VEGAN/VEGETARIANS need help!

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babybellyfat
babybellyfat Posts: 1,102 Member
in Food and Nutrition
hi all I want to make some LENTIL Tacos for dinner tomorrow.. I wanted to know if the TACO kit is vege.... Free? OLD EL PASO dinner kit. Im new looking at ingredients and what should I look for ect.. ( The taco sauce:) Water, tomato paste, salt, modified corn starch, sugar, white vinegar, green chilli pepper, spices, garlic n onion powder,citric acid.. (taco seasoning: ) maltodextrin, spices, salt, chili pepper, corn starch, sugar, dried onion, natural flavour, hydrogenated soybean oil, cayenne pepper, silicon dioxide, dried garlic, yeasr extract. IS this safe for me to eat?? Is there any ingredients words i need to avoid and watch for please let me know?? thx

Replies

  • jayjay12345654321
    jayjay12345654321 Posts: 653 Member
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    All of those are fine. Although molecular gastronomy isn't natural, per se, that ingredients list does not contain anything contrary to a vegan diet.
  • babybellyfat
    babybellyfat Posts: 1,102 Member
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    Thank you VERY MUCH! I dont know sometimes if i should have something or not.. I need to learn more on whats not good to eat ect. VEGAN or vegetarian
  • Trechechus
    Trechechus Posts: 2,819 Member
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    Looks fine to me
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,017 Member
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    Looks fine to me
    Especially the hydrogenated soybean oil, yummy.
  • sami_83
    sami_83 Posts: 161
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    Love mexican food :) I had refried bean burritos last week! I haven't come across any Old El Paso stuff so far that wasn't vegan/vego so you should be fine with any of their tacos/burritos/whatever. Taco sauce/salsa is always a great thing to eat- vegan, fairly low cals and YUM!
    The only things to really avoid are flavoured corn chips because they have cheese powder, which contains rennet. You're okay to have non-animal rennet, but that's not what they use in corn chips/potato chips/anything with cheese powder unfortunately.

    Other common things to avoid:
    -gelatine
    -casein (ok for vegetarian, not for vegan)
    -whey (ok for vegetarian, not for vegan)
    -carmine
    -honey (ok for vegetarian, not for vegan)

    But you can google search lists of ingredients for vegans to avoid and you'll find quite a few out there. Don't freak out in the meantime if you eat something 'wrong'. It's a learning process :)
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,009 Member
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    I don't want to worry you, but I believe "natural flavor" can be animal-derived as well as plant-derived -- at least in the U.S. (And just because something is, for example, strawberry-flavored, don't assume the natural flavor comes from strawberries, or any kind of berry, or even any kind of fruit.)

    However, I found Old El Paso Taco Seasoning Mix on a site that lists vegan "ready-made" foods (http://www.veganwolf.com/ready_made_vegan_food.htm), so it looks like in this case the natural flavor is vegan-friendly.

    Best of luck, and as others have said, don't beat yourself up if you can't always spot animal-derived components in your food. It's a learning process. (Full disclosure: I'm neither vegetarian nor vegan, but many of meals are :wink: )
  • Stubbornfighter
    Stubbornfighter Posts: 63 Member
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    Vegetarian speaking, the 'natural flavors' could indicate something non-vegetarian or vegan. However, there are ingredients there you should avoid vegetarian or not such as hydrogenated oils, and the sugar sweetner words. You're probably better off hand making your flavoring with spices. Hope that helps.

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