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

[successstories]

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

Well i can't speak for the OP, but my DS, who would actually prefer not to eat meat, has been told by multiple professionals, that he is allergic to so many vegetarian and vegan protein sources that it would be harmful for him not to eat meat. And that includes a vegan chef and nutritionist that I hired but who ultimately said that they couldn't design a diet for him that would reliably meet his nutritional needs.
Technically he could live without meat of course - he was on an elemental diet for a while as a young child when he basically ate no solid food - so I suppose that it is a choice but it's definitely not a simple "I eat meat because i like it" choice for him.

OP You should go back to Montezuma, as they do not use slave children to grow and harvest their cocoa

An extremely rare incidence and I have sympathy for your child, and hope he found a solution that made him feel better about his choices, rather than just being told no. Incidentally, many of us lifelong vegetarians were told.it was harmful back in the day and now we are watching our peers all succumb to various diet related ailments, due to excess of meat and dairy fats.
I would stake money on it not being the case for the op.
Just the language they use alone shows me they have an axe to grind.

@entropynow I agree with you. The OP was just having a general moan about how her food options are being restricted, but apparently you can’t say anything that could be construed as negative about veganism or you deserve all the insults and inflammatory language from the oh so ethical and superior vegans.

It's threads like this that make me feel sorry for vegetarians.

Vegetarians have been around for many decades and have been reviled for most of them.
Along come the nouveau vegans and vegetarian choices have all but been removed.

As to chocolate with nuts in... there are squillions of other choices.

OP You should go back to Montezuma, as they do not use slave children to grow and harvest their cocoa

As I said, I can no longer afford Montezuma. The company has been sold out and are now charging £2.79 for 90g versus £1.49 for 100gr from ALDI. The quality is similar and both are organic.

Generally, I don't rate businesses that boost their do-good credentials at the expense of customers. Maybe those who want to boast about it should absorb the cost themselves? Besides, I very much doubt ALDI and other large brands use slave children if that's what's being suggested.

Food fads move quickly these days. A few years ago everything was gluten free, now it's all vegan options. Maybe next year we'll all be avoiding tomatoes.

Both vegetarians and vegans have been around for many decades. Just because veganism suddenly got more popular in the last few years doesn't make it a brand new thing. Or a 'fad' for everyone who avoids eating animal products.
As a long-term vegan, who's actively on the look-out for decent chocolate options, and would LOVE there to be a bar that contains whole hazelnuts, I was disappointed that the OP's referring to a bar that is only 52% cocoa solids and only contains some hazelnut paste.
But I'm confused by the entire premise of the thread. Aldi introduced 3 chocolate/ cocoa bars that are labelled as 'vegan', at least a year ago, but still sell all the other bars they stocked before, including the organic dark Moser Roth 70% and 85% bars. And lots of non-organic bars.
What exactly is the complaint? That they're ADDED to the range?
They haven't taken anything away!

I eat a lot of veggie stuff as I realllllllllly hate the texture of most meats.

For me, having 'safe' foods is really important or my diet ends up super limited - whilst I welcome the increase in vegan choices, it does REALLY piss me off when they are replacing vegetarian options with vegan ones.

If I want a veggie burger, I still want real fucking cheese on it, because vegan cheese only tastes good in very few, limited circumstances (And only where you've not eaten real cheese for a while!).

Also now some of the meat replacements are SO realistic they're not safe either, the textures are too realistic and often the combination of texture and that 'nearly right but not quite' flavour makes me think im eating OFF meat (some of the chicken ones really do this to me, its so so disgusting).

I don't have a nut allergy, but I don't want all my food tasting like cashew nuts (cheese fake for sauces) as it tastes pukey to me, or coconut (not a huge fan!) either.

And asking for a vegan option but with the real cheese in some restaurants really seems to confuse and confound staff... like they may EXPLODE if they do this.

The answer is for more availability of vegan options. Not complaining that it is vegan.

A lot of people don't eat vegan options because it isn't available. I have eaten so many vegan options where you can't taste the difference between that and the non vegan option. So what is the point of it being non vegan? That means less destroying of the planet and fewer animals being tortured and killed.

The answer is for more availability of vegan options. Not complaining that it is vegan

The problem is though, that some people are stupid.

I overheard a woman in the supermarket asking where the normal burgers were, as all the ones on the shelf were gluten-free. I think same people are the same with vegan. Label it as vegan (even if it always was) and suddenly people won't eat it.

The increase in vegan options are brilliant if you are lactose intolerant. 4 members of my family are lactose intolerant to varying degrees.

Nut allergies aren't the only medical dietary requirement.

It's becoming more and more difficult to find good quality dark chocolate without traces of nuts, milk or gluten at reasonable prices. Even paying an insane amount won't make it easier to find.

My youngest is celiac and a milk intolerance. I found yesterday a tablet of Nature's Tribe dark chocolate that fits what he needs and paid almost 6 Aussie dollarls for the priviledge! You wouldn't be able to use it anyway as it contains traces of nuts.

Why on earth is so difficult to have a tablet of dark chocolate without milk, gluten and nuts at a reasonable price? Cocoa workers are paid a pittance for their work and companies keep adding all sorts of crap to make it cheaper for the consumer. It's ridiculous.

As to those that say buy another brand ....fuck you. You have no idea what it means to live with allergies or strict diets due to serious health concerns while maintaining a budget.

How far do you think you would get as a vegan if you weren't able to rely on imported food and could only eat seasonally?

Oh do we have enough food to feed everyone in the country then? I forgot everyone in England lives on RSPCA assured organic meat and no meat or dairy is ever imported. And meat eaters never eat rice or fruit.

@successstories

Actually Montezuma don't make a big song and dance about it at all

Children are being trafficked and used as slaves to grow chocolate in Africa and there is also slavery in South America. See the facts for yourself and gather a mental list of brands that you will buy from (takes another 5 mins of research and the Montezuma brand comes up).

The big companies use slaves save billions of pounds, don't do it just to save 50p.

Actually Montezuma don't make a big song and dance about it at all

It's very plausible that the company have put up their prices in order to pay for the likely very leveraged buyout they've undertaken.

I will not be contributing to this as it has nothing to do with me and it most probably has nothing to do with slavery either.

@Longtimelurkerfinallyposts the vegan Topic bar has whole hazelnuts.

Divine also do a dark chocolate with hazelnuts.

(Sorry OP! but pure heavenly do a "hazel NOT" bar)

I see where your priorities lie.

I see where your priorities lie

What do you mean by this?

I'm just saying that I have no reason to believe that ALDI are engaging in children slavery.

Also that I am not going to spend my hard earned cash on funding somebody else's buyout transaction.

I think OPs frustration lies with the fact that there's more and more vegans being catered for but at the expense of other Dietary requirements. Theres suddenly loads more vegan products in the Free From aisles but gluten/nut/soya free being taken off to accommodate. Great if you do have milk allergy/intolerance, frustrating if you have different/other intolerances phased out to compensate.

My daughter is coeliac and this does frustrate me.

I’ve found my local supermarkets have massively reduced the gluten free products in their free from aisles. In my local Asda the vegan/GF aisles used to be about 50/50, it’s now only about 10% GF and 90% vegan. Absolutely no issue with the increase of vegan products, but massively pissed off at the reduction in GF products to accommodate it

I think supermarkets like Aldi and Lidl can change the suppliers of their own label items, I don't think it is necessarily any sort of strategic decision.

@BaddityHabbityHoppingPot
As you're such an evangelical vegan and are quick to shoot down people for trying to eat within their means in terms of allergies, I'm assuming that you are completely and entirely plastic free because we all know the impact of plastic on wildlife? That all of your fruit and vegetables are organic/home grown because of the use of pesticides on wildlife such as bees? That you never, ever consume avocados because of the ethical issues surrounding their growth, including deforestation, intense water needs, human welfare standards for the farmers? That all of your purchases such as clothes are all second hand or completely ethically made because of the exploitation of female garment workers and their rights, including poor pay, poor working standard, unlawful hours, and also the impact of materials and dyes used in the production of products and clothes on the environment and eco systems?

Now answer my question that I asked previously,
Please tell me what I can on a balanced diet that is free from gluten, dairy, soya, limited beans/lentils/raw veg and salad?

*with those dietary needs as a vegan?