturers will be able to make solid claims about its legitimacy. For example, the brand Oatly got into hot water recently because their parent company had partnered with another business, which was facilitating climate change. This defeats the purpose of veganism because plant-based lifestyles are all about saving the environment.
Supply Chains
Finally, you should investigate the supply chains for your favorite vegan products. Completely legitimate brands would never buy stock from suppliers that sourced their ingredients unethically.
Have a look online and see what other people have discovered about brands to see how authentic they are about the vegan cause.
These are the main ways to check how legitimate vegan food products are. We hope that this advice has helped you to live your best plant-based life.