Foods That Look Vegetarian But Aren’t Part 1

When I turned 12, I decided to stop eating meat, making me a pescatarian since I eat fish. To be honest, my parents are still worried that I don’t consume meat. I did have anaemia, so I take an iron supplement. I never was a meat fan. A lot of times, mum cooked it, so I ate it; I hated disappointing my family growing up.  From my experience, food isn’t all that it looks like. I recently looked out for foods that you think are vegetarian but, in reality, aren’t.

Cheese

In some cheese-making processes, rennet is used. Rennet comes from the stomachs of calves to help the milk coagulate into curds and whey. An alternative to rennet is are aspartyl (acid) proteinases. The gene for calf chymosin has been cloned in several micro-organisms—the product (referred to as fermentation-produced chymosin; FPC). I studied cheese-making at school, but since I’m not the one who buys the cheese, I do eat regular cheese.

Red Candy

I was shocked to learn that anything that natural red dye colour is added by crushing beetles. Beetles that are boiled in ammonia or sodium carbonate to extract a red dye. Some companies use it to avoid artificial dyes but keep the bright colours people associate with candy. From now on, there is no way I will eat any coated candy.

Beer and Wine

Some wine manufacturers use “isinglass” (aka ground up fish bladders) to filter out leftover yeast particles that make beer and wine look cloudy. However, I have to say that I have seen my dad doing homemade wine for years, and I never saw him using fish bladders.

Frosted Mini-Wheats and Lucky Charms

I was shocked to learn that not all cereals are suitable for vegetarians. Yes, you heard me right Frosted Mini-Wheats, and Lucky Charms contain gelatin. Since gelatin is made from the skin and bones of animals is definitely not vegetarian friendly.

The main reason I don’t eat meat is simple; I don’t like the taste. Apart from that, animals give some love that I don’t feel right that they have to be killed for me to eat them.

Alex

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