You keep hearing that white sugar is not vegan. Where do these unsettling rumors come from and what's really going on?
- Vegans do not consume any animal products at all.
- Sometimes, however, it is not so obvious what foods animals were involved in.
- Some claim that sugar should be one of them.
Again and again, new vegans are surprised with new foods that are not vegan, although one would not have thought it possible. While it is still understandable with honey, it is already more difficult with avocados and figs and many are also surprised with vegan wine *.
Is sugar really not vegan?
Again and again the strange rumor goes around that white industrial sugar is actually not vegan . That would throw quite a few vegan sweet tooth off the track. But is there really something to it or is it all just a bizarre fairy tale?
Yes, the rumor that white sugar * is not vegan is unfortunately not out of thin air, but has a real core . However, this is particularly relevant for American vegans. US sugar manufacturers sometimes use bone charcoal to decolorize the sugar and make it glow white. The filter for this is made from burnt beef bones - an idea that one or the other meat eater will certainly not like.
Read more: Cucumbers, avocados and the like are not vegan - no one would have guessed the reason for this
Manufacturers do not have to identify bone coal
So what sounds crazy is not so far-fetched. If you buy sugar on your next trip to the USA, you may now want to pay close attention to the ingredient list. The catch here: Unfortunately, sugar manufacturers do not have to indicate it on the packaging if they use bone carbon as a filter during production. So you are completely in the dark as to whether the sugar is actually vegan * or not.
But there is also good news: Sugar bought in Germany is absolutely harmless . According to peta, German refineries have confirmed on their own that they only use vegetable components to decolorize sugar. Sugar from German manufacturers is vegan and you can use it without hesitation.
Read also: Trend among vegans - scientist predicts consequences that nobody currently expects
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* Merkur.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editors network.