Cheerios, Sugar, and Vegans
Posted by Mr.C on Aug 11, 2008 · Member since Aug 2008 · 56 posts
Do any of the vegans on this board eat Cheerios?
Even the plain, original, unsweetened Cheerios have sugar in them, much to my surprise. As we know, most sugar, and all cane sugar to my knowledge, is processed with animal bones. Can you call yourself a vegan if you eat a product which simply lists "sugar" as an ingredient?
Similarly, vegetarians who eat cheese usually don't know what kind of rennet was used, unless they buy the cheese or consume it at a progressive V friendly company/restaurant (i.e. Trader Joes, Chipotle). At most restaurants and groceries you don't have a clue.
I think people do the best they can. There's a range, from what I've seen. Some people don't worry about sugar at all and some people won't eat anything with sugar without knowing a source. A very informal observance on my part has me think that a lot people buy vegan sugar for their home, but they don't stress it in premade food. I'd still consider them vegan.
I agree with HH...There always seems to be cheerios in my home, from when i babysit my little cousins, but from time to time ill snack on them. I buy vegan sugar, but dont stress it in cheerios.
I don't eat sugar, but I do keep Rapadura crystals around for baking.
I also thought that only about half of the sugar produced in the US used bone char?
eta: According to Wiki ( ::)) only about 25% of the sugar is processed with bone char.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bone_char
yeah, I was going to chime in and say this. Refined sugar still isn't good for you, but I wouldn't really stress it
I agree with HH as well. There as such a thing as being practical.
Nonetheless, on this and the other V boards, you will find posts from vegans who compare ovo-lacto vegetarians (or ovo or lacto) to meat eaters (usually they will say omnivores). To equate ovo-lacto vegetarians with meat eaters, in terms of exploitation of animals and animal suffering, is simply ludicrous.
I don't know any Vs of any variety in my area (that's why I am here at vegweb), but I can't believe that most vegans equate vegetarians who consume eggs or dairy (milk, cheese) with people that eat beef, pork, fish, fowl, deer, turtle, rabbits, dogs, etc. I also find it more than a little hypocritical if such posters eat Cheerios or any other processed food with sugar of an unknown origin.
MDVEGAN, on the sugar issue, even if Wiki is correct, there is still a major problem, because most sugar sold in groceries in the US doesn't specify sugar cane or beet juice as a source. Most brands don't want to say beet juice because people think cane sugar is superior. I've even seen a brand recently that said "real sugar" on the bag (I guess as opposed to "fake sugar"!). Is that real evaporated beet juice sugar or real process sugar cane?
For those who don't live on the east or west coast or in Chicago, it is much easier to be a vegan/vegetarian in one's home.
beyond sugar, i thought the vit d in cherrios isn't vegan.
I e-mailed them about this recently:
> Dear Valued Consumer:
>
> Thank you for contacting General Millswith your inquiry.
>
> The Vitamin D3 is sourced from lanolin from sheep's wool.
>
> We hope you find this information helpful. Please let us know
> if we can help you again.
I don't stress too much about sugar right now, and am working on the rennet thing, but I guess my main focus is on eliminating things that are blatantly animal products or rely heavily on them. I mean, if a bunch of people stop eating steak, cow production for meat will decrease, so there will be less cow bones to use in the sugar, so they will find a different source of purification for it. I mean, they aren't killing the animals for the bones, they're killing them for other things, and the bones are the "leftovers". Not that I think it's right, by all means, it sucks, but I also can't afford really good vegan sugars right now. I get the dollar stuff, if i'm lucky. I feed 2 people on $20 a week. For me, I do what I can, and I think that for my diet, there are bigger concerns than sugar.
beyond sugar, i thought the vit d in cherrios isn't vegan.
I e-mailed them about this recently:
> Dear Valued Consumer:
>
> Thank you for contacting General Millswith your inquiry.
>
> The Vitamin D3 is sourced from lanolin from sheep's wool.
>
> We hope you find this information helpful. Please let us know
> if we can help you again.
Vegan Eating Out
Most major manufacturers of cereal use animal derived vitamins in their cereal. I am not surprised about this. I hate cheerios anyway
MrC, here on VW we are intensely practical, hands-on people. We do what we can. Everyone's on a different path. In my experience, only one person who is no longer a part of this board ever went around slapping labels on us lowly ovolactos. But the rest of us really only want to make the world a better--and tastier!!--place
As far as sugar goes, it's strange that there would be sugar in Cheerios, but then US manufacturers put sugar and salt in just about everything. I guess the only way out is to eat your own cooked cereal, like oatmeal, grits, etc. or to make your own muesli. There's a very good and accidentaly vegan muesli here (Dicke's brand) buuuut...with all the coconut, dried fruits, nuts etc. it works out to almost 400 calories a serving!! EEEK! So muesli is a now-and-then snack and I *don't* eat a whole serving!!
BTW thanks for your PM. I will eventually respond...but my printer just died and we're in the grip of summer here...45ºC.
??? Thanks to all that participated, enjoyed all your responses. I thought this was a vegetarian board! (really!!!) Thanks for educating me baypuppy. Now that I know, I will tread lightly! Once again, "a stranger in a strange land."
beyond sugar, i thought the vit d in cherrios isn't vegan.
I e-mailed them about this recently:
> Dear Valued Consumer:
>
> Thank you for contacting General Millswith your inquiry.
>
> The Vitamin D3 is sourced from lanolin from sheep's wool.
>
> We hope you find this information helpful. Please let us know
> if we can help you again.
Vegan Eating Out
Oh yum. Wool grease in my cereal. Tasty. NOT!!
i heard that even though most of the sugar (unless it is a nice expensive brand anyway) doesn't say beet and/or cane sugar, if you look at the manufacturing address you can tell if it is beet or cane.
i heard that even though most of the sugar (unless it is a nice expensive brand anyway) doesn't say beet and/or cane sugar, if you look at the manufacturing address you can tell if it is beet or cane.
Huh! I'd like to know more about that! Interesting.
Is beet sugar any healthier for you than refined cane sugar? Don't think we get any beet sugar in NZ; just curious.
Is beet sugar any healthier for you than refined cane sugar? Don't think we get any beet sugar in NZ; just curious.
Not particularly healthier (sugar is sugar) but beet doesn't use bone char in the processing. I'm lucky, here in Europe unless it says "cane sugar" it's beet.
Now I've got the old C and H Sugar jingle running thru my head! Now that I know that HI became a state in 1959, the pro-Hawaiian-paradise hype when I was a kid in the 60's makes a lot more sense. They even had a special Dennis the Menace annual on his trip to Hawaii. ::)
And Robert Dole of Dole Pineapple fame basically owned one of the islands.
Mr.C.....I'm not even an ovo-lacto, I am a pescatarian (read fish eating omni), and I've had nothing but love from this board/community. We are not militants. For non-vegan threads, you will see NVR. Everything else will in some way relate to leading a vegan type lifestyle. When I post recipes, or pics of recipes, I make sure they're vegan, otherwise, I just let myself be me, and haven't had any problems with those on the boards. (Barring a few who are no longer here...)
Hey folks, did not mean to abandon this thread which I started. Think we still have some unresolved issues on the sugar topic. Was without web access for about a week and got sidetracked
First, though, want to thank Baypuppy, Yabbitgirl, Hanashi, and especially two who have not posted on this thread, Allychristine and Carrot_Wench, for making me feel welcome in the neighborhood. :)
hespedal - don't understand your post. How can you tell if it is beet sugar or cane sugar by looking at the manufacturers address on the bag? Can you provide a little more info?
Heliamphora - don't believe one type of sugar is better, more healthy, or nutritious, but as indicated by Yabbitgirl (who I've now concluded is American, geography notwithstanding!), C & H was the most heavily advertised sugar in the U.S. in the 50s and 60s and their motto was "Pure Cane Sugar." The advertising clearly suggested cane sugar was superior, but don't know of any science which says so.
Bottom line - I still don't know how to go into a regular grocery store and by a cheap bag of sugar knowing it is vegan.
HOPE...CHANGE...This is OUR COUNTRY, too!
Beet sugar is slightly duller in colour than cane, but it only really shows in comparison. Cane sugar is whiter and shinier under artificial light. Also, cane sugar is more concentratedly sweet than beet, so you get more "bang for your buck" in that sense. Beet sugar is also slightly coarser, bigger crystals I guess.
But sucrose is sucrose, after all. "A sugar by any other name would be as full of empty calories." To corn a phrase.
And yes, I used to be American, a loooong time ago. I guess I'm just part of the return wave.
i dont like them too. they are pretty boring.
Mr.C, we're not like that on here. we're pretty cool with anyone as long as they are cool. it is a "vegan" board, though, so we don't allow posts about veggie things. not that we don't like veggies, but because vegan = everyone here can eat it (baring food allergies/etc).
It's vegweb.com, not veganweb.com. Both "vegetarian" and "vegan" begin with "veg." Where does it state it's a strictly vegan website? And when i do start posting recipes, i will post vegetarian recipes, of course stating when they're not vegan safe. I don't think restricting recipes to vegan is being very thoughtful of vegetarians who arent vegan. People just starting out may not have as many restrictions on what they eat or dont eat and we should nurture their new habits rather than scaring them off and making them think it's too hard to continue.
It's vegweb.com, not veganweb.com. Both "vegetarian" and "vegan" begin with "veg." Where does it state it's a strictly vegan website? And when i do start posting recipes, i will post vegetarian recipes, of course stating when they're not vegan safe. I don't think restricting recipes to vegan is being very thoughtful of vegetarians who arent vegan. People just starting out may not have as many restrictions on what they eat or dont eat and we should nurture their new habits rather than scaring them off and making them think it's too hard to continue.
No one said VW is "strictly a vegan website." All different people can join vegweb, post in forums, look at recipes, chat with others, etc., but all recipes are VEGAN. This is stated several places, namely on the submit recipe page. "Recipe must be vegan - no dairy products, eggs or honey. When using Tofu, specify Silken or Regular (and firm, extra-firm, etc). Please try to list both the U.S. and metric measurements. Since companies can change the ingredients of their products at any point in time to non-vegan ingredients, please be as generic as possible. Example: instead of X Brand Veggie Burger Crumbles, say something like "vegan burger-style crumbles." This will also help people in other countries determine, for example, that "1 teaspoon X Brand" actually means "1 teaspoon hot sauce.""
If you submit a non-vegan recipe, it will not be posted (barring some oversight, or mistake). Recipes must be vegan. Vegetarians can make/modify vegan recipes. Vegan recipes are not "hard," because they are vegan. At all. Nothing is meant to scare anyone off, and VW welcomes all. We all try to be as helpful as possible. If you ever need assistance with any recipe, all you have to do is ask.
I'm sure if you became open to trying vegan recipes, you would find the vast majority of them very simple, and delicious. And, as I said, if you are not open to trying vegan recipes, most of them can be easily modified to include whatever ingredients you desire.
eta: In support of my "all different people can join VW....etc." comment: "General chit chat, including support for transitioning to a vegan, vegetarian or raw food diet." from the chitchat forum.
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