# Surprising things that are not vegan-compliant **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 9, 2024, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-things-that-are-not-vegan-compliant/1008603 "2024-10-09T14:06:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2024, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-things-that-are-not-vegan-compliant/1008603/21 "2024-10-10T23:13:03Z")
[The colour red.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carmine) [Bandages.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chitosan#Wound_management) ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-things-that-are-not-vegan-compliant/1008603/22 "2024-10-11T01:33:20Z")
Most vegans don’t eat honey, and do eat almonds, despite the fact that it’s easy to buy local honey from bees that are basically pets that could fly away at any time if they weren’t happy, and almonds are pollinated by enslaved and abused bees that are shipped across the country and suffer a lot of mortality (whole hives dying) from the stress. As said above, you have to draw the line somewhere, and there’s a lot of benefit in all using the same standard. The non-vegan food that surprised me the most was white sugar. But it turns out that even though most sugar isn’t certified as vegan, it’s becoming uncommon to use animal-based charcoal in refining it. I’ve seen websites that help you read the labels on ordinary brands of sugar to decide which plant it was processed in and thus whether bones were involved. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-things-that-are-not-vegan-compliant/1008603/23 "2024-10-11T07:30:41Z")
Yeah, I think the use of bone char in sugar refining was more of an advantageous use of a waste product, than it was anything to do with the very specific suitability of the material. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-things-that-are-not-vegan-compliant/1008603/24 "2024-10-11T08:22:42Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > The “dead past” is indistinguishable from “the living present.” Where exactly does the vegan who speaks for **EVERY VEGAN EVER** draw that line? ⁢ The general rule is that the animals were not killed by or exploited by humans. If it died a natural death, it’s considered okay. Because no human contributed to that animal’s suffering. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-things-that-are-not-vegan-compliant/1008603/25 "2024-10-11T08:27:36Z")
Nobody’s mentioned Jell-O yet? ---
**Author:** ![JacobSwan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@JacobSwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacobSwan)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-things-that-are-not-vegan-compliant/1008603/26 "2024-10-11T10:27:11Z")
Polymer banknotes as used in the UK, Canada and a few other places, contain beef tallow. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-things-that-are-not-vegan-compliant/1008603/27 "2024-10-11T11:06:33Z")
Probably because it’s not “surprising.” ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-things-that-are-not-vegan-compliant/1008603/28 "2024-10-11T15:57:40Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > > [@kaylasdad99](#): > > > > The “dead past” is indistinguishable from “the living present.” Where exactly does the vegan who speaks for **EVERY VEGAN EVER** draw that line? ⁢ > > The general rule is that the animals were not killed by or exploited by humans. If it died a natural death, it’s considered okay. Because no human contributed to that animal’s suffering. I know a vegan who ate unfertilized eggs from their roommate’s pet chicken. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-things-that-are-not-vegan-compliant/1008603/29 "2024-10-11T17:00:36Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > The general rule is that the animals were not killed by or exploited by humans. If it died a natural death, it’s considered okay. Because no human contributed to that animal’s suffering. I doubt vegans eat carrion, not even when no human was ~~responsible~~ guilty of the death. Vultures are not generally considered to have a vegan lifestyle either. **kayaker** has already mentioned isinglass as clearing agent for wine and ale (and other types of beer and champagne, I would like to add). In some regions like Spain often egg white is used as clearing agent instead of isinglass, which is also not vegan. In those regions the remaining egg yolks are often widely used for all kinds of very yummy sweets. Yemas de Santa Teresa is a typical example: very sweet, very tasty and full of cholesterol: > **[Try an Easy Yemas de Santa Theresa Recipe for Dessert](https://www.thespruceeats.com/yemas-de-santa-teresa-recipe-yemas-de-avila-3082986)** > > Yemas de Santa Teresa is an easy recipe for a traditional Spanish sweet made with egg yolks, granulated sugar, and water, and coated in powdered sugar. Others simply make eggnog, [advocaat](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advocaat) or [Eierlikör](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eierlik%C3%B6r), which essentially the same stuff with different proportions of egg yolk, sugar, and alcohol. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2024, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-things-that-are-not-vegan-compliant/1008603/30 "2024-10-11T21:16:47Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > > [@BigT](#): > > > > The general rule is that the animals were not killed by or exploited by humans. If it died a natural death, it’s considered okay. Because no human contributed to that animal’s suffering. ⁢ > > I doubt vegans eat carrion, not even when no human was ~~responsible~~ guilty of the death. I definitely know of some who have. But, of course, most don’t actually have a taste for meat. And it’s difficult to catch carryon when it is appetizing and safe to eat. So it’s obviously quite rare. It doesn’t really change the general ideals of what veganism is. People act like it is unknowable, but seem to forget veganism has a clear origin and a society that established the baseline rules. > **[Veganism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veganism#Vegan_etymology)** > > Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products and the consumption of animal source foods, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A person who practices veganism is known as a vegan; the word is also used to describe foods and materials that are compatible with veganism. > Ethical veganism excludes all forms of animal use, whether in agriculture for labour or food (e.g., meat, fish and other animal seafood, eggs, honey, and dairy pro... [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-things-that-are-not-vegan-compliant/1008603.md?page=1)