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)

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

But that doesn't mean not wanting to eat animal juice is fussy. Most ethical vegetarian and vegans don't do cross contamination. My husband does, but he ate meat for 30+ years. That's fine. But he's very clear when he explains it to other people that I'm not just fussy because I won't. He acknowledges that if there are animal products involved most people including restaurants wouldn't consider it vegan. But as he ate meat before it doesn't bother him as much.

The reason people get uptight about it is because when everyone starts drawing their own lines it eventually doesn't mean anything.

I would always assume if I was catering for vegetarians they don't want cross contamination. It's easy to avoid and no vegetarian is going to purposefully ask for contamination so everyone wins.

Sikhs have a similar philosophy when they serve food at places of worship. They serve veggie because everyone can have that. It's inclusive of Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists without overcomplicating things.

Just put down the bacon scissors and use a fork. Not hard.

@ToadsThePeanutButterSnob

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?

Linda McCartney was a vegetarian. Why was her company making meat pies??

She wasn't making meat pies. They had a shared factory with another company when they were still a relatively small company. It was a big scandal. It was at the height of BSE as well so people were mad. Now they're big enough to have their own factory.

But that doesn't mean not wanting to eat animal juice is fussy.

I agree.

Most ethical vegetarian and vegans don't do cross contamination.

Vegetarians maybe. Vegans however ime tend to be a lot more relaxed about cross contact hence why we are happy to eat things that say may contain milk.

At the end of the day unless you only eat in veggie places then chances are you have eaten veggie food that has been 'contaminated' with meat several times before.

I remember the Linda McCartney meat pie. My friend ate one by accident. She was not impressed.

Linda McCartney was a vegetarian. Why was her company making meat pies??

Presumably whilst the company was hers, the factory she commissioned to make them wasn't. Hence the mix up.

Vego for 25 years.

Don’t eat gelatine or anything cooked in animal fat or with animal stock. Don’t wear leather.

Don’t care if my food is cooked next to meat. I am the only person in my family or extended group of friends who never eats meat and that’s been the case for the full 25 years. I prefer to take the path of non-judgment and so never, ever make a fuss about this kind of thing.

I cook meat sometimes for my family.

Oh your poor friend. I thankfully just missed it as young but did see on the news how a vegetarian had died from BSE and did wonder if there was a link.

I try to eat at veggie places to support them anyway. Mind you they're all disappearing in the pandemic. Boo.

Oh your poor friend. I thankfully just missed it as young but did see on the news how a vegetarian had died from BSE and did wonder if there was a link.

Yes the thought made me feel a bit sick at the time. Meat overload.🤢
I think BSE was some years after that. Not many. But maybe 6 years or so.

Ffs I didn't know that about chip shops!

If you consider yourself to be vegetarian do you eat-

Non-vegetarian marshmallows and sweets containing gelatine no

Chips from the chip shop cooked in beef fat no 🤢

Deep fried food eg mozzarella sticks that are fried in the same vegetable oil as meat products like chicken nuggets no

A veggie pie cooked on the same tray as a meat pie only if no risk of leakage and even then at opposite ends of the tray

A veggie pie that has been cooked in the oven underneath a meat pie on a metal baking tray again depends on leakage and splatter. Any chance of dripping, no

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

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

Got a “ vegetarian” in the family who eats FISH , and products containing gelatine. To which I asked what’s the difference between me eating a burger and you eating fish...or, if you’re gonna eat sweets containing beef gelatine, boiled bones and skin why not eat the muscle too! I said sorry but you’re not a vegetarian. You’re a picky omnivore.

I spent 7 years as a veggie and I ate nothing that derived from a dead animal. That meant no fish, no gelatine, and back then, no Quavers (back then they used animal rennet!!) meat went under veggie meals in oven, and didn’t cross contaminate utensils. Don’t care if something is cooked alongside but just keep separate. I didn’t eat food cooked in animal fat. And I remember always being impressed with Subway staff who always changed their gloves when I ordered the veggie patty!

I try not to do any of those things and I'm at the stage now where I generally find it all gross. However if it happens by accident I try not to bust a gut over it. IMHO you just need to do as much as you can. If you said you have to do it all or be a carnivore, change will never happen.

Ah showing my youth there haha. There was a vegetarian that died from BSE though, I was like 6 and obsessed with it. It's how I found out about gelatin ( barf).

@ TheBuffster I’m just pointing out that not eating food that has been in the same carrier bag as a meat pie is entirely futile if not wasteful.

I know you can farm in a vegan manner, a family member small scale farms vegan fresh produce. It is difficult however and couldn’t be scaled up to feed the whole country. I am no longer a vegetarian (although I was for ten years). I now eat British locally farmed meat and am happy with that.

My vegetarian daughter checks meticulously and avoids gelatine, but has no objection to shared shopping bags or ovens (any configuration but with separate trays). I don’t think she’s ever considered that food from takeaways and restaurants might be ‘cross contaminated’. I’m pretty sure our local chip shop has a sign saying it uses vegetable oil, and I’ve always assumed they cook the fish in a separate fryer (although maybe I’m naive). I have several very committed vegan relatives, but even they maintain that mistakes do happen and that it is the intention that is important.

I'd recommend you listen to Earthling Ed's talks on vertical farming. New farming methods are emerging, as they must, to stop the damage to the planet.
Very few people said the wrapped pie in a bag thing would be a game changer. It wouldn't come up for me as we're a vegan family. Having something for example stored in the same fridge is very different to cooking something on the same tray. One's a very small risk of contamination, the others' guaranteed marinated in meat juice.

That's good for you. As long as you know you're not vegetarian at all.

I’d pick the veggie sweets, but have occasionally had normal sweets. It bugs me that I occasionally do.
I’m pretty sure our chippy doesn’t use beef fat.
I’d cook pies in the same oven, but not on the same tray unless in separate foils. I use different utensils to stir veg/meat dishes.

Veggie since childhood, no lapses in 35 years (to pre-empt those “flexitarian” jibes).

I wouldn’t eat gelatin, or anything else containing meat products. I go out of my way to find fully-vegetarian hard cheese, though I do drink normal wine. I have worked in multiple chip shops over the years, and they have all used big drums of vegetable oil.

I think I have a different image to you guys about the pies. I am envisioning some kind of pukka pie, totally covered in pastry, with no juices, in a tin foil case, sharing a metal baking tray. I don’t care if those are cooked next to my veggie pie, because aside from meaty vapours (which are not a thing), I can’t see how it is contaminating it, especially through a metal baking tray onto a lower shelf. I have never cooked a meat pie myself though, so perhaps I am underestimating how splashy they are compared with cheese and onion.

I definitely don’t care about a packaged meat pie in the same bag as a packaged veggie pie - where does that end? Can’t be kept in same supermarket aisle? Avoiding in case it travelled in the same Tesco lorry?

There won't be a consensus. Same as with those who eat meat.

Some meat eaters would eat anything that moves, but most have a line somewhere (no pork, or no horses, or no dogs) - and it won't be any more consistent than a veggie who's fine with marshmallows and parmesan but not chips cooked in beef fat.

It's not a religion (well, it is -literally - for some!) or a club with rules and enforcement procedures. You can be as strict or as lax as you like.

DH has been a vegetarian since he was 14 but if he demanded his pie (assuming “pie” is self-contained dish that has a mash or pastry topping) went on a different tray or in a separate shopping bag, he would do it all himself! I totally respect his wishes, he’s been veggie for 20 years, but that’s absolutely nuts in my opinion.

Mostly no that wouldn't bother me because my vegetarian choices are made according to industry economics.
I won't find industries I disagree with.

In the examples you give there wouldn't be a significant economic impact, so there's no issue.

I also don't wear leather (it's not a by-product) and I'm working on dairy. Eggs are mostly organic/similar association which I'm comfortable with

I think critical case-by-case analysis is more constructive than meaningless 'blanket bans'

I agree that everyone has their own line.
But, if you are cooking for someone and don't know where their line is it's respectful to err on the side of caution and just not cook things together on the same tray (see I'm thinking of things like sausages where the grease goes everywhere.)
Personally, I cook only vegan for guests. I love doing it and always get compliments on my cooking. Most people say it led them to trying meat free a bit more.
And if you don't like it, hey it's one meal. No one's going to starve.
I also had a vegan wedding (what a monster).

I have been vegetarian for 29 years. I never knowingly eat anything with animal products in, so no marshmallows or jelly sweets or chewing gum with geletine, cheese with rennet etc...

No to chips cooked in dripping.

I could live with meat cooked at same time in the oven so long as mine was in top so meat wouldn't drip.

Ah showing my youth there haha. There was a vegetarian that died from BSE though, I was like 6 and obsessed with it. It's how I found out about gelatin ( barf).

I've probably got a better time line on it, partly because Im old 🤦‍♀️ I was living in my home town at the veggie meat pie time and I can remember exactly where I was when the friend told me about the meat pie incident, and then, later on, I was directly involved (about 6 years later) through my job in a different town, with a patient who sadly had BSE.