My idea of searching for vegan food never involved... avoiding sugar. But today, I discovered yet another thing that drastically changed my perspective on food: not all sugar is vegan.
Come again?
Until the age of 16, I was brought up in Romania, where most people adhere to Greek-Orthodox traditions. One such tradition is fasting before the major holidays of the year, such as Christmas and Easter. Whenever I discuss fasting with my American friends, or with anyone else around the world, they seem to have a different idea from mine. For some, it's giving up one food item that you are usually obsessed with. For others, it's giving up meat. Well, for Romanians, it's not eating any kind of meat, any kind of fish, or any kind of animal product. So, in essence, one could say I've been a vegan on and off while growing up, considering I would fast several times a year, right? Well, not so much.
I do not know enough to speak to this situation, but I just read in a number of places that most white sugar is filtered through bone char (that is, charcoal made from animal bones). I am in shock. Moreover, according to Vegweb.com, among other sources, certain ingredients that you see on packaged food (yes, that includes bread) may be derived from animals: mono and diglycerides, exthoxylated mono and diglycerides, glycerides, sodium stearoyl lactylate, emulsifiers and DATEM (Di-Acetyl Tartrate Ester of Monoglyceride). These are all animal-derived ingredients. Who knew?! And you can find them in packaged foods such as mustard, pasta, refried beans, and more.
I was thinking about a glass of wine with my dinner tonight (to tone down the overwhelming amount of information I've been intaking lately), but now I'm glad I did not have one. Did you know that animal blood was used in the past to fine wine? But animal-derived ingredients are still used in wine today, such as egg whites, gelatin, and casein. Luckily, there are Web sites that can point out some vegan choices even when it comes to alcoholic beverages.
Wow-- I'm really happy it's time for bed right about now! :)
5 comments:
I wish you luck! About 3 years ago I thought I would give it a try. After a jar of veganaise, soy yogurt, some EnviroKidz cereal and 2 weeks...I gave in to my love of cheese. However I still remain vegitarian-ish consuming seafood and eggs.
thank you, Sasha! I'm actually trying to stay away from products like that :) because I'm afraid I might get disgusted and give up. I am trying really hard to forget about cheese and eggs... and it hasn't been too bad.
This is not to say that I have not had 2 vegan cupcakes so far... and I'm contemplating some home-made vegan chocolate pudding tomorrow... from the hippie market down the street :)
Seriously, one of the hardest parts has to be researching and maintaining a list of foods that are safe. For some reason many companies don't like to say "Made with real animal blood/bones/etc"
Exactly, Jordan. I am still shocked to find out that somehow animal bones are a part of the sugar I've had my entire life. I mean, how come I was never aware that I could've made a choice between non-animal-bone-filtered sugar and the "regular sugar"?
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