By Reed Mangels, PhD, RD

For many years, if you wanted to know how much sugar was added to a food, you could look at the ingredient list on the product’s label and look at the Nutrition Facts label which would tell you the total amount of sugar in the food. This was problematic for several reasons. Some food manufacturers would use lots of different sources of sugar in a product – for example, high fructose corn syrup, sugar, molasses, and brown sugar all might be listed as ingredients. Since ingredients are listed in descending order of how much of each is in a product, if there are lots of sources of sugar, none of them might make it to the top of the list of ingredients. You might think the product mainly contains peanuts but if you added up all the sugar sources, total sugar might really be the most prominent ingredient. Secondly, back when the label only listed total sugar, a product that had unsweetened dried fruit would look like it had lots of sugar when really, that sugar was there naturally in the form of fruit. 

The new Nutrition Facts Label, required on all foods as of January 2021, tells the amount of added sugars that are in products. As the Food and Drug Administration says, “Added sugars include sugars that are added during the processing of foods (such as sucrose or dextrose), foods packaged as sweeteners (such as table sugar), sugars from syrups and honey, and sugars from concentrated fruit or vegetable juices. They do not include naturally occurring sugars that are found in [cow’s] milk, fruits, and vegetables.”

Recommendations call for limiting added sugar to 10% or less of total calories per day. That’s because these added sugars don’t much if anything for us nutritionally – they mainly supply calories. If you need 1600 calories a day, 160 calories or less should be from added sugar. Since sugars have 4 calories a gram, that means 40 grams or less of added sugar per day for someone who needs around 1600 calories a day.  There is no requirement for added sugars; the 10% of calories is an upper limit.

I was recently looking at some popular vegan ice creams and noted that they had 30 grams or more of added sugar in a serving. Knowing which foods have a lot of added sugar and having a perspective on what is a reasonable amount of added sugar for you can help you choose foods and decide how much of these foods you want to eat.

By Rissa Miller, Senior Editor Vegetarian Journal

(Makes about 40 sandwich cookies)

Nothing says fall like biting into a gingery pumpkin cookie. Stuffing it with soft, fluffy vegan marshmallows only makes the experience better. Try this recipe with Dandies seasonal pumpkin mini marshmallows or their regular vegan mini-marshmallows. Testers agreed these cookies were especially comforting warm from the oven, served with hot tea or cocoa!

Dry Ingredients

2-3/4 cups flour, plus more for rolling

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

Pinch ground cloves (optional)

Pinch ground allspice (optional)

Wet Ingredients

1 cup vegan margarine, softened but not liquid (tested with Earth Balance and Country Crock Almond Plant Butter)

1 cup packed organic brown sugar

1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree (plain, not pie filling)

1 Tablespoon molasses

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 Tablespoon plain, unsweetened vegan milk

1 Tablespoons ground psyllium husk seeds

One 5-ounce bag pumpkin Dandies mini-marshmallows (plain mini Dandies work too)

2 Tablespoons decorative sugar (optional)

In a medium bowl, combine dry ingredients and set aside. In a large bowl, mix vegan margarine, brown sugar, pumpkin, molasses, and vanilla with an electric mixer or by hand until well blended. Add in dry ingredients in three portions, mixing well each time. Quickly add in vegan milk and ground psyllium husk seeds. This is the binder and psyllium sets up very fast, so several fast strokes or a few circles in the bowl with an electric mixer will do the job. Dough will be soft but not too sticky.

     Wrap in parchment paper or plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least one hour or up to overnight.

     When ready to bake cookies, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking sheets. 

     On a clean flat surface, spread some flour and rub flour on a rolling pin (a large jar or glass bottle will work if you don’t have a rolling pin). Working with half the dough, roll it flat until it’s about 1/8-inch thick. Add more flour as needed to prevent sticking. Using a standard (not wide mouth) 12 oz. Ball jar, cut out circles and place on the cookie sheets. Repeat until all dough is used and there are about 40 “bottoms.” Top each dough circle with 2-3 Dandies, until all are used up from the 5-ounce bag.

     Repeat rolling second half of cookie dough and cutting circles. Place a dough circle on each Dandies-topped cookie and press edges lightly to keep the melty marshmallow inside during baking. If desired, top cookies with a sprinkle of decorative sugar.

     Bake 12-14 minutes at 350 degrees until cookies are lightly browned on the bottom and Dandies are melted. Some marshmallows will squish out the sides. Allow to cool on the pan 5 minutes before serving. Store in a sealed container on the counter up to 3 days or longer in the fridge (if they last that long!).

Zel Allen serves up a wide variety of vegan comfort food recipes in a previous issue of Vegetarian Journal. Make your own Giant German Pretzels (see photo) and dip them into either a Smoky Cheezy Sauce or a Mustard Sauce. Also enjoy Southern Cornbread or Vegan Buttermilk Pancakes with Buttery Apples. Move on to recipes for Cream of Mushroom Soup, Asparagus on Toast with Almond Sauce, Smothered Tomato and Mushroom Pasta with Herbs, Smoky Cheezy Stuffed Potatoes, Chocolate Brownie Pudding, and Old Fashioned Apple Crisp. Your family and friends will love these recipes!

The entire article can be read here: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2019issue1/2019_issue1_comfort_food.php

You can subscribe to Vegetarian Journal by visiting https://www.vrg.org/member/2013sv.php

In addition to The Vegetarian Resource Group’s quarterly vegan magazine (Vegetarian Journal), VRG publishes a national email newsletter called VRG-News each month. Vegan news is so vast these days that we saw the need to publish more than can fit in our quarterly magazine. Sign up for our national email newsletter here: https://lists.vrg.org/mailman/listinfo/vrg-news_lists.vrg.org

Many years ago one of our members wanted to purchase a higher model Volvo without leather seats. He was unable to obtain this, and the sales person said, “You do not eat the seats, you know!” Volvo has now announced they will offer vegan and sustainable alternatives. “The impetus behind the move to vegan leather is based in company concerns about animal welfare — the negative environmental impacts of cattle farming, including deforestation.” However, at this point, the company will still offer wool blends. Volvo Cars is also looking at ways to reduce the use of residual products from livestock production commonly used within or in the production of plastics, rubber, lubricants, and adhesives.

Don’t be afraid to speak up and promote your vegan values when making purchases. After all, it wasn’t that long ago that many of us kept requesting vegan donuts, burgers, milks, shoes, etc. at stores. If enough people ask, change will eventually happen.

See article at https://cleantechnica.com/2021/09/28/tesla-inspired-vegan-leather-is-all-the-rage/
For more information on ingredients, go to https://www.vrg.org/ingredients/index.php

The contents of this posting, our website, and our other publications, including Vegetarian Journal, are not intended to provide personal medical advice. Medical advice should be obtained from a qualified health professional. We often depend on product and ingredient information from company statements. It is impossible to be 100% sure about a statement, info can change, people have different views, and mistakes can be made. Please use your best judgment about whether a product is suitable for you. To be sure, do further research or confirmation on your own.

It’s the spookiest night of the year… and you want to give out vegan candy to all the little ghouls and goblins that knock on your door. But what to do? Are there vegan Halloween candy options? YES! We’ve got you covered.

Go to this video: https://youtu.be/n0GjGR852pc

After watching the video, check out this blog for more information/ideas:

Are you searching for a pair of vegan boots? Below is a list of online retailers selling vegan boots in the USA, Australia, Canada, and Europe.

USA

BC Footwear Online store out of California offering a wide variety of women’s boots.

Bhava Studio Offers women’s boots.

Brave GentleMan Online store out of Brooklyn, NY offering men’s boots.

Call it Spring They offer boots for both men and women.

Mooshoes Offers both men and women’s boots out of New York City, NY.

Sudo Shoes Storefront and online store out of Cambridge, MA offering men’s and women’s boots.

Tastemaker Offers boots for men and women.

Unicorn Goods Offers boots for women and men.

Vegan Chic Online store out of Los Angeles, CA offering boots for men and women.

The Vegetarian Site Online store selling boots for men and women.

AUSTRALIA

Vegan Wares Australian online shop selling boots for men and women.

CANADA

The Imperative Canadian online store selling women’s and men’s boots.

Native Shoes Canadian company offering shoes for kids, men, and women.

Nice Shoes Canadian company offering shoes for men, kids, and women.

EUROPE

Beyond Skin This UK online store offers a huge variety of women’s boots.

Ethical Wares Online store out of Wales selling a wide variety of men’s and women’s boots. They deliver worldwide.

Green Laces Online store out of Sweden selling boots for men and women.

Nae This Portuguese online store offers both men’s and women’s boots.

Noah Shoes Boutique German shop and online store offers women’s and men’s boots.

Veganline British online store offering boots for men and women.

Vegetarian Shoes British online store selling men’s and women’s boots.

Wills Vegan Store This UK online store offers men’s and women’s boots. They deliver to the USA as well.

What is your favorite restaurant chain for veggie options?

Vote here: https://www.vrg.org/vote/

Have you ever wondered if an ingredient listed on a food label is vegan or not? The Vegetarian Resource Group has an online guide to food ingredients that lets you now whether a specific food ingredient is vegan, vegetarian, non-vegetarian, typically vegan, typically vegetarian, may be non-vegetarian, or typically non-vegetarian.

You can search through this guide here: https://www.vrg.org/ingredients/index.php

To support this type of difficult research, please consider making a donation to The Vegetarian Resource Group: vrg.org/donate

Rissa Miller’s article Don’t Pull the Wool Over Your Eyes that appeared in a previous issue of Vegetarian Journal educates readers on which yarns are vegan. Many yarns and fibers are made from wool or wool blends (sometimes listed as merino) and are not vegan.

Subscribe to Vegetarian Journal in the USA only by visiting https://www.vrg.org/member/2013sv.php