This list can be useful as a reference to identify what hides under all those E's in store-bought foodstuffs: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E_number
Many of those E's are actually of animal origin!
The most imediate thing you can do is read the ingredients, then you will know. In western countries there are laws that make manufacturers provide a list of ingredients. If it is not identified by the word Gelatin it may be called E441.
Second you should identify these brands and not buy them, and tell your friends and others not to buy them. Do not buy anything else that the company makes.
Thirdly You can also write a letter to the company who make it demanding that they remove this item from the product telling them that you and your friends won't buy it or any of their other products. Many companies have changed their ingredients after being pressured by consumers.
Thank You for your replies.
Was wondering if some devotee in the US has already done the screening since they will be using it already so that I can directly know the brands. This will save me time and effort.
*Organic is usually safe. Brands that claim 'Organic by USDA standards' will not have such things as gelatin, especially in plain yogurt. We should avoid processed flavored yogurts. Also, chefs say if you see "stirred" or "set" , that's a red flag.
Same with Organic Sugar. We look for "evaporated cane juice" or "turbinado" - natural processing as opposed to refined sugar.
* Chef Kurma once wrote a blog about all the different sugars devotees use around the world.
** Dannon, Yoplait , Mountain Dairy do not offer Organic yogurts and contain gelatin - i guess in the flavored yogurt, but plain ? i doubt - its good to check the websites or call.
In a survey of supermarket shelves, VIP found the presence of gelatin on the labels of many food items. This list below is not intended to be all-inclusive, but is designed to alert our readers to the necessity of reading food labels.
Breakfast Cereals
• General Mills Lucky Charms
• Kellogg's Frosted Mini-Wheats
• Kellogg's Cinnamon Marshmallow Scooby-Doo
• Kellogg's Magix
• Kellogg's Smorz
• Trader Joe's Frosted Mini-Wheats
Yogurt
• Dannon
• Yoplait
• Mountain Dairy
Margarine
• Promise
• I Can't Believe It's Not Butter
---------
* Devotees don't bother with these below, but its a helpful list for those turning vegetarian.
---------
Energy Bars
• Advantage Carb Control Nutrition Bar
• Carb Solutions High Protein Bar
• Odyssey Triple Layer Protein Bar
Cookies, Cakes, and Pies
• Sara Lee French Cheesecake
• Nabisco Devil's Food SnackWells
Candy
• Black Forest Gummy Bears
• Snak Club Apple and Peach Rings
• Creme Savers Soft Candy
• Brach's Fruit Ripples
• Junior Mints
• Jello Pudding Bars
• Kraft Jet-Puffed Marshmallows
It's good to have a list. I have laminated card the size of a credit card that fits in my (non-leather) wallet. It has the numbers of the most common animal ingredients so I can quickly check the list to see if the numbers on a packet indicate it is contaminated with inappropriate things.
Organic doesn't mean free of animal products like gelatin. I wouldn't trust anything without looking into it.
Organic only means pesticide free or pesticide reduced. Some organic farms are not fully organic, you usually find that in the small print. Some of them are in transition and some products have only one organic item.
One of the things I have noticed over the years is that companies change the ingredients in their products due to availability and cost. WHat is one week vegetarian, next week contains egg white, etc.
I make a habit of regularly checking the ingredients even in things I have been purchasing for some time.
If you can afford organic it will reduce the amount of pesticides that you consume. That is a good thing
Thanks for highlighting the important - that we must read the labels. That's really the simplest thing to do , and the most essential.
I read labels for ingredients on anything a little more complex than fresh produce.
My post above is probably misleading , sorry ! - thanks to my terrible communication skills :)
My observation was , though, that dairy farms (in the US at least) that take the effort to be 95% organic , also take care to not add unnecessary commercial or toxic ingredients to their processed products - particularly gelatin in fruit-yogurts. They also have to use organic cane sugar.
So that was just intended to be a general guideline for the question above. Ultimately , each buyer has to read the ingredients.
The funny thing is, i don't buy those flavored yogurts ! Only plain low-fat yogurt, which really has nothing other than cultures and milk. I have even had crazy thoughts of making the yogurt by squeezing lemon in milk, which is a bit impracticle :)
Organic dairy gives me some hope that the cows are better cared for - relatively, like no hormone injections, etc. The good news is that the gap between prices is closing up as the organic market gets more consumers, and will hopefully take over, forcing other farms to give up bad practices.
Organic cows are still artificially inseminated (raped) to maintain milk production. Organic cows are butchered (murdered) and killed the same way other cows are. Every dairy cow is killed when it stops producing dairy. Every calf is removed from the mother and most are used for meat production. and The regulations for organic farms to not cover treatment of animals.
It is true that there are benefits to organic for the consumer and the environment but organic does not in anyway prevent the cruelty aspect of industrial agriculture.
It is difficult to live life without violence of some some to some creature but we need to try as hard as we can in that direction.
We will all benefit when cruelty to cows is outlawed.
I don't meant to "rain on your parade" as they say just trying to keep things in perspective.
I agree with you that everyone should consume organic when possible. There are benefits.
namo maha-vadanyaya krsna-prema-pradaya te krsnaya krsna-caitanya-namne gaura-tvise namah
O most munificent incarnation! You are Krsna Himself appearing as Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu. You have assumed the golden color of Srimati Radharani, and You are widely distributing pure love of Krsna. We offer our respectful obeisances unto You.
namo brahmanya-devaya go-brahmana-hitaya ca
jagad-dhitaya krsnaya govindaya namo namah
I offer my obeisances again and again to Lord Krsna, who is always worshiped by qualified brahmanas and is very dear to them. He is always concerned with the welfare of the cows, the brahmanas, and the whole universe, and He gives pleasure to the cows, land, and senses.
Sarvetra sukhi na santo, sarve san tuni Ramaya
Sarve bhadrani pashyantu, ma kaschid dukh mapniyat
Om shanti, shanti, shanti
May All [beings] be happy and peaceful,
let there be no miseries
Let there be peace
Hare Krshna Hare Krshna Krshna Krshna Hare Hare
Hare Ram Hare Ram Rama Rama Hare Hare
I like your new prayer. Its simple and complete. "may you always be at the Lotus Feet of Lord Krshna"
Sarvetra sukhi na santu
My mother taught us this shlok when my sisters and i were children, and it has been a part of my evening prayer ever since. Its appearantly a Shanti Mantra.
EDIT : Also, Thank You for your blessings , Prabhu, as i am included in "everyone" (in yr new prayer) . Also like the way you bless us with - "good on you" :)
Historically it looks like writing was invented to maintain the memory of the Vedas, books were invented to keep the writing in, and the internet was invented to extend the writing to more people. : )
E Numbers
This list can be useful as a reference to identify what hides under all those E's in store-bought foodstuffs:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E_number
Many of those E's are actually of animal origin!
Here's another online resource for a quicker overview:
http://www.foodfigures.com/
Some things you can do
The most imediate thing you can do is read the ingredients, then you will know. In western countries there are laws that make manufacturers provide a list of ingredients. If it is not identified by the word Gelatin it may be called E441.
Second you should identify these brands and not buy them, and tell your friends and others not to buy them. Do not buy anything else that the company makes.
Thirdly You can also write a letter to the company who make it demanding that they remove this item from the product telling them that you and your friends won't buy it or any of their other products. Many companies have changed their ingredients after being pressured by consumers.
Hare Krishna
________________________________________
Visit the Food Channel @ Krishna.com
Thank You!
Thank You for your replies.
Was wondering if some devotee in the US has already done the screening since they will be using it already so that I can directly know the brands. This will save me time and effort.
Organic Yogurts and Sugars - safe way to go
Hare Krshna
FIRST THE GOOD :
*Organic is usually safe. Brands that claim 'Organic by USDA standards' will not have such things as gelatin, especially in plain yogurt. We should avoid processed flavored yogurts. Also, chefs say if you see "stirred" or "set" , that's a red flag.
Same with Organic Sugar. We look for "evaporated cane juice" or "turbinado" - natural processing as opposed to refined sugar.
* Chef Kurma once wrote a blog about all the different sugars devotees use around the world.
For what Organic means :
http://www.stonyfield.com/Organic/
Some brands i can only think of ( let's hope others add to the list)
Stoneyfield Farms
Horizon Organics
O Organics by Safeway
Stoneyfield Farms claims NO GELATIN in their plain organic yogurt, processed sweetened flavored yogurts and Soy yogurt products.
http://www.stonyfield.com/ourproducts/kidsyogurt.cfm
http://www.stonyfield.com/Recipes/CookingWithYogurtCheese.cfm
Stonyfield Farm yogurts contain no gelatin.
THE BAD AND THE UGLY
** Dannon, Yoplait , Mountain Dairy do not offer Organic yogurts and contain gelatin - i guess in the flavored yogurt, but plain ? i doubt - its good to check the websites or call.
GOOD INFORMATION :
http://www.vegparadise.com/news39.html
If you scroll down...
VIP surveys market shelves
In a survey of supermarket shelves, VIP found the presence of gelatin on the labels of many food items. This list below is not intended to be all-inclusive, but is designed to alert our readers to the necessity of reading food labels.
Breakfast Cereals
• General Mills Lucky Charms
• Kellogg's Frosted Mini-Wheats
• Kellogg's Cinnamon Marshmallow Scooby-Doo
• Kellogg's Magix
• Kellogg's Smorz
• Trader Joe's Frosted Mini-Wheats
Yogurt
• Dannon
• Yoplait
• Mountain Dairy
Margarine
• Promise
• I Can't Believe It's Not Butter
---------
* Devotees don't bother with these below, but its a helpful list for those turning vegetarian.
---------
Energy Bars
• Advantage Carb Control Nutrition Bar
• Carb Solutions High Protein Bar
• Odyssey Triple Layer Protein Bar
Cookies, Cakes, and Pies
• Sara Lee French Cheesecake
• Nabisco Devil's Food SnackWells
Candy
• Black Forest Gummy Bears
• Snak Club Apple and Peach Rings
• Creme Savers Soft Candy
• Brach's Fruit Ripples
• Junior Mints
• Jello Pudding Bars
• Kraft Jet-Puffed Marshmallows
------------
Hope this helps
Hare Krshna
MMmmm
It's good to have a list. I have laminated card the size of a credit card that fits in my (non-leather) wallet. It has the numbers of the most common animal ingredients so I can quickly check the list to see if the numbers on a packet indicate it is contaminated with inappropriate things.
Organic doesn't mean free of animal products like gelatin. I wouldn't trust anything without looking into it.
Organic only means pesticide free or pesticide reduced. Some organic farms are not fully organic, you usually find that in the small print. Some of them are in transition and some products have only one organic item.
One of the things I have noticed over the years is that companies change the ingredients in their products due to availability and cost. WHat is one week vegetarian, next week contains egg white, etc.
I make a habit of regularly checking the ingredients even in things I have been purchasing for some time.
If you can afford organic it will reduce the amount of pesticides that you consume. That is a good thing
Good on you Ebhaktin8
________________________________________
Visit the Food Channel @ Krishna.com
Organic Dairy
Thanks for highlighting the important - that we must read the labels. That's really the simplest thing to do , and the most essential.
I read labels for ingredients on anything a little more complex than fresh produce.
My post above is probably misleading , sorry ! - thanks to my terrible communication skills :)
My observation was , though, that dairy farms (in the US at least) that take the effort to be 95% organic , also take care to not add unnecessary commercial or toxic ingredients to their processed products - particularly gelatin in fruit-yogurts. They also have to use organic cane sugar.
So that was just intended to be a general guideline for the question above. Ultimately , each buyer has to read the ingredients.
The funny thing is, i don't buy those flavored yogurts ! Only plain low-fat yogurt, which really has nothing other than cultures and milk. I have even had crazy thoughts of making the yogurt by squeezing lemon in milk, which is a bit impracticle :)
Organic dairy gives me some hope that the cows are better cared for - relatively, like no hormone injections, etc. The good news is that the gap between prices is closing up as the organic market gets more consumers, and will hopefully take over, forcing other farms to give up bad practices.
Hare Krshna ~
sadly
Organic cows are still artificially inseminated (raped) to maintain milk production. Organic cows are butchered (murdered) and killed the same way other cows are. Every dairy cow is killed when it stops producing dairy. Every calf is removed from the mother and most are used for meat production. and The regulations for organic farms to not cover treatment of animals.
It is true that there are benefits to organic for the consumer and the environment but organic does not in anyway prevent the cruelty aspect of industrial agriculture.
It is difficult to live life without violence of some some to some creature but we need to try as hard as we can in that direction.
We will all benefit when cruelty to cows is outlawed.
I don't meant to "rain on your parade" as they say just trying to keep things in perspective.
I agree with you that everyone should consume organic when possible. There are benefits.
________________________________________
Visit the Food Channel @ Krishna.com
true
namo maha-vadanyaya krsna-prema-pradaya te krsnaya krsna-caitanya-namne gaura-tvise namah
O most munificent incarnation! You are Krsna Himself appearing as Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu. You have assumed the golden color of Srimati Radharani, and You are widely distributing pure love of Krsna. We offer our respectful obeisances unto You.
namo brahmanya-devaya go-brahmana-hitaya ca
jagad-dhitaya krsnaya govindaya namo namah
I offer my obeisances again and again to Lord Krsna, who is always worshiped by qualified brahmanas and is very dear to them. He is always concerned with the welfare of the cows, the brahmanas, and the whole universe, and He gives pleasure to the cows, land, and senses.
Sarvetra sukhi na santo, sarve san tuni Ramaya
Sarve bhadrani pashyantu, ma kaschid dukh mapniyat
Om shanti, shanti, shanti
May All [beings] be happy and peaceful,
let there be no miseries
Let there be peace
Hare Krshna Hare Krshna Krshna Krshna Hare Hare
Hare Ram Hare Ram Rama Rama Hare Hare
I like em
These are all great quotes
He is always concerned with the welfare of the cows, and so should we be : )
I like this one, where did you get it:
May All [beings] be happy and peaceful,
let there be no miseries
Let there be peace
Dear everyone May you be peaceful, may the cows always be peaceful, and may you always be at the feet of Lord Krishna (I made this one up)
Hare Krishna
________________________________________
Visit the Food Channel @ Krishna.com
Sarvetra sukhi na santu
Hare Krshna
I like your new prayer. Its simple and complete. "may you always be at the Lotus Feet of Lord Krshna"
Sarvetra sukhi na santu
My mother taught us this shlok when my sisters and i were children, and it has been a part of my evening prayer ever since. Its appearantly a Shanti Mantra.
EDIT : Also, Thank You for your blessings , Prabhu, as i am included in "everyone" (in yr new prayer) . Also like the way you bless us with - "good on you" :)
put in the effort : )
Looks like you are the first of think of it
I expect you could use google search to find out which has and which has not.
________________________________________
Visit the Food Channel @ Krishna.com
:)
I agree ! Its worthwhile for all of us to go thru' the exercise as we find more and more. All we have to do is google - at the fingertips.
What you once said is SO TRUE : Krshna made the internet for devotees , and to spread word about Him to make more devotees !
Hare Krshna ~
Historically
Historically it looks like writing was invented to maintain the memory of the Vedas, books were invented to keep the writing in, and the internet was invented to extend the writing to more people. : )
________________________________________
Visit the Food Channel @ Krishna.com