Vegetarianism is an ideal New Age lifestyle choice: not only is it healthier, it is also more humane

IGNOMINIOUS INGREDIENTS

You may be a non-vegetarian without knowing it! It is shocking but true. If you are serious about turning vegetarian, avoid consuming the following products or check up on the ingredients with the manufacturer.

Silver Foil (Varak): normally used on Indian sweets, fruits and paan, it is made by beating silver sheets between fresh cow and buffalo intestines while they are still warm. Microscopic examinations show fragments of intestines embedded in the foil.

Ice Cream: It often has nondairy fats. Commercial ice cream does not use milk but the blubber from slaughterhouse waste products like cattle udders, noses and anuses.

Biscuits: They are quite likely to contain animal fats.

Bread: Most large producers use vegetable based emulsifiers but local bakers may not. Some bakers may grease the tins with animal fat.

Gelatin: It is a gelling agent derived from animal ligaments, skins, tendons, bones and other body parts. Alternatives such as agar agar, carrageen and gelozone exist.

Medicine capsules: Usually made from gelatin, vegetarian alternatives are coming into the market.

Caviar (Fish eggs): They are obtained by slitting the stomachs of live pregnant sturgeon fish.

Cheese: It is likely to have been produced using animal rennet. Rennet is made of the stomach acids of a calf obtained by slitting open its stomach while still alive. Vegetarian cheeses use microbial or fungal enzymes. The Indian brand, Amul is vegetarian.

Glycerin: It may be produced from animal fats, synthesized from propylene or from fermentation of sugars.

Chewing gum: It often contains glycerin. Wrigleys use vegetable glycerin.

Toothpaste: Most brands contain glycerin.

Margarine: It may contain animal fats, fish oils, whey or gelatin.