ALDI Organic dark chocolate is now vegan and contains hazelnut - hence not suitable for nut allergies - Grrrr

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I'm really fed up of this nonsense. They keep on withdrawing food options, it's insane!

@MassageForLife ok well this one is vegetarian dark chocolate with no mention of hazelnut in the ingredients groceries.aldi.co.uk/en-GB/p-moser-roth-organic-peruvian-85-cocoa-dark-chocolate-100g/4088600201825

Yes, I think that's one of the ones that @KeyboardWarriorsUnite might have been referring to.

Why are people jumping on the OP, they haven’t blamed vegans, they are bemoaning the withdrawal of food options by a big retailer. The people blinding defending vegans who aren’t being insulted look a bit silly.

Although I am forever confused by the addition of milk powder to Jammie Dodgers, unnecessary.

Yes - I've done likewise. I've walked out of places recently when I've seen the menu.

The vegan food is usually ultra processed fake meat too. Decent veggie food is disappearing fast.

The clue is in the title:

“ALDI Organic dark chocolate is now vegan and contains hazelnut - hence not suitable for nut allergies - Grrrr”

The reason OP can’t eat the chocolate is because it has nuts in it. Nothing to do with it being vegan or not.

Why mention it being vegan?

As you say, it’s not about vegans… it’s the retailer. So why mention vegans at all?

Why not say, “I can’t eat my favourite chocolate anymore because they’ve added hazelnuts”?

Because that’s the truth isn’t it?

Instead OP has chosen to mention vegans, so the title reads more like this: “I can’t eat my favourite chocolate anymore because they’ve added hazelnuts AND IT’S VEGAN. Damn the vegans and their uncomfortable truths. They probably invented nut allergies, the selfish bastards.”

Yup, but that's not the chocolate op is talking about. Pretty sure the essentials range isn't organic

That's right. The one I'm referring to does specify hazelnut paste as one of the ingredients

@amoobaa I am not sure how you got all that from the OP listing the changes in her favourite chocolate, but sure ok… Vegans are not under some sort of systematic attack don’t worry.

The 70% one isn't available in a 100g bar in my local store, but it does have 5x25g bar pack that actually works out cheaper. The 85% is available in both options.

I can see it on their website, but I've been to 2 ALDIs already and they didn't stock them

Not being able to eat one specific bar of chocolate from one specific retailer is very much in the 'first world problems' category for me. It's a shame you have a nut allergy but it's also a shame that some people have dairy allergies, so it's swings and roundabouts really. You've had an option withdrawn. Someone else has an option added. You're not more important than them, and they're not more important than you.

Why mention it being vegan?

Because they changed the recipe when they made it vegan.

Thanks, sounds like just my kind of thing. Yum.

You're not more important than them, and they're not more important than you.

Both dairy and nut allergies are important. If I remember correctly, this particular chocolate didn't have milk in it (I'm not 100% sure).

Why can't they leave food alone? Why did they have to add the hazelnut in when marketing it as vegan? All this craziness is exhausting

Oh dear. Where on earth do you live!? That sounds miserable.

As for restaurant owners, it shouldn’t be that difficult if they have a decent chef. Perhaps they just need to get some professional help with the menu?

Processed fake meat is like any other junk food- it’s a personal choice (originally created by the vegetarian community) but it isn’t very good for you and it’s a bit silly really, considering there are so many brilliant alternatives.

Vegans haven’t made veggie food shit. It’s the people responsible for the products/ menus, due to a lack of knowledge, imagination and skills.

Lidl have a 100g dark chocolate that's not got nuts in it and costs about 30p I think.

Thanks for your sincere concern Plums. But I’m more concerned about my son’s nut allergy to be honest.

He’s allergies to my favourite nuts. Who knew cashews and pistachios are from the same nut family?

Despite my concern though, I don’t feel the need to whinge about vegans depriving him of his favourite foods.

Mostly because vegans don’t deprive anyone of anything.

A little annoying, yes. But in reality, the vegan marketing and the added hazelnuts are two separate things.

Luckily for you, there are a thousand alternatives.

What is more crazy, is that nuts are not banned entirely from planes. That’s an actual problem.

Vegan marketing seems fairly insignificant when you stop to consider genuine allergy issues.

I don't think they have changed the recipe. I think it's a new range - that some stores are stocking instead of the original one.

@BaddityHabbityHoppingPot

Said as someone who probably doesn't have several intolerances to take into consideration, and needs to eat a specific diet in order to combat inflammation and health conditions. Animal welfareis important to me but also eating well with several intolerances.

I sympathise OP.
We are not vegan but one of my sons has multiple allergies including eggs and dairy so we do eat quite a lot of vegan food. I was very pleased at first when veganism became more popular as I thought it would open up more eating out options for DS. Unfortunately however he is also anaphylactic to nuts, which obviously rules out quite a lot of vegan options. I have noticed that a lot of restaurants and cafes are now using nut milks as their standard non dairy option, our favourite ice cream parlour locally has switched it's non dairy option from soya to almond milk and so on. Obviously this will suit some people as I appreciate soya is also a fairly common allergen,and oat milk isn't suitable for everyone either - you can't please all of the people all of the time - but for us personally, the current trend seems to have left us with less options rather than more.
And don't get me started on sesame seeds. Don't know if we've just been unlucky but the last few times we've eaten out the little death dealing sods seem to be all over the place.

Yanbu.
Gluten free food has taken a massive hit in favour of vegan options. Sainsburys and M&S are particularly bad at this.

I wouldn't mind if it was gluten free AND vegan. But now the GF option is usually taken away. M&S scrapped their GF vegan nuggets recently .

Also Pure Heavenly chocolate is good for people with multiple allergies.

pureheavenly.com/

I have noticed that a lot of restaurants and cafes are now using nut milks as their standard non dairy option, our favourite ice cream parlour locally has switched it's non dairy option from soya to almond milk and so on

I agree. It's ridiculous also how difficult it is to find plain rice milk nowadays, even though it's safe for most allergies

Lidl have a 100g dark chocolate that's not got nuts in it and costs about 30p I think

I'm also a coeliac, and the problem with Lidl is that they seem to be very bad at communicating what's suitable to Coeliac UK or their range is very limited.

They've gone all faddy with a Way To Go fairtrade chocolate range but it's full of 'may contain' disclaimers, including gluten. Not good

Mostly because vegans don’t deprive anyone of anything

Each of us is entitled to eat what we like. I have no problem with individual vegans. But the the fad has become so ubiquitous and as a movement they have become so vocal, that they are resulting in choices being withdrawn from people with real health issues or even different food preferences.