# can vegetarians eat beef broth? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 16, 2015, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-vegetarians-eat-beef-broth/710001 "2015-01-16T17:57:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![copperwindow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@copperwindow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/copperwindow)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-vegetarians-eat-beef-broth/710001/1 "2015-01-16T17:57:11Z")
If not, why? Beef broth has no meat in it, it’s made from the bones. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-vegetarians-eat-beef-broth/710001/2 "2015-01-16T17:59:24Z")
> [@copperwindow](#): > > If not, why? Beef broth has no meat in it, it’s made from the bones. What exactly do you think “vegetarian” means? Why exactly do you think people become vegetarian? ---
**Author:** ![copperwindow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@copperwindow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/copperwindow)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-vegetarians-eat-beef-broth/710001/3 "2015-01-16T18:04:50Z")
I have no idea. I’m a vegan, and as one I still don’t understand vegetarians. If they can eat cheese that has rennet in it I don’t see what would be wrong with beef broth. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-vegetarians-eat-beef-broth/710001/4 "2015-01-16T18:06:22Z")
Most cheese is made from “rennet” from non-animal sources like [this one](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhizomucor_miehei). ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-vegetarians-eat-beef-broth/710001/5 "2015-01-16T18:30:29Z")
I can speak only secondhand from the vegetarians I know, and the one I live with. _Can_ they eat beef broth? Depends. My partner experiences fairly dramatic gastric distress after inadvertently consuming meat products, even in relatively small amounts. (Fish and chips cooked in lard might as well be a fistful of Olestra. Yeesh.) Can they eat _beef broth_? Well, it’s _not_ vegetarian. It is a meat product, full of meat proteins and fats. Or are you asking about some sort of moral or ethical or dietary consistency? If that’s the case, then it’s entirely up to the person eating the food. I know plenty of people who hew to vegetarian diets purely for health reasons; some are more consistent about it, some less so. I am an omnivore, but my personal ethics lead me to keeping my meat footprint small, sustainable, and non-factory; I do not, however, pretend to perfect consistently about it. My brother’s religion restricts him from eating any animal whatsoever; he, as far as I know, is entirely consistent about it for his own reasons. My partner eschews eating mammals; apart from the aforementioned lower GI trouble, she would never voluntarily eat beef broth as it is, well, beef. . ---
**Author:** ![Aquadementia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aquadementia/32/555_2.png) [@Aquadementia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aquadementia)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-vegetarians-eat-beef-broth/710001/6 "2015-01-16T18:36:37Z")
They can eat anything but probably will not want to. It’s kind of like saying it’s ok for them to lick a pork chop because licking ain’t the the same as eating. But I guess everyone has their own boundaries. ---
**Author:** ![Uniqueorn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uniqueorn/32/2807_2.png) [@Uniqueorn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uniqueorn)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-vegetarians-eat-beef-broth/710001/7 "2015-01-16T18:40:06Z")
My partner used to be vegan but found a life without cheese not worth living, so switched to being vegetarian. But she would never eat non-vegetarian cheese, nor drink non-vegetarian beer. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-vegetarians-eat-beef-broth/710001/8 "2015-01-16T19:20:58Z")
> [@copperwindow](#): > > I have no idea. I’m a vegan, and as one I still don’t understand vegetarians. If they can eat cheese that has rennet in it I don’t see what would be wrong with beef broth. How vegan are you? Do you eat white sugar, processed with animal bones? Do you use plastic bags made with animal fats? Do you listen to musical instruments glued together with animal glues? Or do you compromise somewhere along the way, deciding that the convenience of not living a monastic existence outweighs the harm you’re doing to animals? Vegetarians: same thing, different point along the continuum. ---
**Author:** ![iljitsch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/77aa72/32.png) [@iljitsch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iljitsch)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-vegetarians-eat-beef-broth/710001/9 "2015-01-16T20:11:59Z")
There are plenty of self-proclaimed vegetarians that eat meat. So apparently, yes. If you feel that killing a cow and then throwing away the meat while you use the bones to make broth that you then drink is technically within the limits of the narrowest possible definition of vegetarianism, have at it. ---
**Author:** ![LurkerInNJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ed655f/32.png) [@LurkerInNJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkerInNJ)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-vegetarians-eat-beef-broth/710001/10 "2015-01-16T20:33:22Z")
I’m vegetarian, and no, I don’t and won’t. I use only vegetable broth when cooking and read all ingredients for animal products. I don’t eat very many processed foods, so my diet is very clean. Don’t ever trust a restaurant soup as being vegetarian unless you are sitting in Vinnie’s Vegetarian Vault. Split pea has a ham base, french onion and vegetable both have a beef base, etc. Same thing with rice unless you are at a vegetarian restaurant. It probably contains chicken stock. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2015, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-vegetarians-eat-beef-broth/710001/11 "2015-01-17T00:47:08Z")
Depends on the vegetarian. My mother in law was vegetarian because she didn’t like the taste or texture of meat, but she would happily consume broths, foods with animal-derived additives, and the like because they have nothing to do with why she rejected meat in the form of slabs of stuff. If someone is a vegetarian for ethical reasons they might well avoid broths. ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2015, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-vegetarians-eat-beef-broth/710001/12 "2015-01-17T03:14:25Z")
My SO is a pescetarian (mostly vegetarian, but will eat fish occasionally), and avoids anything beef, chicken, or pork. So for him, the broth would be a no-go. He’s been vegetarian since 1986, and his choices are ethical and spiritual. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2015, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-vegetarians-eat-beef-broth/710001/13 "2015-01-17T05:41:50Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > How vegan are you? Do you eat white sugar, processed with animal bones? Do you use plastic bags made with animal fats? Do you listen to musical instruments glued together with animal glues? Or do you compromise somewhere along the way, deciding that the convenience of not living a monastic existence outweighs the harm you’re doing to animals? > > Vegetarians: same thing, different point along the continuum. Perfect answer. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2015, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-vegetarians-eat-beef-broth/710001/14 "2015-01-17T05:52:20Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Depends on the vegetarian. That’s really what it comes down to. You might not be eating meat, but a cow still died to make it, so it’s up to you how you feel about that and why you’re vegetarian. At my store this comes up a lot during lent as well (at least on Friday’s). Can a practicing Catholic eat a vegetable soup, made with chicken/beef broth on a Friday? There’s no meat in it, but it’s made with beef broth. We asked a priest, his ruling (er, interpretation) was ‘go for it’. You’re not eating meat, you’re still making an effort (kinda) to be meatless on Friday and, well, you’ve gotta eat. It’s not about having tasteless soup…or something like that, I don’t recall what that last part was, this was years ago. Luckily, my store has a very good Clam Chowder that we put on every Friday and a Vegan Vegetable Soup that’s in the regular rotation (that even non vegetarians like) and we also use it most Fridays during lent, as well as Lobster Bisque. Anyways, when people ask, it’s nice to be able to say, yes, you can have a beef broth based soup, we have a priest’s blessing on that one. Obviously, you’re free to interpret that differently if you want and we have plenty of other options. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2015, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-vegetarians-eat-beef-broth/710001/15 "2015-01-17T05:56:00Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Do you use plastic bags made with animal fats?. Damn, I didn’t know that animal fats were used in plastic bags. Shit. I’m not a vegan. I drink milk and eat eggs and cheese without animal rennet. But I do try hard to avoid things made with products that require the animal to be killed. Plastic bags are tough to avoid. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2015, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-vegetarians-eat-beef-broth/710001/16 "2015-01-17T06:08:42Z")
There are silicone and plant-based slip agents that do the same manufacturing and handling job as the animal-derived components, but good luck discovering which your bags use. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2015, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-vegetarians-eat-beef-broth/710001/17 "2015-01-17T14:03:38Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > There are silicone and plant-based slip agents that do the same manufacturing and handling job as the animal-derived components, but good luck discovering which your bags use. There’s an easy test for this. If your cats lick the bag, it’s one they used a fats-based product to keep the bags from clinging together. Then you should know until/when the store changes who they get to make their bags. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2015, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-vegetarians-eat-beef-broth/710001/18 "2015-01-17T14:14:02Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > There’s an easy test for this. If your cats lick the bag, it’s one they used a fats-based product to keep the bags from clinging together. Then you should know until/when the store changes who they get to make their bags. But I hate dragging my cat around to all the grocery stores. And trying to get it to lick bags…worse than trying to give it a bath. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2015, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-vegetarians-eat-beef-broth/710001/19 "2015-01-17T14:42:58Z")
> [@Bayard](#): > > I drink milk and eat eggs and cheese without animal rennet. But I do try hard to avoid things made with products that require the animal to be killed. Well, [I got bad news for you](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dairy_cattle#Calf): > [@Wikipedia](#): > > Market calves are generally sold at two weeks of age and bull calves may fetch a premium over heifers due to their size, either current or potential. Calves may be sold for veal, or for one of several types of beef production, depending on available local crops and markets. Such bull calves may be castrated if turnout onto pastures is envisaged, in order to render the animals less aggressive. Purebred bulls from elite cows may be put into progeny testing schemes to find out whether they might become superior sires for breeding. Such animals may become extremely valuable. …but that last bit is a little misleading. It’s very rare for bull calves to go into breeding programs. In short, the milk you drink pretty much requires the death of half the baby cattle who would otherwise drink the milk. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2015, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-vegetarians-eat-beef-broth/710001/20 "2015-01-17T16:23:52Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > That’s really what it comes down to. You might not be eating meat, but a cow still died to make it, so it’s up to you how you feel about that and why you’re vegetarian. I used to work with an ethical vegetarian who had no problem wearing stylish leather jackets and shoes. > [@Joey\_P](#): > > Can a practicing Catholic eat a vegetable soup, made with chicken/beef broth on a Friday? There’s no meat in it, but it’s made with beef broth. We asked a priest, his ruling (er, interpretation) was ‘go for it’. You’re not eating meat, you’re still making an effort (kinda) to be meatless on Friday and, well, you’ve gotta eat. It’s not about having tasteless soup…or something like that, I don’t recall what that last part was, this was years ago. Of course, [the Catholic church considers alligators to be ‘fish’.](http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/alligator-ok-to-eat-on-lenten-fridays-archbishop-clarifies/). 😛 It’s interesting that the Catholic church turns a blind eye or gives a wink and a nod to dietary restrictions, while I’ve heard the Jewish… erm, ‘church’? … is more strict than the laws say. We know that Jews are prohibited from eating meat and dairy together because of something about ‘eating the child in the milk of the mother’. To me, a heathen, that means that they can’t have beef with cheese made from cow’s milk, or a goat dish made with goat’s milk. But I’ve been told it’s forbidden to have a turkey cheeseburger, even though it’s impossible for the turkey to be eaten cheese made from its own mother’s milk. I’ve also been told that vegetarian burgers made with vegan cheese is forbidden. Apparently it’s been interpreted that even if the the combinations do not violate the law, they violate the _spirit_ of the law. > [@Joey\_P](#): > > a Vegan Vegetable Soup that’s in the regular rotation (that even non vegetarians like) This always gets me. Some people think that non-vegetarians hate vegetarian food. Obviously this isn’t true. Who doesn’t like a nice ear of corn or a baked potato or some brussels sprouts? But I understand that what is meant is food that is traditionally made with meat, being made without meat. I don’t think that meat-eaters not liking vegetarian substitutes is a given. I like Boca burgers, Tofurkey sausages, and other ‘fake meat’. My SO made some beans with just salt and liquid smoke that were great, even though I would have made them with salt pork. I’ve tried some vegan foods (i.e. vegan ‘substitutes’), and have not liked them very much. I have not had non-dairy cheese that I like. But for the most part, I like vegetarian dishes. ‘Even though I’m a non-vegetarian.’ (In actuality, I consider myself an ovo-lacto-pesco-carno-vegetarian. 😛 ) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-vegetarians-eat-beef-broth/710001.md?page=2)