The actual product in this case does not contain milk/eggs/etc. It just means that the factory uses these ingredients in other products. It's just a way to save the company's *kitten* if someone who has a serious allergy suffers a reaction after eating the product. It's fine for vegans : )

So I just wanna clear a couple things up.... is it NOT vegan if the package says...

1. "May contain trace amount of milk and eggs" (or similar)

or

2. "This product is processed in a facility that manufactures milk, eggs....etc"

I'm just confused as to whether they're vegan or not! Thanks!

May contain trace amount of milk/eggs = not vegan
This product is processed in a facility that manufactures milk/eggs etc. = vegan

The product that is processed in the same facility is to let others know for allergy reasons. The company probably shares the same unit with other companies that use dairy or some products of theirs have nuts whereas some don't, so they have to put the disclaimer on it so they don't get sued.

Rule of thumb: if the ingredients doesn't have animals in it, you should be safe. Not all products say vegan, even though they are, like peanut butter. I love products that just say vegan on it, makes life so much more easier!

This is a quick tip I heard too. If it is Vegan it will not have any cholesterol in it. So when I am not sure I check the cholesterol to make sure it says 0%.

That's true! I often do that as well. Great tip.

This is a quick tip I heard too. If it is Vegan it will not have any cholesterol in it. So when I am not sure I check the cholesterol to make sure it says 0%.

refreid beans are zero cholesterol but are made in part with lard so you still need to check the ingredients

i usually also consider it vegan if it's just been produced in the same facilities/machines and may contain traces of milk. however, a while back i discovered that a dark chocolate that had previously been labelled as just containing traces now said that it contains milk. it turns out they had not changed the recipe and added milk but now they had done some more tests and considered that the trace amounts were larger than they had thought so they considered it large enough to add as an ingredient. big debate in the vegan community over that one...do we still eat it? when does a trace amount become "too much"? ultimately it is up to you to determine what you want to eat and why and where your boundaries are.

So I just wanna clear a couple things up.... is it NOT vegan if the package says...

1. "May contain trace amount of milk and eggs" (or similar)

or

2. "This product is processed in a facility that manufactures milk, eggs....etc"

I'm just confused as to whether they're vegan or not! Thanks!

I would eat it, if it fit my other requirements.

There is always the potential for a mistake to happen.

In a food processing plant, it can mean animal product being placed into vegan packaging. Its always a slight risk.

Of course, if the food processing plant makes only vegan products at its plant, the chance is greatly decreased (not absent, but decreased. Ya never know when mouse might get caught in something.)

Anyway...there is always a chance.

So I just wanna clear a couple things up.... is it NOT vegan if the package says...

1. "May contain trace amount of milk and eggs" (or similar)

or

2. "This product is processed in a facility that manufactures milk, eggs....etc"

I'm just confused as to whether they're vegan or not! Thanks!

These are both essentially the same thing explained in different ways. Generally factories that produce food product use the same equipment on different products and this is essentially to cover themselves should any food traces remain in the equipment when switching product production from one thing to another. It;s essentially the same as sharing a kitchen with a non vegan. They might fry some eggs in a pan you later use to sautee mushrooms for example. While the pan has been cleaned in between there is still a microscopic chance that traces of what was cooked in it before might remain. It's entirely up to you if you choose to consider these things vegan or not.