Animal Ingredients

Lest we all think that the feds have been brainwashed by industry lobby groups determined to paint all animal rights activists as terrorists, here’s some good news: according to FatalException, the US government might be poised to make it easier for vegans to identify beer filtered with fish guts! OK, they don’t actually care about vegans, but people with life threatening allergies clearly need to be able to safely drown their sorrows, so later this year regulations may be passed that will require alcohol makers to follow the same rules that are in place for many food items, and if their wines are filtered with, say, isinglass, a simple warning might show up on the labels. In the meantime, of course, we’ve got your back with the vegan booze list. Link.

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Dagda Samildanc reports that Austria’s postal system doesn’t like vegans. OK, I have no idea what goes into the glue on the back of postage stamps already, but attempting to make it taste like ice cream in partnership with Haagen-Dazs just sounds wrong on a lot of levels. Link.

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newsjunkie was one of several who sent in news of a new development in ice cream technology that will allow manufacturers to create an ice cream using a protein obtained from the genetically modified blood of a fish to make a product that freezes differently. The end result is a lower fat product such as some kind of Breyers ice stick whatzit which I’m guessing doesn’t advertise its formula too loudly. I suppose that, at the end of the day, “dude, we made ice cream with less fat” wins out over “we did something technical with the blood of a fish,” and that’s got anti-GMO forces worried about the future. Personally, I’m just worried that nobody wants to give up the name of this mystery ingredient so I can put it on my watch list – even though it’s only being used in ice cream right now, Tofutti makes a lot of soy ice cream, but they also make a fake cream cheese that has salmon in it, and it takes a lot of work to understand when a fake animal product has a real animal product in it. Ingredient scans are always helpful, you know? Link.

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abbienorml sends news of a Florida restaurant’s entry in the unofficial “world’s most decadent hamburger” contest that seems to be spreading around. This one costs over a hundred dollars, and contains beef from the USA, Japan, and Argentina. In addition to the $100 tag, the burger is being sold at a private club that costs $40,000 to join and $3600 a year in membership. Don’t worry though, it’s not all about the diner: the restaurant is donating $10 from each sale to the Make-A-Wish Foundation which will benefit children with life-threatening medical conditions, possibly including cancer caused by living in proximity to a commercial feedlot. Link.

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There are a few glitches messing with my post schedule this morning, but here’s one from the archives while you’re waiting – my Dad used to frighten us as youngsters with talk about blood pudding, which is also called black pudding in some parts of the world, and it’s basically sausage with blood as a main ingredient. Since there’s a veg version of nearly everything these days, it should come as no surprise that black pudding is available in a vegetarian version. OK, cool, but am I the only one who thinks there might be a problem with calling a veggie sausage the V-Pud? I was under the impression that “pud” meant something else in North America… Link.

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Here’s a novel idea: according to a story sent in by kunsjoi, the UK Food Standards Agency has decided to actually define the terms vegan and vegetarian. What’s the government got to do with your food choices? Plenty, since they’re the ones who can enforce product labeling regulations. The change means that packaged goods that say they’re vegetarian will actually be vegetarian, and the same for vegan products, which will not only help with shopping, but perhaps more importantly, it’ll make the products more visible to omnivore consumers. The rules were drawn up with input from the Vegetarian Society, so they’re pretty solid. My only question is, if the terms weren’t regulated before, is there anything stopping someone from slapping “flexitarian” on a slab of bacon? Link.

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Baggy sent in news of the world’s most expensive sandwich, which is stupid, because I could put diamonds in a sandwich if I wanted to raise the price, but maybe they’re talking about expenses to the health care system (which, again, I’m sure I could top, but I digress). The sandwich, which is called the McDonald after its creator, consists of Wagyu beef, fresh lobe foie gras, black truffle mayonnaise, your mom, brie de meaux, rocket, red pepper and mustard confit and English plum tomatoes and can be yours for only 85 pounds and your immortal soul. Seriously, I can’t believe people still eat foie gras. We’ve already got a contest running right now, but if you want to post your most expensive vegan sandwich ideas in the comments, go nuts. Link.

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Dagda Samildanc sent this one in a month ago, but I wanted to savour it. It’s not everyday that you get a story about a man in a ninja mask stalking a guy. OK, that might be pretty common, because hey, ninjas are really good at stalking. This one, not so good – he was shot dead by his intended victim. Check out his ninja kit: David Ferguson’s body was equipped with bindings, tape, tarps, a blindfold and a pocket full of hot dogs. Does this mean that vegans can’t be ninjas, or maybe just that we can’t be bad ninjas? Are veggie dogs an acceptable substitution? Link.

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Kirk sent in the BBC’s reader-compiled list of 50 things you should eat before you die. While some of the items can be veganized (pancakes, ice cream, etc.), most of the items are varieties of dead animals from around the world. Maybe it’s a remnant of the whole British Empire thing and people still have a need to conquer, but I think that it just shows a lack of imagination among omnivores. Besides, as Kirk said, “On the other hand, considering the health implications of eating so many animal products they might mean ’50 things to eat and then you die.’” Feel free to post your nominations for the vegan list in the comments. My vote goes to pie. What kind of pie? “Anything on your list followed by the word pie” pie, that’s what kind. Link.

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