Wednesday, 30 March 2011

5 surprising things that are not vegan

Cows, the most used & abused animal on the planet.


1. Condoms. The majority of condoms contain casein, which is a protein from animal milk. Vegan friendly ones exist that use cocoa powder instead. Brands include Glyde, Fusion and  Condomi.

 2. Candles. Some candles use cochineal as a colorant. Cochineal is not vegan or vegetarian friendly and is the equivalent of having meat in your candles.



3. Margarines, butters and spreads. Most contain milk, but there are vegan alternatives available.

4. Vegetable soup/broth. Not all vegetable soup is suitable for vegetarians never mind vegans. Some soups like Campbell's in the UK are made with beef broth. Always check the label and assume nothing. As Dwight says in The Office (US), assume makes an ass out of you and me.



5.Crisps, or potato chips as they are called in America. Quite often they have milk added, especially in the store's own versions. Cheese flavoring may be made with animal rennet and meat flavours like beef and bacon may use animal flavourings.

Note - Chips/fries can also be made in animal fat.

For advice on whether things are vegan, why not check out http://www.isitvegan.com/?


 

Tuesday, 29 March 2011

Dark Places

When I first started writing my Cruelty Free book, I had no idea of all the dark places I would have to re-visit.

Places where animals are caged and treated appallingly before, terrified out of their wits and knowing what's coming (nobody can tell me different), they are killed by someone not fit to live on the same planet as them.

Places where animals are given poison just so some vacuous person can be wrinkle free and look like a freak. Who looks good with an ironed face?

Places where someone would rather wear the carcass of a dead animal than see the beautiful animal it belongs to in the wild.

I read all these things and I think I am in the middle of a nightmare. This cannot be real, but it is.

How can we call this humanity?