Whether you already are vegan or you have considered going vegan, the biggest challenge remains choice. For many vegans, it can be staggering to find out food options that should be vegan but are nothing of the sort. Even many vegetable-only dishes are not vegan entirely. To help you work out what you should try and avoid, here are a few common food dishes that are surprisingly not vegan.
Gummy sweets
If you enjoy gummy candy then you will be sad to know that you probably need to stop. Almost every gummy sweet or candy is made using gelatin. This means that you are eating boiled bones and flesh from animals if you are eating these sweets.
For some people that is fine to ignore – for vegans who are serious about sticking to the rules of the diet, this is not going to be quite as satisfying to know.
Mints
Do you pop mints regularly? Then you might be gutted to find out that they are not vegan after all. The vast majority of mints and breath fresheners will contain gelatin which comes from animals. Animal bones and ligaments are boiled to create this jelly-like substance. So, if you are someone who takes lots of mints, you might want to re-evaluate that choice if you want to stay truly committed to the vegan lifestyle in full.
Vegetable burgers
These veggie burgers might seem like a no-brainer, but most of the time they are not vegan-friendly. The majority of veggie burgers are made using soy or chickpeas, but most of them will contain something that is not going to be friendly for vegans.
They tend to include things like milk and eggs, which means that they are not going to be vegan-friendly. Unless the burger specifically states on the packaging that it is for vegans, avoid it!
Vegetable soup
Last but not least – can you believe that vegetable soup is not a vegan meal?
It might be a winter staple, but it is not vegan. While you can make a vegan vegetable soup from home by using the right ingredients and prep, almost any store-bought or can-fed vegetable soup is not going to be vegan. They can include some non-vegan ingredients such as beef or chicken stock to add more taste to the soup.
Most of the time, they even contain things like pasta which uses egg whites so thus cannot be vegan either.