A
DEPENDS A bottle can hide fining agents, cream, honey or carmine, and the label won’t say.
NO Gelatin in Classic Peppermint, and in Wintergreen, Spearmint and Cinnamon too.
YES Almost always; gelatin used to clarify it can stay off the label.
B
DEPENDS Usually not: the trays we read had butter, ghee or honey. The phyllo is fine.
DEPENDS Some are, and the flavor name won’t tell you which.
NO Confectioner’s glaze (shellac), gelatin and honey, all on one list.
DEPENDS Flour, water, yeast and salt is; the legal standard still allows milk and egg.
C
NO A red dye made from cochineal insects, listed as CI 75470.
YES Plain carob powder is one ingredient; the chips add more.
DEPENDS The cabin can be; traces hide in parts you’ll never see.
NO Sold as non-dairy, and it lists sodium caseinate, a milk derivative.
NO It comes from animals, and “vegan collagen” contains none.
DEPENDS Some latex brands use casein, a milk protein.
YES Synthetic creatine is; a gelatin capsule or gummy isn’t.
D
NO Hikari’s names anchovy, bonito, frigate mackerel and scad on its Contains line.
DEPENDS The wax that holds a stick can be beeswax; Humble’s Original formula uses it.
NO Duck and goose feathers, certified down included.
E
YES Every product is vegan, by the brand’s own statement.
NO Not by our line, and the hen herself is the reason.
DEPENDS Some are; every Thomas’ muffin we read lists whey.
F
NO The list includes gelatin, and the allergen line names only wheat.
DEPENDS Most mixes add egg or milk; one we read doesn’t.
G
NO Made from animal skin and bones, every time.
NO Made only from milk, by the Indian legal definition; ask what “vegetable ghee” is.
DEPENDS A few are, and the bakery behind your troop decides which.
DEPENDS The bag decides: Skittles Gummies list gelatin, Jolly Rancher’s gummies don’t.
H
NO Beekeeping is the management of an animal.
NO Honey is the fourth ingredient, and the name says so.
J
NO Beeswax and confectioner’s glaze; “does not contain gelatin” isn’t a vegan claim.
NO The Jumbo bag lists gelatin; the creme in the jar uses dried egg whites.
L
NO Not yet: production can still need animals for cells and growth medium.
NO Cabot’s cheddar has 0 g of lactose and no animal rennet, and it’s made from milk.
NO The wax from sheep’s wool, often in lip balm.
NO A thrifted jacket is still an animal’s skin.
M
DEPENDS Read the ingredients; the cruelty-free bunny answers a different question.
YES Bred or engineered, they’re still plants.
NO The US standard requires egg yolk in anything sold as mayonnaise.
NO In the US, the frying oil’s natural beef flavor starts from hydrolyzed milk.
DEPENDS Made from plant oil or animal fat, and the label rarely says which.
NO Egg whites and calcium caseinate, a milk protein, in a vegetarian burger.
N
DEPENDS Vegan without carmine, guanine or shellac.
YES Magnesium chloride drawn from seawater, one of the two salts that set tofu.
YES A deactivated yeast grown on molasses; B12 is there only if the maker adds it.
O
YES Plain powder is dried onion; McCormick’s French onion dip mix adds buttermilk.
DEPENDS Lee Kum Kee’s Premium lists oyster extract first; its Vegan Oyster Flavored Sauce passes.
NO An oyster is an animal, whatever it feels.
P
NO A milk product under Indian food law; even the acid that sets it can be whey.
DEPENDS The Salted jar’s seasoning has gelatin; Lightly Salted is peanuts and sea salt.
YES A plastic fiber; watch for blends with down or wool.
DEPENDS The bacteria are fine; the capsule or the broth they were grown in may not be.
R
NO Bonded leather fibers; the percentage on the tag is how much of it is hide.
DEPENDS Some loaves are; the label decides, not the rye.
S
NO The secretion of the lac insect, also sold as candy glaze E904.
NO Spun by silkworms, peace silk included.
DEPENDS Skittles Original lists no animal ingredient; Skittles Gummies list gelatin.
NO The Original Fruit Chews contain gelatin.
DEPENDS Three of the four Pillsbury crusts we read are made with lard.
DEPENDS Yes, unless the cane sugar was filtered through bone char.
DEPENDS The UV filters never come from animals; the base can hold beeswax or lanolin.
T
YES Cassava starch; the milk is in the pudding, not the pearl.
DEPENDS The potato tots we read are; veggie tots had egg and whey.
YES Soybeans, water and a mineral coagulant; skip egg tofu.
NO Condensed skim milk and whey, under a Kosher OUD mark.
W
NO Fleece from an animal, mulesing-free or not.
DEPENDS Lea & Perrins lists anchovies; The Wizard’s Worcestershire is vegan, per its maker.
