Below, the author of this VRG blog post responds to a reader’s comment “The last ingredient listed is “cholesterol,” which is animal based.”

Cholesterol is classically recognized as an animal-based product, so the cholesterol comment makes sense. However, there are companies that sell plant-based lipids that are used to make pharmaceuticals. These companies take plant sterols and synthetically modify them to make cholesterol. Pfizer-BioNTech may have used one of these companies. Moderna released this statement:

“The Moderna COVID 19 Vaccine contains no preservatives, no antibiotics, and no products from human or animal origin.” The Moderna COVID-19 vaccine also contains cholesterol. See:

https://www.modernatx.com/covid19vaccine-eua/recipients/faq

     If a reader sees documented information on the cholesterol origin, please share.

Note: We also have a VRG blog/Facebook posting on cholesterol and food labeling that might interest you. See: https://www.vrg.org/blog/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vrg.org%2Fblog%2Fwp-admin%2F&reauth=1

By Audrey Hunt, VRG Intern

Servings: 8 people

Total cooking time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 onion
• 1 Tablespoon fresh ginger
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
• 6 cups vegetable stock
• 13.6-ounce canned coconut milk
• 6 sweet potatoes
• 1 carrot
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 Tablespoon curry powder
• 1 Tablespoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• Chopped parsley for garnish

Directions:

1. Start to sauté the onion, ginger, and garlic in a medium saucepan in the vegetable oil over medium heat.
2. In a large pot, add the vegetable stock, coconut milk, sweet potatoes, carrot, sautéed vegetables, salt, curry, cinnamon, and cumin.
3. Wait to bring ingredients to a boil while on medium heat. (Takes around 30 minutes)
4. Once the potatoes are soft, take the pot off the stove and purée the soup in a blender or you can use an immersion mixer.
5. Let sit for around 5 minutes.
6. Garnish with parsley and it’s ready to serve!

Support local veggie restaurants and non-veggie establishments in Maryland offering special vegan menus this month. Find participating restaurants here: https://www.mdveganeats.com/

Some of the dishes you can order online and pick-up include vegan soul food from Land of Kush in Baltimore City; organic vegan cuisine from Great Sage in Clarksville, MD; vegan burgers and sides at PLNT Burger in Columbia and Silver Spring, MD; vegan pizza from Paulie Gee’s in the Hampden section of Baltimore City; vegan and gluten-free baked goods and savory dishes from Harmony Bakery also in the Hampden section of Baltimore City; and fresh cold-pressed juices from Revive in Frostburg, MD.

The Vegetarian Resource Group maintains an online Guide to Vegan/Vegetarian Restaurants in the USA and Canada. Here are some recent vegan restaurant additions. The entire guide can be found here: http://www.vrg.org/restaurant/index.php

To support the updating of this online restaurant guide, please donate at: www.vrg.org/donate

Here are some new additions to VRG’s guide (Note: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic many are doing take-out and/or delivery now):

Avocadamama, 5240 NE 42nd Ave., Portland, OR 97218

Avocadamama is a fully-vegan food truck offering an array of creative mac & cheese dishes. The menu includes Buffalo Cauliflower Mac, Shredded BBQ Jackfruit Mac, and even a sampler if you can’t decide between the variety of options. Be sure to try their OG Mac, which features their original cheese sauce over rigatoni and topped with breadcrumbs.

Awesome Bites Co., 20819 Bighorn Valley Ln., Houston, TX  77007

Awesome Bites Co. is an all-vegan bakery that’s perfect for any Houstonian with a sweet tooth! Everything on their menu is free of animal products, soy, and nuts, with ample gluten free options also available. Items such as their N’ice cream, muffins, and donuts are particularly popular. Be sure to check out their Instagram (@awesomebitesco) to keep up with their latest flavor offerings and seasonal sweets!

Ditto!, 11150 Northeast Weidler St. Portland, OR 97220

Ditto! is a food truck that specializes in grilled cheese sandwiches served with crispy potato chips and a pickle spear. Diners can opt for a classic comfort food combination of the three-cheese Teddy sandwich with a side of tomato soup, choose one of the kitchen’s specialty flavors, or build their own combination. Gluten-free bread is available for a modest upcharge. While seating is not provided, Ditto!’s location next to vegan coffee shop Jet Black means diners who wish to eat on-site can order drinks there and are welcome to dine at their tables. Located in the same complex as vegan grocery store Food Fight.

Next Level Clucker, 11 South State St., Lake Oswego, OR 97034 and 450 Rhode Island St., San Francisco, CA 94107

This entirely vegan chicken restaurant offers a variety of delectable choices such as fried chicken sandwiches and chicken wings, along with five different kinds of fries! Be sure to try a non-dairy shake—standout flavors include the Orange Cream CluckShake and the Peanut Butter Cup CluckShake. Diners can find this eatery within the Next Level Burger restaurant at Whole Foods Market.

Skinny Buddha, 159 Lexington Ave., Mount Kisco, NY 10549

Skinny Buddha is the perfect quick-stop for a healthy snack or meal. In the mood for something light? Try the Matcha Green Tea Smoothie, the Baby Buddha Beet Salad Bowl, or the Carrot Ginger Soup. Heavier options include the Mediterranean Burger and the General Tsao’s Cauliflower Bowl. Don’t forget a Raw Oreo or a Mini Chocolate Cupcake on the way out! Additional catering menu also available.

Un•Cooked, 210 N. Carpenter St., Chicago, IL 60607 and 1616 North Damen, Chicago, IL 60647

Un•Cooked is a grab-and-go restaurant that offers a range of raw plant-based whole food juices, smoothies, entrées, and desserts, as well as coffee drinks. Popular dishes include the watermelon radish ravioli, sushi, cacio e pepe, and assorted cakes for dessert. The full menu is free of gluten and refined sugars.

Unsoul Food, 839 Poplar St., Philadelphia, PA 19130

“Home of Philadelphia’s favorite vegan mac n cheese,” you are sure to satisfy your hunger with delicious, cruelty-free meals that use Beyond meat and Seitan in their dishes. Check out the Personal Mac (a house favorite), Beyond Cheesesteak, and UnChick’N Waffles!

You can now read the latest issue of Vegetarian Journal on Kindle. Some of the articles in this issue include Flat Out Flavor (a wide variety of sheet pan meals); Breakfasts to Savor (savory breakfast recipes); Nutrition Hotline: Understanding Evidence-Based Research; Scientific Updates; Product Reviews; More Harris Poll Results: What Veggie Products Will American Adults Purchase?; Prisoner’s Rights and Vegan Meals in Prison; Vegan Lunch Bag Ideas; and More!

You can subscribe to the Kindle version of Vegetarian Journal in the USA and United Kingdom. In the USA, visit: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07LBY2Y7K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1544727482&sr=8-1&keywords=B07LBY2Y7K In the United Kingdom, visit: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07LBY2Y7K/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1544731957&sr=8-1&keywords=B07LBY2Y7K

Winter is the perfect time to serve a vegan stew. Zel Allen serves up several international stews in a previous edition of Vegetarian Journal. Enjoy:

Burgoo (a regional stew from Kentucky)
Harira (the national soup/stew of Morocco)
Neapolitan Cannellini Ragu (Italian stew) along with homemade Parmesan
South African Potjiekos
African Pumpkin Stew
Rajastani Ragout (Indian inspired stew)
Savory Indonesian Stew
Guisada Mexicana

The entire article can be read here:
http://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2017issue4/2017_issue4_travel_world.php

To subscribe to Vegetarian Journal in the USA, see: https://www.vrg.org/member/2013sv.php

You can also subscribe to the Kindle version of Vegetarian Journal in the USA and United Kingdom. In the USA, visit: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07LBY2Y7K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1544727482&sr=8-1&keywords=B07LBY2Y7K  In the United Kingdom, visit: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07LBY2Y7K/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1544731957&sr=8-1&keywords=B07LBY2Y7K

Due to the generosity of an anonymous donor, The Vegetarian Resource Group each year will award $20,000 in college scholarship money to graduating U.S. high school students who have promoted veganism/vegetarianism in their schools and/or communities. Vegetarians do not eat meat, fish, or fowl. Vegans are vegetarians who do not use other animal products such as dairy or eggs.

One award of $10,000 and two awards of $5,000 will be given. Entries may only be sent by students graduating from high school in spring 2021. Deadline is February 20, 2021. We will accept applications postmarked on or before February 20, 2021. Early submission is encouraged!

Applicants will be judged on having shown compassion, courage, and a strong commitment to promoting a peaceful world through a vegan/vegetarian diet/lifestyle. Payment will be made to the student’s college (U.S. based only). Winners of the scholarships give permission to release their names to the media. Applications and essays become property of The Vegetarian Resource Group. We may ask finalists for more information. Scholarship winners are contacted by e-mail or telephone. Please look at your e-mail.

For details on the contest, see: http://www.vrg.org/student/scholar.htm

Winter is a terrific time to roast veggies and fruit! An article titled Roasting Vegetables and Fruit by Debra Daniels-Zeller previously ran in Vegetarian Journal. It features vegan roasting recipes including Roasted Kale Chips, Roasted Roma Tomatoes, Simple Roasted Root Vegetables, Whole Roasted Cauliflower, Roasted Maple-Cinnamon Apples, Quinoa Salad with Roasted Asparagus, Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Lemon-Dijon Sauce, Balsamic Roasted Portobello Mushrooms, and Orange Roasted Pineapple with Chocolate and Coconut Sorbet.

Find this article here: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2015issue1/2015_issue1_roasting.php

To subscribe to Vegetarian Journal in the USA, see: https://www.vrg.org/member/2013sv.php You can also subscribe to the Kindle version of Vegetarian Journal in the USA and United Kingdom. In the USA, visit: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07LBY2Y7K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1544727482&sr=8-1&keywords=B07LBY2Y7K  In the United Kingdom, visit: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07LBY2Y7K/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1544731957&sr=8-1&keywords=B07LBY2Y7K

By Reed Mangels, PhD, RD

The Vegetarian Resource Group was recently contacted and asked this question, “Here’s a weird one: a product labeled as vegan, with no obvious non-vegan ingredients (that I see), but 15 mg cholesterol. Is the vegan label wrong? Am I misreading one of the ingredients? … What’s this all about?”

     A product that is truly vegan should not contain on the label any cholesterol, a substance produced by animals. Grains, legumes, nuts, fruits, vegetables, and vegetable oils do not have cholesterol or only contain insignificant amounts (more on this in a future blog posting). In order to address this puzzle, we need to consider where the nutrient amounts on nutrition labels come from.

     According to the FDA, the government agency responsible for food labeling, food manufacturers should have a laboratory analyze the nutritional content of the company’s product using specific tests. If the manufacturer of the product did this and determined that the product contained cholesterol, it could be due to contamination during production or it could be that the product contains small amounts of an animal ingredient that contains cholesterol and that the products should not be labeled as vegan.

     In place of costly laboratory analysis, manufacturers may choose to use existing nutritional data bases and programs to calculate the nutritional content of their food product. If a company use a nutritional data base to calculate the nutritional content, they input all the ingredients and amounts, and a program calculates the amounts of different nutrients in a serving of food. The manufacturer is responsible for the accuracy of the information on the nutrition label on their products so FDA states that calculated nutrient content should be validated by laboratory analyses (1).

     FDA discourages companies from merely copying a competitor’s label with the assumption that the products are similar. If FDA checked and found that a product’s composition did not agree with its nutritional label, the firm could not claim that it acted in good faith and should not be penalized if it copied information from a competitor (1).

     Misleading information can be generated when nutrient databases are used. Most programs provide users with a choice of ingredients when recipes are being inputted. An example of the kind of error that could be introduced – if an ingredient in a vegan product is pasta, and the person inputting the recipe into the program chooses a pasta that contains eggs instead of a vegan pasta as the ingredient, the recipe analysis would indicate that there is cholesterol in the product. If the company neglected to verify this information with laboratory analysis, incorrect label information could result. So, one possibility for there apparently being cholesterol in a product labeled as vegan is incorrect input of ingredients into a nutritional analysis program.

     The FDA does compliance checks in which they analyze food samples that have been randomly collected from lots of a food – a lot could be one day’s production. FDA takes 12 subsamples, combines them into one sample and analyzes the nutrient content of this composite. To be in compliance with FDA’s labeling regulations for cholesterol, the amount of cholesterol determined to be in the sample by lab analysis should be no more than 20% higher than what the label indicates is in the product. Having an analyzed amount of cholesterol below what is stated on the label, is “usually considered acceptable by the agency within good manufacturing practices (2).”

     Contacting the company may be helpful in determining the cause of the apparently incorrect label information and may alert the company to the need to correct either the “vegan” label or the amount of cholesterol shown on the label.

1. FDA. A Food Labeling Guide. Guidance for Industry. January, 2013. https://www.fda.gov/files/food/published/Food-Labeling-Guide-%28PDF%29.pdf

2. FDA. Guidance for Industry: Guide for Developing and Using Data Bases for Nutrition Labeling. 1998. https://www.fda.gov/regulatory-information/search-fda-guidance-documents/guidance-industry-guide-developing-and-using-data-bases-nutrition-labeling#Chapter_1

For more food labeling information see: https://www.vrg.org/ingredients/index.php

The contents of this posting, 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.

Are you still looking for a Valentine’s Day gift? If so, you might want to prepare a vegan meal for your family, friends, co-worker, etc. to show your admiration. Nothing beats comfort food, and we have published many articles on this topic throughout the years in Vegetarian Journal. Delicious vegan recipes can be found in the articles below. Enjoy!

Baby Boomer Cooking (Nov 2010)

Comfort Foods (Feb 2019)

Comforting Casseroles (Feb 2007)

Modern Vegan Comfort Food (Feb 2016)

Vegan Comfort Foods (Jan 98)

Vegan Versions of Familiar Favorites (Jan 2000)

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

You can also subscribe to the Kindle version of Vegetarian Journal in the USA and United Kingdom.

In the USA, visit: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07LBY2Y7K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1544727482&sr=8-1&keywords=B07LBY2Y7K In the United Kingdom, visit: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07LBY2Y7K/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1544731957&sr=8-1&keywords=B07LBY2Y7K