Disclosure:
We DO accept free samples for review
We DO have advertising on the site
We DO post Amazon Affiliate links from time to time
We DON'T let the above influence our reviews. We say what we think, and that's why you come here.
About the Editor:
Chris Dixon... also known as 'Bez'. I've been vegan since 1991 and live in Nottingham.
Our Review Policy (amended October 2015):
We'll review anything that's vegan, including food, drink, alcohol, books, clothing, supplements. We won't review medicines or drugs. The starting point for our vegan definition is based on this:
The Vegan Society’s formal definition is: "veganism is a way of living which seeks to exclude, as far as is possible and practicable, all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose."We don't just review stuff that's vegan-certified or on official vegan lists however. We do NOT agree with the Vegan Society's advocation of allergy-level exclusion of trace animal foods. Why not? Remember that nothing is 100% vegan. Flour and other plant foods contain insect fragments. Small animals die in harvesting and transporting plant foods. Those food plants are grown with animal manures too. That's not to belittle these issues or to say they can't be eliminated eventually, but it gives us some perspective. Veganism is not an allergy.
Don't worry that your plain chocolate is made on a line that also produces milk chocolate. Don't beat yourself up because you buy food from a shop that also sells animal foods. The bigger picture is that we're trying to end animal suffering by promoting plant-based foods and compassion.
Here's what we'll review as vegan:
- The product contains no animal products in the ingredients
- The product was not knowingly processed with animal products (e.g beer finings)
- The product, or its ingredients were not tested on animals after 1995*
That does include:
- Products made by and sold by multinational companies
- Products which have 'May contain traces of' or similar allergy statements
- Products containing palm oil (we endeavour to highlight this in our reviews)
*Fixed Cut-off Date for Animal Testing
Why 1995? In the twenty years since 1995 the vegan movement has arguably made as much progress as in the previous fifty years. We have an awful lot of work left to do, but we've influenced society for the better, and the universal understanding of our relationship with animals in the developed world has changed. The 1995 date was the last time the novel food mycoprotein (used in Quorn) was tested on animals, as was required by authorities at the time. We feel that going forward it's only fair to allow mycoprotein products formulated without animal ingredients to be classed as vegan. We do not support future testing of novel foods on animals.
By submitting products for review, you accept our review policy. We reserve the right to continually review this policy and amend it as we see fit.
Our Sister Site:
Drop by plantfoods.org for all things tofu, nufu, leafu, qurd, yuba, seitan and anything fermented, coagulated, or generally not just 'veg'.
Contact Us:
Details on the Contact Us page
Plus the food that most of us eat isn't grown veganically due to derivatives used from the meat/dairy industry... unless we eat veganically grown food we can never be 100% vegan but we can be as vegan as we can possibly be otherwise... 25 years for me with three life time vegan children and we do try to grow some of our own veganic food... keep up the good work you do here :0)
ReplyDeleteYou are so right! I am just now waking up to the fact that most fruits and vegetables are NOT vegan! They have been farmed with animal inputs such as manure, bone and blood meal... Now is the time to get the veganic movement started! I am in US and it is even less heard of over here. I have started a facebook page to track our progress as we begin to build. https://www.facebook.com/veganicgardening?ref=hl
Deletecan we donate anywhere? I think you've saved me a lot of money (vegan meat/cheese not being that cheap! so saved me trying different types!). great work. and nicely written too!
ReplyDeleteJust keep coming back... that's all we ask...
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