It's probably not too hard to say no to a slab of steak, a bulging burger or a hearty sausage. But many of the ingredients in the foods we eat are not so easy to see.

Many vegos are concerned to avoid eating foods which contain animal ingredients or additives - foods which may appear vego at the first glance, but are not.

There's heaps of information about this topic on the web and elsewhere, so we'll keep it brief and give you some clues about where to look if you're interested in knowing more.

In Australia, it is legally required that all packaged foods must be labelled with:

• the name of the food
• the name and business address of the manufacturer or importer
• the country of origin of the food
• a nutrition information panel
• a use-by date or best-before date

In addition, the label must include a list of the ingredients of the food. They are listed in order of quantity (measured by weight), from greatest to smallest. The ingredients which make up the largest percent of the food are listed first, and the ingredients which the food contains in the smallest amounts are listed last.

This means that the main ingredients are listed first, with things like additives and preservatives which are added in small quantities listed last.

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Ingredients are components which are important to the composition of the food - they make up that food, and it wouldn't be the same food without them. (For example, lentils in a lentil pattie, flour in bread.)

As the name suggests, additives are not inherently part of the food, but are "added" to the food for a variety of purposes, for example making the food easier to use (eg changing the consistency, like making margarine more 'spreadable') or preserving the food longer. Other purposes include enhancing colours and flavours.

Additives are used in tiny quantities, compared with the component ingredients of a food. (In fact, regulations require that they must be used in the smallest possible quantity.)

Like ingredients, additives must be listed on the food label. They are listed by both name and number.

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In Australia, food additives must be listed on the food label. They are listed in two parts - 1) their function (eg "ANTIOXIDANT") and an identification of exactly what additive has been used, in the form of either the chemical name or number.

If the numbering system has been used, the preceding word (such as "ANTIOXIDANT") will only be a general term explaining the purpose the additive has been used for. It won't tell you exactly what specific additive has been used.

The number which follows identifies a specific additive, under an international system of numbering for food additives.

That's where identifying vego and non-vego foods can require a little more information. You need to know what additives the numbers refer to, and what those additives are made from.

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Often the amount of animal-derived additives or ingredients in a product is very tiny. On the other hand, their effects, even in small quantities, can sometimes be fairly powerful. It's really up to each vego to decide how much is too much for them.

It may be related to your reasons for being vego and what it means to you. For example, if you're vego for health reasons, the quantities of animal ingredients may be so small that they won't be important for you. If you're vego because you believe in minimising harm to all creatures, you may not want to eat anything which contains a product of animal suffering.

Your decision may depend on whether you are more worried about the integrity of your diet - what goes into your body - and making sure that no animal products passes your lips, or whether you're more inclined to weigh up the real practical impact of your diet on the animal economy.

On one hand, consuming animal products in tiny traces probably won't have much effect on the huge industry in animal foods - these additives are normally by-products of the huge industry in meat and other animal-derived products, and are cheap only for this reason. If lots of people stopped eating meat, the byproducts would become more expensive and producers of processed foods would look around for cheaper alternatives.

On the other hand, your consumer power is one of the most real powers you have (even though you're a drop in the ocean, the ocean is made up of drops). By boycotting products which contain animal-derived ingredients, you are doing your bit to pressure food producers to find animal-free alternatives to these additives and ingredients.

There are heaps of non-vegetarian ingredients. We've only listed some of the more common ones below, to give beginner-vegos a starting point. If you're concerned about this issue, please see some of the websites and other resources listed at the bottom of this page.

* Note: animal ingredients are not only used in foods! Watch out for some of the above products in your skin and beauty care products.

NB: There are many more! To learn more about non-vegetarian ingredients and foods, we recommend you check out some of the websites listed below or purchase a comprehensive vegetarian cookbook or guide (see Books, videos and resources under our Shopping Guide).

Again, lists of additives are just about endless - and they keep inventing more. Below are just a few of the most common additives which are normally derived from animal sources. There are many more additives which can sometimes be derived from animal sources.

If you want to be informed and keep up to date, we recommend you check out the web sites and other resources listed below.

On the web:

Food Standards Australia New Zealand (www.foodstandards.gov.au) - main page on food additives is at http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/foodmatters/foodadditives.cfm. Full lists of food additives by name and number can be accessed from this page.

Vegetarian Network Victoria (www.vnv.org.au)
- see the "Avoiding Animal Products" menu for lists of Animal-Derived Additives, Animal Products and Products to Avoid
Also offers several links to other sites.

The Vegetarian Resource Group (www.vrg.org)
- see Questions About Food Ingredients

Also try using the in-site search facilities on any of the Vego Websites Worldwide listed on our Links page

Books & other resources:

The New Additive Codebreaker by Maurice Hanssen with Jill Marsden $21.40
* Available from many regular bookshops.
Also available from Vegetarian/Vegan Society (QLD), 1086 Waterworks Road, The Gap QLD 4061 (07) 3300 9320 www.vegsoc.org.au (follow the link to Resources - available by mail order)

Animal Ingredients A-Z Compiled by the E.G. Smith Collective. $22.50
Available from Vegetarian/Vegan Society (QLD), 1086 Waterworks Road, The Gap QLD 4061 (07) 3300 9320 www.vegsoc.org.au (follow the link to Resources - available by mail order)

The information for the sections of this page under the main heading "Read the label: making sense of the fine print" was sourced from: Nutrition Australia www.nutritionaustralia.org - see Fact Sheets - Demystifying Food Labels and from Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) www.foodstandards.gov.au - see Food Additives

Page updated: November 2007

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