Vegan ingredient name list (FD13072020-1)(under progress)

Last update : April 2018 

This post contain ingredient name list that are usually found in product labels. Mainly to help identify which ingredient are suitable for vegan, buddhist. This post will be like a simple dictionary which the list will grow over time (whenever this author had time to post up a new finding and find it necessary)

The buddhist concept in this post are based on no meat, no egg, no animal milk (lankavatara sutra), no five pungent foods (forbidden for surangama mantra upholder - which mean no garlic, onion, scallion, leek and chive), no ginger(because it easily cause anger). there are mixed concept on cow milk (generally it is practised by tibet buddhism but from author understanding cow milk and animal eggs are not consider vegetarian in most chinese buddhism as this mean one are not practising compassion as preach by buddha)

The vegan concept in this post are based on  no animal meat, no insect as food, no honey (as many consider honey is bee food and bee vomit).

Three type of category is listed here:
Vegan , Buddhist  - Yes  = this mean it is suitable for vegan , buddhist
Vegan , Buddhist - Depend - this mean this is a grey area. the sources could be coming from animal or plant depending on the manufacturer.
Vegan, Buddhist - No - this mean this is not suitable. usually contain animal sources . 

* do consider knowing the ingredient safety aspect ,  how long it is safe to be used. for example, certain mushroom cannot be soaked more than how many hours. and certain fruits if already cut out, how long can it be keep since it will become easily infected by bacteria .

Ingredient name - for vegan, buddhist? - description. source.

A
Alum - Vegan - Depend, Buddhist - Depend . while it is use in baking section, it is consider to be toxic in large doses. and can degenerate nervous system health .  reader are advise to do their own checking whether it is safe to use such ingredient.

Artichoke- vegan- Yes, Buddhist - Yes. it is a type of vegetable that is not fully ripen yet. however there are certain parts of it are inedible so it is good to find out how to prepare the plant in advance.


B
 
Benzoic Acid - Vegan - yes , Buddhist - Yes - process from toulene.

Bird Nest - Vegan - No, Buddhist - No. Bird nest is an animal product where the bird spit out its own vomit to make nest. though there are claim that the nest is harvested only after the bird egg is hatched. in buddhism, it is consider no as eating bird nest can result one of the retribution that is losing one own home property (for eating the bird house).

Black Fungus Mushroom (Cloud Ear fungus) - Vegan - Yes. Buddhist - Yes. It is a plant. however extreme case needed to be noted related to this ingredient since the mushroom are soaked for more than 4 hour it can lead to grow of bacteria and can causes dead.

C

Caramel - Vegan - depend , Buddhist - Depend - made of sugar. majority caramel is consider vegan. However some product may not necessary vegan.

Carmine / Cochineal / natural red 4 /CI 75470/ E120 - Vegan- No; Buddhist - No - made of bee shell.

Cholecalciferol -  Vegan - No, Buddhist - No - usually made of fish, cheese and egg.

Cocoa Butter (Theobroma oil) - Vegan - Yes , Buddhist - Yes - extract from cocoa bean.

Cow milk - Vegan - No ; Buddhist - Depend. from vegan perspective cow milk is consider unethical due to the fact of stealing the milk meant for baby cow (there are other ethical issue including health reason and cow suffering that come from milk production industry). as for buddhist , most of the buddhist religion forbid drinking or eating cow milk but buddhist may bought the cow milk as offering to buddha (the milk offered are said to help liberate the cow from future suffering)

 Cranberry - vegan - yes , Buddhist - yes
- a type of berry from shrub. note: the author thought the author got drunk from eating some cranberry bread .however there are no information on the internet that support cranberry as alcoholic type of fruit.

D

Demerara sugar - vegan - yes, Buddhist - yes . not much info about this other than it is made from sugarcane (which mean usually are vegan) and originally made in Guyana.  

Disodium Inosinate - Vegan- Depend , Buddhist - Depend  - usually made from animal sources including fish . Unless the product specifically label it is for vegetarian and vegan.

Disodium Guanylate [E627] - Vegan - Depend, Buddhist - Depend - made from dried seaweed. also can be made from fish.  unless the product specifically label it is for vegetarian and vegan.


Dinatrium 5'-Guanylate - Vegan - Depend, Buddhist - Depend - usually produce from fish . unless the product specifically label it is for vegetarian and vegan.

Dinatrium 5'-Inosinate - Vegan - Depend, Buddhist - Depend - usually produce from meat . unless the product specifically label it is for vegetarian and vegan.



E
F

Fennel - Vegan - Yes, Buddhist - Yes . It is a plant.

Fig - Vegan - Depend , Buddhist - Depend - Fig is coming from a plant.  Most do not see this as a vegan food due to the process of making fig usually involve at least of killing one wasp.

Foie Gras - Vegan - no , Buddhist - no . it is made of animal such as duck where ducks are being force feeding with a tube to fatten their liver before the ducks are kill.  

G

Gelatin (gelatine) - vegan - No, Buddhist - No - use animal body part.

Glucose - Vegan - yes , Buddhist - Yes - a type of sugar. not suitable for hyperactive children.

Glycerin - Vegan - Depend , Buddhist- depend . glycerin can be obtain from vegetable or animals. therefore most glycerin are not vegan unless it is specifically mention in the label.

GMO (Genetic Modified Organism) - Vegan - depend, Buddhist - depend - GMO generally mean the product are artificially created. Meaning the actual genetic material are being alter using genetic engineering technique. Thus this is more about being unhealthy issue. Product that are free from GMO may label their product as "GMO Free, Non-GMO " etc.

Guar Gum (guaran) - vegan yes, buddhist - yes - grow from Guar bean mostly in india and pakistan.

H

Hawthorn - Vegan - Yes, Buddhist - Yes - is a type of plant.

Hingu - Vegan - Yes, Buddhist - No - a type of plant. the hingu is consider as a pungencies food in buddhism which is harmful for buddhist in cultivation. 

Honey - not vegan - it is coming from bee vomit. therefore many consider this is like taking bee food without their permission. many also see bee same group as animal.  there are also other ethical problem as bee are being harm and kill in process of taking honey. some vegan do support and buy honey if they found that the beekeeper do take care of the bee welfare. honey generally is consider as not vegan. 

Hemp Seed- Vegan - Yes , Buddhist - No - made of cannabis plant which are use for making drug. Hemp seed contain a small amount of THC (that can made someone high as in taking drug although unlikely). Therefore author came to a conclusion this food is consider as intoxicating food. this food may violate security law issue therefore user are advice to double check whether it is permissible to bring in situation such as airport.

I
J
K

Konjac - Vegan - Yes, Buddhist - Yes - it is a type of plant. Do take note that  konjac jelly has a higher risk of ending up choking as it does not melt readily in mouth. Therefore extra caution need to be given especially when if it is given to children.

L

Lemon - Vegan - Yes , Buddhist - Yes  - it is a type of fruit. However because of its potent (because it has a strong digestion which usually use for meat as animal meat are hard to break down) , use it sparingly as not to hurt the stomach (due to over acid reason).

Lemongrass  - Vegan - Yes, Buddhist - Yes. a type of grass plant.

L-Cysteine - Vegan- depend, Buddhist- depend - come from hair and feathers. can be derive from animal and non animal source depend on the producer.

M

Menthol - Vegan - Yes, Buddhist - No - it is a type of alcohol obtain from peppermint or other mint oil.

Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)  - Vegan - yes, Buddhist - depends - E621.it is a form of salt. However MSG is commonly known to be harmful for health reason and thus the intake should be avoided as much as possible. 

Mirin - Vegan - yes , Buddhist - Depend. a japanese rice wine. real mirin contain about 14% alcohol. mirin are use in some of the japanese buddhist food. those who abstain alcohol due to precept should be careful about this.

N

Natural Vanilla flavouring - Vegan - Depend, Buddhist- depend . it can be made of non vegan item unless the product clearly specify it as vegan. 

O

Oregano - Vegan - Yes ; Buddhist - Yes - it is a small plant. a kind of spice.however care should be taken as eating too much can lead to stomach upset.

Oyster - Vegan - No , Buddhist - No - it is under the category of animal. 

P

Palm Olein - Vegan - Depend , Buddhist - Yes - Palm olein come from palm, a plant tree. Other than it is consider as not so healthy, the reason why some vegan do not use palm oil is more about because of the cruelty done by the palm industry toward the animals, causing massive deforestation and making many animals such as orang utan homeless and die of starvation.

Potassium Carbonate [E501(i)] - Vegan - Yes, Buddhist - Yes - coming from natural mineral.


Q
R

Raisin - Vegan - Yes , Buddhist - No - made of grape through drying . Not suitable for buddhist because contain small amount of alcohol in it.

Rennet - Vegan - Depend, Buddhist - Depend - mostly made of baby animal stomach unless clearly specify it is source from vegetable.

S
Sacha sauce  - Vegan - No; Buddhist - No - A type of sauce that contain fish, shrimp, garlic, shallots.

Shallot - Vegan - Yes; Buddhist- No  - A type of onion. Onion is a type of five pungent food which is forbidden in buddhist.

Shellac - Vegan - No; Buddhist - No - origin from female lac bug.

Sriracha - Vegan - Yes, Buddhist- No - a type of hot sauce . contain garlic and distilled vinegar.

Stabiliser - Vegan - Depend , Buddhist - Depend - Since gelatin is consider as stabilisers. Stablisers are generally consider as none vegan and none vegetarian unless it is clearly specify as suitable for vegan .

Sodium Carbonate - Vegan - Yes, Buddhist - Yes - origin from ashes of sodium-rich plant. 

Sodium Polyphosphate [ E452(i) ] - Vegan - Yes, Buddhist - Yes. Origin from salt.

Sodium Tripolyphosphate - Vegan - Yes, Buddhist - Yes  . It is produce from heating disodium phosphate and monosodium phosphate.

Soy Lecithin - Vegan - Yes , Buddhist - Yes - made from soy bean.

T

Tallow - Vegan - No , Buddhist - No . an animal by product. usually use for making soap and candle. are also reported to be contain in money from certain country (that make the money note shiny).

Tamari - Vegan - Yes, Buddhist - Yes - a type of soy sauce mainly from japan.

Tricalcium Phosphate - Vegan - Yes, Buddhist - Yes - a calcium salt of phsphoric acid.


U
V

Vinegar - Vegan - Yes , Buddhist - No  - contain alcohol in it.



W

Whey - Vegan - No , Buddhist - No - coming from cheese when animal milk is coagulated.


Whipped Cream - Vegan - No, Buddhist - No - Most whipped cream are made from heavy cream which are coming from animal fat.   Check for vegan alternatives for whipped cream.

X
Y
Z