One of our subscribers, Yamuna Jagannatha, asked us for help in reading food labels. How can you tell which items might contain products from slaughtered animals?
With help from our friends at Vegetarian Times, here's a list of ingredients that are or could be animal products. When in doubt about some item of food, you can call or write to the company that makes it.
calcium stearage
emulsifiers
enzymes
fatty acids
gelatin
magnesium stearate
mono and diglycerides
monostearates
oleic acid
olein
palmitin
palmitic acid
pepsin
polysorbates
rennet
stabilizers
stearic acid
stearin
tween
From London, our researcher Sita Dasi tells us that in the United Kingdom the following "E numbers" are nonvegetarian: 120, 140, 141, 153, 161-161g, 252, 280, 322, 352, 385, 404, 422, 430-436, 450, 623, 631, 635, 904. Plus: glycerol, glycine, glyceryl, glyceral triacetate, leucine, oxystearin, spermaceti, and vitamin D3