to tell dd harbibo contain gelatin when she has decided to be vegetarian?

[ditavonteesed]

DD is 8 and has decided to be vegie, she has given me very good arguments and has thought about it a lot, she is willing to give up her favourite hot pork sandwiches etc. So all is fine but then she noticed somme haribo and I told her that they contain gelatin and told her what gelatin is, I said I will look into what sweets she can have today and get some in. I just think if she is doing this for all the right reasons it would be wrong to let her eat them not knowing. On the other hand I cpud easily have not told her and she would be none the wiser but I am not out to try and trick her into eating something that she has made a valid moral decision not to. So WIBU?

YANBU - you should tell her. She is old enough and clearly intelligent enough to understand. There are plenty of other sweets in the world that don't contain gelatin (there may even be non-gelatin versions of Haribo, not sure). In any case, eating fewer sweets is almost certainly a good thing.

YANBU. She'd be really upset if/when she finds out the facts and works out that you could have told her and didn't.

I think at 8 she is too young to be making such choices but she's your child. By pointing out little things like this don't you think it might start creating issues around food?

YANBU to support her in the choice she has made.

Of course you were right to point this out. I'm veggie and learning what you personally find acceptable or not is part of the process.

Annual subscription to a veggie mag as a Christmas present?

I would also think she was too young to make this kind of decision but she sat me down to discuss it, gave me incredibly powerful arguments anad was very clear.

There is veggie haribo but they have an odd texture. Much better are veggie percys and veggie colin the caterpillars from M&S, also the cola and strawberry laces are generally vegetarian. Opal fruits are veggie too but not the other brand of chewy sweets whose name escapes me right now.

It's amazing what sweets end up containing gelatine, only when you have to check the packets do you think about it.

Randoms ripems are veggie.
M&S do a veggie version of Percy Pigs and some of Morrisons range (laces, tangy sour things) are also veggie.

I was 15 and my mum was very supportive. She can always change her mind again in the future or consider local, better welfare meats.

YANBU, you did the right thing to tell her and I think it's lovely that you're being so supportive. I became veggie at around that age and knew my own mind. A balanced vegetarian diet is very healthy and she won't suffer for the exclusion of Haribo but FYI you can get veggie Haribo now.

big fan of percy and colin so will look definatly get some.

My niece was 6 when she made the choice to become vegerarian. She is very strict & over the years it has raised many comments from the family. I have always admired her absolute conviction.
Buy her the veggie sweets from M&S.

It's a bit weird to think a child is too young - veggie is so easy and mainstream and not exactly weird I'd be happy to accommodate it if the rest of us ate meat (we don't).
But yes, be honest; there's enough choice and it's not fair to lie by omission.

YANBU, however many vegetarians will eat food with animal products such as gelatin, just not meat itself. Your dd will want to decide where she wants to draw the line, will she eat cheese for example, or will it be veggie cheese, or will she want to cut out dairy altogether once she realises what's in it? It can all get very complicated for someone so young, and you need to perhaps decide where your 'line' is? For example, if you explain everything to her and she plumps for an almost vegan diet will you be okay with that? She'll need your help and guidance to come to these decisions so I think you're doing the right thing being honest with her.
But on the whole I think you come across as a fab parent. Although your dd is young, you're respecting her choices and making an effort to support them in a sensible way. It may be that she outgrows this 'phase' or she may be a committed vegetarian for life, but either way she'll have had your support which is invaluable.
My mum is lovely but very traditional and despite my years of protests from about age 11 that I wanted to be veggie, I was duly served up pork chops and chicken etc for my dinners until I was old enough to leave home. I spent a lot of time moving meat around on my plate and feeling bad about it. I was only able to convert to a real veggie diet once I was 18 and at uni.
So basically, well done you!

You did the right thing telling her. I became veggie at 8 have not touched meat since. There are veggie haribo, but as others say the m and s range are better.

we try to only eat higher welfare meats anyway as I was vegatarian for most of my life and have oly started eating meat a couple fo years ago as I was struggling to eat a bablanced diet when the kids were young. However I may well join dd.

YANBU. You have to tell her. I don't think she's to young to decide this, she can always change her mind. She seems a very intelligent girl, to put forward her argument so well. By the way you can buy veggie hairdo, I don't know how easy they are to find though. You can also buy veggie Percy pig's if she likes those.

Cross post with everyone.

Of course you should tell her!

I was a vegetarian for most of my teens. Recently my mum told me she'd been giving me meat stuff the whole time - she told me like it was the funniest thing ever.
I know I'm not a veggie any more but I am so that she didn't think my choices were important enough to respect them.

my mum was the opposite, she made me veggie meals all the time and was really supportive, however the veggie food she made me was awful but you have to admire the support. Wonder if she will make dd2 her famous nut loaf (absorbed every bit of moisture from your whole body in one mouthful)

If you are watching out for gelatine keep an eye on jellies (obviously) and desserts - a lot of mousses and the like have gelatine. And a surprising number of sweets including marshmallows. If she's going to be a fish eater than kosher sweets use fish gelatin so would be OK.

Asda stock gelatine free sweets. The cherry ones are fab
Yanbu to give all the facts.

Why on earth shouldn't you tell her? She can decide whether she still wants to eat them or not, but she should have the information. DD2's muslim friend has known about avoiding Haribo since she was in Reception and appears to be coping fine with a Haribo-free childhood .

My 12 year old DD recently decided to become vegetarian too. Of course you were right to tell her. DD is very good at reading the backs of packets to check for gelatin and won't eat anything with it in.

The Strawberry Haribo is vegetarian

DH felt that DD at 12 was maybe a little young to make that kind of decision, but DD and I talked about it, and she knows she has to eat carefully or we will revisit the decision. I can't force feed a 12 year old!