A little something about V8 juice
On here, as well as a few other places, I've seen the question come up about if V8 is vegan or not. I don't know if it's been answered yet or not (I couldn't find an answer anywhere, but I might have just missed it), so I did some digging. The ingredients label is pretty straight-forward about what's in it, but then you get towards the end and you see something that's just called "flavoring". I emailed Campbell's to ask them what is used to make this flavoring. Here is their reply:
"We received your message and appreciate your taking the time to contact Campbell Soup Company regarding the flavorings used in our products.
The term "flavoring" refers to the oils or extracts that are obtained from spices and herbs. Natural flavoring may also include onion or garlic derivatives, as well as flavor derived from fruits, vegetables and their juices, or edible parts of plants. Other sources may include meat, seafood, poultry or dairy products, whose significant function in the food is flavoring rather than nutrition.
We appreciate your feedback.
At Campbell, our number one priority is to delight our consumers. I hope I've been able to answer your question. Please contact our Consumer Response Center or visit Campbell's website if we can be of further assistance.
Thank you for visiting the Campbell Soup website.
Campbell Soup Web Team mxf"
Not the most direct answer in the world. But to be safe, I'm passing on the V8 from now on. Which is a shame.
I like the trend set forth by a few other food companies (I saw pillsbury do it first) where an "allergen statement" is at the bottoms that says something like
CONTAINS: WHEAT AND MILK
or whatever. That way if it says "milk" or "eggs" you can skip reading the ingredients; I've seen a few items that don't have any obvious animal ingredients, except questionable 'artificial flavors', and at the bottom it states that it contains dairy.
I wish that kind of allergy labeling was mandatory, so companies can keep their little 'flavor secrets' but we can still know if it's derived from some of the main allergens.
No help in regards to meat content though. I wish we had us some people allergic to animal protein altogether...
My letter was short and to the point informing them that labeling a product 100% vegetable juice while having animal products was unethical advertising.
EXACTLY. WTF?? I love their form letter responses too. I'm surprised it took them so long to get back with you when all they had to do was select a prewritten response letter from their collection and click send.
I have been seeing those labels more lately. You are right it is a good trend. My mil's cousin has a grandson that is allergic to most animal protein...severe reaction if he consumes it. I think he can eat chicken though. With allergies on the rise maybe they will start labeling meat and meat by products as well.
Well, they got back to me. And their response was nearly a carbon copy of what they sent to shea. Here it is:
"Campbell Soup Company's definition of vegetarian refers to products with no meat, but may contain animal by-products such as eggs or milk. Based on this definition, our vegetarian products are listed below. Unfortunately, we do not offer vegan products.
Campbell's Tomato Juice Pace Picante Sauce Pace Thick & Chunky Salsa Prego Organic Pasta Sauce V8 Golden Butternut Squash Soup V8 Garden Broccoli Soup V8 Southwestern Corn Soup V8 Tomato Herb Soup V8 Sweet Red Pepper Soup R&W Condensed Vegetarian Vegetable Soup Soup At Hand Classic Tomato Soup Swanson Organic Vegetable Broth Swanson Vegetable Broth V8 Juice V8 Splash Juice V8 V-Fusion
Thank you for visiting the Campbell Soup website.
Campbell Soup Web Team kxp"
The bold type is added by me. That answers that question.
"Unfortunately" is right, cus unfortunately for them i won't be purchasing any campbells products in the future. If they really think it's so "unfortunate" they might look into starting to offer vegan products... idiots.
Well, they got back to me. And their response was nearly a carbon copy of what they sent to shea. Here it is:
"Campbell Soup Company's definition of vegetarian refers to products with no meat, but may contain animal by-products such as eggs or milk. Based on this definition, our vegetarian products are listed below. Unfortunately, we do not offer vegan products.
Campbell's Tomato Juice Pace Picante Sauce Pace Thick & Chunky Salsa Prego Organic Pasta Sauce V8 Golden Butternut Squash Soup V8 Garden Broccoli Soup V8 Southwestern Corn Soup V8 Tomato Herb Soup V8 Sweet Red Pepper Soup R&W Condensed Vegetarian Vegetable Soup Soup At Hand Classic Tomato Soup Swanson Organic Vegetable Broth Swanson Vegetable Broth V8 Juice V8 Splash Juice V8 V-Fusion
Thank you for visiting the Campbell Soup website.
Campbell Soup Web Team kxp"
The bold type is added by me. That answers that question.
"Unfortunately" is right, cus unfortunately for them i won't be purchasing any campbells products in the future. If they really think it's so "unfortunate" they might look into starting to offer vegan products... idiots.
Amen. I sincerely hope a lawsuit forms over false advertisement for this. "100% Vegetable Juice" my ass. I don't care if they do shove "From Concentrate with Added Ingredients" under the label, they should clearly warn people about what they're about to drink.
So I know I'm not the best label-reader. Help me find the animal in my Campbell's Organic Tomato Juice.
Ingredients:
Organic tomato juice from concentrate (water, organic tomato concentrate), Salt, Vitamin C (ascorbic acid).
You copied the ingredients wrong. They are:
Organic tomato juice from concentrate (water, organic tomeato concentrate), Salt, Vitamin Cow (bovinic acid).
J/k.
I think that, while this one definitely seems to be vegan, Campbell's isn't going to claim that any of their products are vegan for whatever reasons (too lazy to figure out what's vegan and what's not , or maybe don't want to get sued so just say everything's not vegan).
this is crazy! I can't believe it! >:(
i'm confused - you added the bold part or did you bold what they wrote?
im pretty sure he just made their text bold... but hopefully he'll clear it up for sure.
I have been seeing those labels more lately. You are right it is a good trend. My mil's cousin has a grandson that is allergic to most animal protein...severe reaction if he consumes it. I think he can eat chicken though. With allergies on the rise maybe they will start labeling meat and meat by products as well.
my cousins husband and kids have this same thing. It causes that parts of their digestive system that come into contact with it to just DIE...he once got a veg soup that had a beef base and had to be rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery in which they removed part of his gut. They ALSO can have chicken and turkey and refer to themselves as "vegetarian" which makes explaining that I DONT eat birds difficult with my extended fam because they say "but Jorge, Fransisco and Gordo can eat chickens, and the they are vegetarian...."
ahem...I wish i was allergic to meat....actually, cause then Id know when people were trying to sneak it in on me....(okay but i don't wish it was deadly allergy like so many are and i don't really wanna lose parts of my GI tract....)
sucks that none of Campbell's stuff is vegan....i wonder if that is just to protect themselves or if it really is not vegan...
i'm confused - you added the bold part or did you bold what they wrote?
im pretty sure he just made their text bold... but hopefully he'll clear it up for sure.
Yup, I just made bold what they wrote. Everything between the quote marks is theirs. Sorry, should have made that clearer :(
...Vitamin Cow (bovinic acid).
LOL!!
I WAS a big fan of the "V-Fusion" veg fruit drink, but I just looked at a label of a bottle I have here- yep, "natural flavoring"! And Prego sauce too, which I just found out was Cambell's reading the label. So much for "assumed safe" products.
Alright, so I was just flipping through a magazine, and I came across a Campbell's ad.
It's a comparison of ingredients for Campbell's new Select Soups and Progresso Soup.
The list of ingredients for Campbell's is much, much shorter and easier to read.
At the bottom is says, "No artificial flavors. No MSG. Real Ingredients. Real Taste."
At least Progresso is honest that they have MSG and hydrogenated oils in their soup.
I think I am going to start calling Campbell's Cannibal soup. Who knows what the hell they are hiding in there.
You know what's sad? That ad isn't technically lying. They don't add any artificial flavors, they call their flavors "natural". :P
Although I can't really get my head around what's so natural about liquifying an animal just so your soup tastes more like a steak, especially when it's supposed to be tomato soup or something. ???
ive heard bad things about the word "natural." i guess a lot of things can be called natural, even if theyre like..not that good. animal fat/juice, hfcs, a bunch of flavor things..sigh.
when i work for some food company in the future, expect reforms 8-) haha
Isn't it technically lying though when they call something "100%" vegetable juice?? They should legally have to label it as 99% so consumers would know it's not really true...
Isn't it technically lying though when they call something "100%" vegetable juice?? They should legally have to label it as 99% so consumers would know it's not really true...
Agreed. Completely. And I don't really want to defend such a shady business, but I should point out that while the label does say "100% Vegetable Juice", underneath that claim it also says "From Concentrate With Added Ingredients" right underneath that. Granted that completely destroys the 100% juice claim, and they should have to change the 100% to 99% or something, but still there it is.
I'm still pissed about it, though. I posted a rather lengthy rant in my Myspace blog.
And ponycakes, I'm right there with you on the "natural" stuff. Companies can get away with calling a lot of additives "natural", thanks to the large blanket that it falls under.
I just wanted to mention here that Walgreen's brand juices are vegan and are labeled as such. I first noticed it on my grape juice and thought of this old thread. Then I bought the vegetable juice and it is also labeled vegan.
Voila!
http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s292/astarrp/IMG_0780.jpg
Happy bottled juice chugging.
Oh yay for that! Thanks for the good info, haricot!
well i just checked the ingredients on my low sodium can and no mention of natural flavorings is given. have they changed their policy or just the list?
Thanks for the discussion. I mentioned in the other thread a while back that I like V8 for the potassium. I'll switch to vegan alternatives. I've noticed Knudsen's Very Veggie has quite a bit of potassium and I'll keep my eye out for the low sodium version. The problem is probably going to be price for me. I'd just like a decent answer from Campbell's "Yes, it contains animal products...." or like Knudsne "they are botanical in nature" and call it a day. Sheesh.
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