American Airlines Restricts Its Vegetarian Meal Option

by Jeanne Yacoubou, MS

VRG Research Director

We recently received an email from a vegetarian couple who frequently flies on American Airlines business class. They expressed frustration about the lack of vegetarian meals served on most flights. They told us that they usually are served nothing at all and that “it has been close to a decade since we have received a veggie meal option from American. This includes international flights…”

The VRG contacted American for clarification of their vegetarian meal policy. Stephen Jeffery of Customer Relations at American told us that “we no longer offer the option of ordering a special meal in the first class cabin on all domestic non-transcontinental flights (special meals are still available in the first class and business class cabins on transcontinental flights) or in the coach cabin on all domestic flights and on flights to/from the Caribbean, Mexico, Hawaii, Latin America and Canada.”

Jeffery explained American’s policy in this manner: “This change in service resulted from an exhaustive competitive analysis of this particular complimentary amenity. The cost savings identified by this reduction in service are significant for us and will help us focus on those of our products and services better valued by our customers.”

Jeffery noted that special meals, including a vegetarian option, are still available on flights to Europe, Japan and some Latin American destinations. For more information, he suggested that readers visit:

http://www.aa.com/content/travelInformation/duringFlight/dining/specialMeals.jhtml

When The VRG followed up with American Airlines on this subject on behalf of the vegetarians who said they were served nothing at all when their request for the vegetarian option was denied, Jeffery stated that “as long as there were sufficient meals aboard, the flight attendant would be more than happy to serve a regular meal in place of a special meal which had been requested but was not delivered.”

The VRG recommends that vegetarians request the vegetarian meal option every time they fly. More consumer interest and demand may result in a meal policy modification at American Airlines.

Highlights from this issue include:

Edible Vegan Gifts for the Holidays

Vegan Munchies

How Many Vegetarians Are There?

Menu Selection for Vegan Renal Patients

VRG Awards Two $5,000 Scholarships

Calcium Content of Popular Indian Vegetarian Dishes and Ingredients

To join VRG and receive The Vegetarian Journal in print either:
* join online with $25
* call (410) 366-8343 and order by phone with your Mastercard® or Visa®
* or complete this form and mail or fax it to:

The Vegetarian Resource Group
P.O. Box 1463
Baltimore, MD 21203
Fax: (410) 366-8804

Buying flowers for Valentine’s Day? Click the image to order organic flowers and to have VRG receive 10% of your purchase price!

The first wave of International Food for Life Global volunteers are in the Dominican Republic and have joined the local FFL staff to finalize set up of their vegan food relief base camp. More volunteers from the UK, USA, Brazil, Mexico and Canada are set to arrive soon after.

Click here to donate to their efforts.

Each year, VRG awards $10,000 in college scholarship money to two high school seniors who have promoted vegetarianism in their schools/communities ($5,000 to each). The deadline – February 20 – is right around the corner, so if you want to apply, or know someone who should apply, click here for more information.

VRG also offers The Eleanor Wolff Scholarship which is a paid summer internship ($2,500 plus $1,000 toward housing) at VRG’s Baltimore office. Here’s what our interns Kristen and Rachel had to say about their internships at VRG last summer: http://www.vrg.org/blog/2009/08/21/notes-from-two-vrg-summer-interns/

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Would you like to sponsor a scholarship or internship? This provides a tremendous opportunity for students who are doing some great work promoting vegetarianism.
Click here to read about past scholarship winners (right-hand side).
Click here to read about past Eleanor Wolff Scholarship winners.

Don’t forget to support VRG by the end of the year – your gift is fully tax-deductible! Click here to make your donation online.

Click here to read VRG’s latest report on L-cysteine at McDonald’s, also pasted below.

L-cysteine is “A common dough conditioner, flavor enhancer in human and pet foods, and precursor in some dietary supplements is most often derived from human hair or duck feathers and to a lesser extent from pigs’ bristles and hooves.” (for more information on L-cysteine, click here)

L-cysteine in McDonald’s Apple and Cherry Pies is Derived from an Animal Source

by Jeanne Yacoubou, MS
VRG Research Director

A Pacific Northwest VRG member asked us about the source of the L-cysteine in the cherry pies at her local McDonald’s. Erin, a McDonald’s customer service representative, told us in January 2009 that since the cherry pie is not a national, “core” menu item, no information about the pie was available. Erin suggested that we contact the local restaurants that carry it.

The VRG made several random calls to McDonald’s restaurants in Seattle, WA and Portland, OR. We were given a wide variety of answers but the general conclusion was that no one knew because they had no ingredient information. We were directed back to the corporate offices of McDonald’s.

The VRG discovered that the Bama Company supplies McDonald’s with their pies. We left several messages and sent several emails to Bama in the spring of 2009 but received no response.

In May 2009, The VRG received a call from Kathy at McDonald’s Illinois corporate office. She told us that the L-cysteine in McDonald’s cherry pie is derived “from an animal source.” When we inquired further regarding the specific animal source, Kathy told us that the supplier did not provide any more specification. Kathy also noted that supplier and ingredient information may change and that they guarantee no product as vegetarian.

As a follow-up, The VRG called the McDonald’s consumers line again and asked if the L-cysteine in the apple pie was also derived from “an animal source.” In November 2009, Michaela told us that the L-cysteine in the apple pie was from an animal source. When we asked for more specification, Josie, who works in menu development at McDonald’s corporate office, called us and said that the L-cysteine in the apple pie is from “an animal source but not human-derived.” When I asked for more specification (specifically, whether it was from duck feathers), she said that she had no other information and said that degree of specification is proprietary information.

Interested readers may refer to our article on L-cysteine available here: http://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2008issue1/vj2008issue1lcysteine.htm Readers may subscribe to our free enewsletter at www.vrg.org for further updates on ingredients used at McDonald’s and all other major restaurant chains.

Two of VRG’s nutrition advisors, Reed Mangels, PhD, RD, and Nancy Berkoff, Ed.D., R.D., were on Southern California Public Radio on Monday 9/9/09 on the Pat Morrison show.

They spoke about the health benefits of vegetarian/vegan diets, and about raising vegetarian/vegan children.

The audio file of the segment can be found on this page or downloaded here.

The American Dietetic Association’s 2009 Position Paper on Vegetarian Diets, which was co-written by Reed Mangels and was discussed in the radio segment, can be downloaded here.

Thanks to TheVegetarianSite.com for donating 10% of their August proceeds to VRG! We really appreciate their generosity.

Make sure to check them out for vegan shoes, clothing, food, belts, accessories, and more.

Highlights from this issue include:

FAQs About Vitamin D
Super Savory Pancakes
VRG Nutrition Interns Develop Protein/Calorie Supplement for Vegans
Raw Southwestern Cuisine
Texture Alterations for Vegan Diets
New FDA Labeling Rules for Cochineal Extract and Carmine Coloring
Fish and the ‘Pareve’ Designation

To join VRG and receive The Vegetarian Journal in print either:

* join online with $25
* call (410) 366-8343 and order by phone with your Mastercard® or Visa®
* or complete this form and mail or fax it to:

The Vegetarian Resource Group
P.O. Box 1463
Baltimore, MD 21203
Fax: (410) 366-8804