Is It Vegan?

As I sat pounding through a bag of Salt & Vinegar potato chips, I thought to myself-

“I’m pretty sure these are Vegan. My wife said the ingredients were vegan. Pretty sure that’s what I remember. Well I better start Googlin’! Hope I can stuff my face fast enough before I find something that fails the test.”

It Isn’t Healthy

Do I understand the absurdity of this thinking and what it contradicts? Of course I do. Yes, I want to promote and practice healthy choices and healthy living every minute of everyday. But some days, you come home a snarf on a bag of chips. Some days, with a hope and a prayer, you scroll your web search results on which of your favorite Girl Scout Cookies are vegan (hint: Thin Mints pass the test).

So that’s the inspiration of this blog post. The endless search I perform daily on the inter webs of “Is _____ vegan?”

You’ve done this before. You know the resources available online are vast. And one is often yielded with results that give you wiki-level, complicated chemical compound structure explanations of the chemical ingredients found in our food. I value that information immensely, I really do, but more often than not what I need is a ‘yes or a no’.

A Quick List at Your Fingertips

So that’s my offer to you. Here’s my simple ‘yes or no’. As of writing this the list has three because as I eat these chips and blog this post, the three things on this bag I am unfamiliar with are: Maltodextrin, Malic Acid, and Citric Acid.

I’m not going to fake like I know what these ingredients are. Even after blogging them, I’ll forget. What I can promise you is I did research before giving it a NickBellBlog proverbial Thumbs Up.

Bookmark this page now. I promise to grow it daily:

The List (i.e. is it vegan?)

• Citric Acid – YES. Naturally occurring in citrus fruits.
• Cholecalciferol – DEPENDS. This is the vitamin D in your supplement. Often comes from chemically messing around with lambs wool.
• Gelatin– NO. Comes from collagen which come me from animals.
• Glycerin – DEPENDS. Some glycerin is derived from tallow (animal based).
• Malic Acid – YES. Gives your S&V chips their tanginess. Naturally occurring substance.
• Maltodextrin – YES. It’s derived from starch. It’s in a bunch of stuff.
• Niacin – USUALLY. Pretty decent write up here.
• Riboflavin – USUALLY. Like niacin, some riboflavin is animal extracted.
• Subway Vegimax – NOPE. It has egg whites.
• Vitamin D – See “Cholecalciferol”.
• Wendy’s French Fries – DEPENDS. Ask them if they fry their nuggets in the same oil.
• Wendy’s Ketchup – NO. It has Natural Flavorings. If it’s unknown it’s a no in my book.

That’s it??? Yes! For now. Today (3/15/2018) is the birth of this post. Stay with me an watch it grow! Got any quick hitters I can add? Send them my way!

All the best and Plant Love to you all,

Nick Bell