If you're vegetarian are you bothered by any of these?

[Knitwit99]

I don't eat meat but I do eat animal in other things so I don't count myself as vegetarian. If I can easily avoid meat I do, I would pick the veggie Percy Pigs if they were right beside the gelatine ones, but if someone offered me a Percy Pig I would just eat it without bothering to check. That tiny amount of gelatine would not bother me at all.

DS14 is vegetarian and the opposite extreme.

If you consider yourself to be vegetarian do you eat-

Non-vegetarian marshmallows and sweets containing gelatine

Chips from the chip shop cooked in beef fat

Deep fried food eg mozzarella sticks that are fried in the same vegetable oil as meat products like chicken nuggets

A veggie pie cooked on the same tray as a meat pie

A veggie pie that has been cooked in the oven underneath a meat pie on a metal baking tray

A veggie pie that has been anywhere in the same oven as a meat pie

A veggie pie that has been carried home in the same shopping bag as a meat pie (each pie cold and wrapped in a separate paper bag)

I've had mixed responses from people irl. One lifelong vegetarian said he doesn't care if a chip shop cooks its chips in beef fat or not because any animal dna has been fried into oblivion. I was really surprised by that.

Another who used to have a massive bag of haribo in her drawer at work, she figured the animals were dead anyway so she might as well save their gelatine from going to waste.

DS will absolutely not eat anything with any animal by-product in and ties himself in knots trying to avoid any meat being anywhere near his veg. Eating out is difficult because he can't be sure his vegetarian food hasn't been cooked right beside meat.

To my mind a small splash of animal fat on my food is not going to matter but I guess to him it really matters. I'm curious about where other people are on the spectrum.

This is not about me trying to persuade him to think differently, I'm just genuinely curious. I do also think he gives himself a whole lot more stress than he needs to but maybe not. I respect his choices (mostly, I think the chances of meat juice dripping through a solid metal tray onto his food are pretty low and don't have much patience with that one)

@goldielockdown2

I'm vegetarian so I eat none of the things you mentioned in your OP.

You wouldn't eat a veggie pie that has been carried home in the same shopping bag as a meat pie (each pie cold and wrapped in a separate paper bag)?

@Marmunia1975

"Even PETA say that veggies/vegans shouldn't worry about cross contact because it's all about reducing demand for animal products and meat rather than being perfect and pure."

You do know that a lot of vegetarians and vegans disagree with PETA's ethics??

You cannot call yourself a vegetarian and eat wafer thin ham or not be bothered about having your veggie burger grilled in the same area - it really is hypocritical.

Yes I know. I personally am not a vegan of PETA. I just think they make a good point regarding reducing demand for animal products.

What do you think about their rationale about not being fussed about cross contact @Marmunia1975?

thanks @theBuffster sounds a total mess. I was vegan for years, have settled as strict vegetarian with vegan tendencies, but have not specially engaged with the politics/organisation around it all lately having found a position I can live with .

To my mind a small splash of animal fat on my food is not going to matter but I guess to him it really matters. I'm curious about where other people are on the spectrum

To your mind 🙄

Eating any of that means not vegetarian. You sound petty and ignorant. Poor DS.

As for flexi veggie, there is no such thing. You either are or you are not. Ridiculous.

@Anotherlovelybitofsquirrel

That isn't correct though is it - the list is mixed.

Flexi vegetarian isn't a Thing, agreed
But Vegetarian society says be pragmatic. Legally- inadvertent cross-contamination doesn't mean something isn't vegetarian.

What's a bit sad is these easy/cheating vegetarians blur the line for everyone else.
I had a vegetarian friend in school. We were the only ones. She caved at camp and ate bacon. People then got narky with me for not eating bacon. Because it's ok to cheat.
I went travelling with a non vegetarian friend. She'd tell people she was vegetarian if she didn't like what the locals were offering. This resulted in some very difficult communication problems when they put chicken and fish in my food. It made me look ungracious as they had no idea what vegetarian was and were confused by her even more.
If you want to eat meat, that's your choice. But please don't muddy the language by insisting you are a vegetarian that eats ham etc. Because you're not.
If it helps you can say you follow the Hitler diet.

No, I wouldn't, When.

Plus from a practical point of view as a lifelong vegetarian meat juice makes me vomit. So if you like your nice posh carpet don't serve me meat contaminated food.

I would class myself as a veggie. Haven’t eaten meat for the best part of 30 years. However, I’m a veggie because I don’t like the taste or texture of meat. Like you OP, those things wouldn’t really bother me especially. I don’t really care if that means other people don’t see me as a proper vegetarian.

@Ihatemyseleffordoingthis no I mean people that call themselves flexi vegetarians, ie they'll eat chicken one week etc. They are not vegetarian, they are just people that sometimes don't eat animal products.

None of the above, but we're an entirely vegetarian household (DH and I both veggie since childhood) so none of it would arise for us, really.

For those that are interested in the 'juices' debate burger king weren't allowed to say their plant based burger was veggie as was cooked in the same grill as meat (2019 release)
And both burger king and McDonald's used to have smallprint re cooking practices regarding fries and veggie burgers and contamination in the 90s. So in the 90s most companies understood that deliberate cross contamination is not veggie. Sure some people are more lax, but that doesn't magically make it vegetarian.

I have an old friend who is "vegetarian" except when she's abroad when she eats .....whatever. (massive eye roll)

I think that a real education regarding agriculture in the UK is needed. The UK arable industry (both organic and non-organic) and generally reliant on the UK livestock industry. Animal manure, human excrement and blood and bone are all used as fertilisers for arable and fresh produce. Thousands of animals die in the production of fresh produce and arable crops too. They are caught in combines, squirrels and birds are shot to protect crops. Animals are used in arable crop rotations to add nutrients back into the ground through grazing.

Being funny about a pie being in the same bag as a meat pie is the least of your worries!

I'm not vegetarian as I sometimes eat fish but I wouldn't eat anything with meat ingredients in such as deserts with gelatine in, nor would I eat chips cooked in beef fat. I also cook meat and veggie pies/burgers / sausages on a separate tray to the meat version . It wouldn't matter where in the oven things were cooked as my trays all have sides .

Oh dear, I did wonder how long it would take us to get to manure, crops and accidentally stepping on tiny ants.

Definition of veganism (I know not vegetarian)

"Veganism is a philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude—as far as is possible and practicable—all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose; and by extension, promotes the development and use of animal-free alternatives for the benefit of animals, humans and the environment. In dietary terms it denotes the practice of dispensing with all products derived wholly or partly from animals."

Keywords there are possible and practical. No veggies can't control farming methods as the CURRENT model is heavily reliant on animals.
But they can reasonably avoid cooking meat and non meat products on a different tray. (I mean, come on, a baking tray is £1).
The very definition encourages people to draw their own lines.
But by definition if you eat meat you're not vegetarian.

Little factoid BTW: did you know Japan were once completely vegetarian? I mean now you can't eat anything there without a little hidden flesh, but hundreds of years back they were vegetarian for a long while.
And now they eat whales.
My point is things change. Who knows, after Corona maybe more people will go veggie.
But probably not.

@TheBuffster

For those that are interested in the 'juices' debate burger king weren't allowed to say their plant based burger was veggie as was cooked in the same grill as meat (2019 release) And both burger king and McDonald's used to have smallprint re cooking practices regarding fries and veggie burgers and contamination in the 90s. So in the 90s most companies understood that deliberate cross contamination is not veggie. Sure some people are more lax, but that doesn't magically make it vegetarian.

Surely it doesn't matter if the cross contamination is deliberate or not. It is still cross contamination thus if if bothers you you will be bothered either way.

I agree it's about perspective. Cooking a veggie pie in the same oven as a meat pie doesn't harm animals which is the point of being veggie!

@TheBuffster

Oh dear, I did wonder how long it would take us to get to manure, crops and accidentally stepping on tiny ants.

Definition of veganism (I know not vegetarian)

"Veganism is a philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude—as far as is possible and practicable—all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose; and by extension, promotes the development and use of animal-free alternatives for the benefit of animals, humans and the environment. In dietary terms it denotes the practice of dispensing with all products derived wholly or partly from animals."

Keywords there are possible and practical. No veggies can't control farming methods as the CURRENT model is heavily reliant on animals.
But they can reasonably avoid cooking meat and non meat products on a different tray. (I mean, come on, a baking tray is £1).
The very definition encourages people to draw their own lines.
But by definition if you eat meat you're not vegetarian.

Little factoid BTW: did you know Japan were once completely vegetarian? I mean now you can't eat anything there without a little hidden flesh, but hundreds of years back they were vegetarian for a long while.
And now they eat whales.
My point is things change. Who knows, after Corona maybe more people will go veggie.
But probably not.

Those key words are exactly why some veggies and vegans aren't bothered about cross contamination.

I meant fan of PETA in my post at 19:10 not vegan of PETA 🙄.

That was the legal definition. It's why McDonald's can say veggie wraps are vegetarian. They are cooked separately, but obviously meat is around so contamination could occur if they were being lazy.
With vegan stuff it tends to be stricter because people often think people with milk allergies will sue if it's labelled vegan. But something can be labelled vegan if made in the same factory as something with milk. Aka may contain warnings. Because it's very unlikely to have milk in it but human error could cause a muck up.

An interesting such muck up occurred in the early 90s when Linda McCartney accidentally mixed up their meat pies with vegetarian pies.

An interesting such muck up occurred in the early 90s when Linda McCartney accidentally mixed up their meat pies with vegetarian pies.

Which brings up the question of why they were making meat pies in the same factory as veggie ones. Do they still make them in the same factory?

But of a mixed bag here too.

I've been veggie for 27 years.

Don't eat any meat product knowingly.

Would never use the same tray, utensils, chopping board etc as meat products, but I am happy for meat to be in the same oven as long as it's at the bottom.

Go to a chippy that cooks veggie separately.

Wouldn't eat beef fat.

Don't mind shopping being in the same bags.

I have struggled massively over the years with eating out or in others houses and as I've got older I've realised that unless I want to only eat in my own home and do all the cooking I have to relax and take people at their word. In saying that, I will not have a sandwich from subway due to cross contamination and there are a few others I've boycotted - once I've seen it I can't get it out of my head!

I would say I have become more strict over time. Started only eating chicken and fish.. then just fish.. then no meat. Then I started caring about gelatine, beef dripping etc. Then I switched to non dairy cheese & milk (but still ate food containing cheese and milk). Now I am fully vegan from a diet point of view. I expect next will be leather etc. I think it's a journey

I’m vegetarian and have been all of my adult life (a few decades)

Non-vegetarian marshmallows and sweets containing gelatine
No I would not eat

Chips from the chip shop cooked in beef fat
No I wouldn’t eat.

Deep fried food eg mozzarella sticks that are fried in the same vegetable oil as meat products like chicken nuggets
Not at all. Not eat.

A veggie pie cooked on the same tray as a meat pie
No unless really clear there’s been no leakage.

A veggie pie that has been cooked in the oven underneath a meat pie on a metal baking tray
No wouldn’t.

A veggie pie that has been anywhere in the same oven as a meat pie
No I wouldn’t.

A veggie pie that has been carried home in the same shopping bag as a meat pie (each pie cold and wrapped in a separate paper bag)
Yes I would eat this if no leakage - thank god - I was getting hungry with all this chip and pie talk.