If you’re planning on attending the Veggie Pride Parade in New York City this weekend, please be sure to stop by The Vegetarian Resource Group table.

For information on the parade, see:
NYC Veggie Pride Parade 2018

VRG’s Parents and Kids Facebook Group is intended to be a group that offers support for families raising children on vegan diets and for vegan kids. We envision it as a place to get advice about a wide-variety of topics: pregnancy, birthday parties, school lunches, Halloween, non-leather apparel, cruelty-free products, summer camps, and more. Please use it as a place to share your wisdom, seek advice, or just find a sympathetic ear. The goal is to offer support.

Consequently, any profane, defamatory, offensive, or violent language will be removed. Feel free to disagree, but do so respectfully. Hateful or discriminatory comments regarding race, ethnicity, religion, gender, disability, sexual orientation, or political beliefs will not be tolerated. We expect that posts should relate to vegan diets and lifestyles. The Vegetarian Resource Group reserves the right to monitor all content and ban any user who posts in violation of the above rules, any law or regulation, SPAM, or anything otherwise off topic.

Recent discussion topics include:
Vegan activities to do with kids during Easter
Raising Vegan Twins
VRG’s Essay Contest for Kids
Plus more!

Please share this information with any veggie families that you know! Thanks.

Each year The Vegetarian Resource Group holds an essay contest for children. SUBJECT: 2-3 page essay on any aspect of veganism/vegetarianism. Vegetarianism is not eating meat, fish, and birds (for example, chicken or duck). Vegans do not use any animal products. Among the many reasons for being a vegan/vegetarian are beliefs about ethics, culture, health, aesthetics, religion, world peace, economics, world hunger, and the environment.

Entrants should base their paper on interviewing, research, and/or personal opinion. You need not be a vegetarian to enter. All essays become the property of The Vegetarian Resource Group.

Previous winning essays and complete details can be seen here: VRG Essay Contest for Children

Gloria Clay asked to share her vegan cheesecake recipe that was a first place winner in the Lucky Leaf Personal Creation contest. She wants others to see the recipe and to raise awareness to cruelty-free eating.

Vegan No Bake Premium Strawberry Cream Cheese Cake
By Gloria Clay

Makes 10 to 12 servings
Feel free to use any vegan brand ingredients for this recipe.

Ingredients for crust made in a 10-inch spring form pan:
10 graham crackers
1/3 cup melted vegan butter
20 Biscoff cookies more or less for the perimeter of spring form pan

Filling:
¾ cup coconut butter
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
¼ tsp fresh lime juice
½ cup vegan plant milk
3 Tbsp vanilla extract
2/3 cup vegan sugar
1 tsp lemon zest
Two 8 ounce containers of vegan cream cheese
4 Tbsp melted coconut oil
8 ounce tub vegan whip cream
21 oz. can Lucky Leaf Premium Strawberry Filling
[Editor’s note: Since this was a Lucky Leaf contest, their brand strawberry filling was used; however, feel free to make your own strawberry filling by cooking down fresh organic strawberries, etc. Easy recipes can be found online.]

Fresh fruit to top our cake:
2 cups strawberries
1 cup black berries

First let’s start off by making the crust for the cheese cake. Place crackers in a bag; use a rolling pin to crush. Placed crushed crackers in bowl with melted butter and stir until well coated. Pour crust into a buttered pan and use spatula to press the crumbs down firmly in pan. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 8 minutes and let cool. After crust cools, place Biscoff cookies around the perimeter of the pan.

Now on to the cream cheese filling. In a mixing bowl, place coconut butter, lemon and lime juice, plant milk, vanilla, sugar and lemon zest. Blend together with a hand held mixer on high for 5 minutes until completely smooth.

In a separate bowl whip cream cheese until smooth on medium for 3 minutes, add coconut butter mixture to bowl with cream cheese mixture and mix until fully cooperated. Now beat mixture on medium speed for 3 minutes. Next pour in melted coconut oil and mix until well combined. Fold in whip cream.

Spread cream mixture smoothly over prepared crust in spring form pan. Place premium Strawberry Filling on top. Let sit covered in fridge for 3 hours. When ready to serve top with your choice of fresh berries.

Gloria Clay is married with 4 grown sons and three grandchildren from Bennettsville, SC. She loves to cook and inspire other to try vegan/vegetarian dishes. She says: “I cook from my soul to feed the souls of others.”

What you need:
Table cloth that can be tossed
A variety of dried beans and grains
Small bowls
Labels
Index Cards
Hole Puncher
Yarn
Scissors
Several small glue containers

Prepare before activity:
Punch one hole near the top of each index card
Cut yarn into 2 foot long pieces
Write the name of each dried bean and grain variety on separate labels
Glue or tape labels naming each dried bean and grain variety onto individual bowls

Day of activity:
Put table cloth on a table
Pour different beans and grains into appropriate bowl with its name on it
Place glue on table in several locations
Hand each participant one index card that has a hole punch in it and also a piece of yarn that was already cut
Put yarn through hole of index card and tie ends together (card will hang like a necklace)
Have kids glue beans and grains in a design onto index cards; teach them about the names of all the beans and grains while they are doing this activity
Teach the parents about dishes they can prepare at home using the beans and grains

By Jeanne Yacoubous, MS

L-cysteine was approved in Australia and New Zealand in 2016 as an anti-browning agent for avocados and bananas. http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/code/applications/Documents/A1117%20L-cysteine%20as%20a%20FA%20AppR.pdf

Experimental work on L-cysteine as an effective anti-browning agent has been done in the US since the 1950s (See p. 12 here: https://www.scribd.com/document/334501978/Fresh-Cut-Fruits).

As of 2018 L-cysteine is approved by the FDA only as a dough conditioner and is granted Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) status at approved levels in foods only for this purpose. https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFRSearch.cfm?fr=184.1271.

According to one source (http://www.google.la/patents/US20080032010; paragraph labeled “0011” under subtitle “Description”) using L-cysteine as an anti-browning agent for fresh cut fruits and vegetables “is commonly used in the produce industry…”

The paragraph from which this is taken states in its entirety: “Another method, described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,224,926 issued to Wrolstad et al. may use antibrowning/antioxidant compounds, specifically an L-cysteine and glutathione derivative, as isolated from pineapple juice, and pineapple processing plants. L-cysteine is commonly used in the produce industry as an anti-browning compound.”

Here is the patent cited in the previous paragraph of experimental work on L-cysteine as an anti-browning agent: https://www.google.com/patents/US6224926.
[Readers should note that information found online, especially for patents granted at the experimental level, may not always translate into commercial use. Years later, the patented procedures may still not be standard manufacturing practice on an industrial scale. L-cysteine used as an anti-browning agent is a case in point as evidenced below in the following sections. Always inquire of the company when in doubt.]

US Companies
As of March 2018, The Vegetarian Resource Group has not identified any pre-cut produce companies using L-cysteine today as an anti-browning agent in the US although we have contacted several.

We emailed Steve, Director of Sales from Bix® Produce Company, http://www.bixproduce.com/ who told us that they do not use L-cysteine.

The VRG called USA Produce® http://usa-produce.com/ who said that they do not use L-cysteine.

Nino’s Fresh Cut Fruit and Vegetables®, http://www.ninosfreshcut.com/ initially said “We use nothing but water.” When we pursued this by proposing some common anti-browning agents, The VRG learned that Nino’s uses NatureSeal® products (see below), ascorbic acid (Vitamin C), chlorine dioxide and sodium bisulfite. [VRG Note: All of these anti-browning agents are corn- or mineral-based.]

Go Fresh® Pre-cut Fruits and Vegetables http://www.gofresh-precut.com/ and Heart of the Harvest® Fresh Cut Produce http://www.heartoftheharvest.net/pages/veggie-list.php told us that they use an EcoLab® product called Tsunami 100®. According to page 2 of the Safety Data Sheet (SDS) on Tsunami 100, it contains non-animal hazardous ingredients.
https://portal.ecolab.com/servlet/PdfServlet?sid=984484-12&cntry=US&langid=en-US&langtype=RFC1766LangCode&locale=en_US&pdfname=TSUNAMI100
[VRG Note: A SDS lists only “hazardous” ingredients; it does not list them all. The VRG called EcoLab to find out more information but was informed that since The VRG is not a paying customer, further information could not be given.]

International Companies
Orgacure®
The VRG communicated with Roger Bierwas, CEO of Orgacure, about their FreshCut® product used as an antimicrobial and anti-browning agent. Roger was writing from the Netherlands. http://orgacure.com/freshcut/convenience/

We wanted to know about his experience with L-cysteine used as an anti-browning agent. Here is what we learned:
The VRG: Do you use L-cysteine in your anti-browning products?
Orgacure: We did trial cysteine some time ago but it developed an aftertaste on washed produce. Our scope with Orgacure is to provide a solution which does antimicrobial and anti-browning at the same time…to achieve an optimal…shelf-life…keeping the native taste of the fresh food with virtual no residues left…Another reason for not using cysteine for anti-browning is that the substance is in general of animal origin which would be a problematic issue with some of our customers as they have to comply with strict vegetarian, vegan or religious (halal) food standards.

AgriCoat NatureSeal® Ltd.
The VRG also corresponded with AgriCoat NatureSeal Ltd. General Manager Simon Matthews about L-cysteine as an anti-browning agent. He was writing from the UK. https://www.natureseal.com/
The VRG: Do you use L-cysteine in any of your anti-browning products? On which foods? In which countries?
AgriCoat NatureSeal: Our company offers a range of products, co-developed originally with the USDA, under the brand name NatureSeal designed to maintain shelf life in fresh cut fruits and vegetables. We offer a dozen or so different blends, based on various food approved ingredients.

AgriCoat NatureSeal Ltd. is the British subsidiary of NatureSeal Inc…I note the nature of your organisation and wish to be as helpful and reassuring as possible. I can confirm that we offer NatureSeal products that are suitable for vegetarians and vegans…
I note that you have a specific question regarding the amino acid L-cysteine. This is an ingredient which is well documented for use in controlling enzymatic browning. Working with natural produce, we understand that many consumers expect fresh cut produce, by its very nature, to be suitable for vegetarians (if not always vegan). With that in mind to meet vegetarian requirements we would use L-cysteine that is manufactured synthetically. This source is acceptable to vegetarians and vegans. We are aware that cysteine derived as a by-product of animal hair/bristles/feathers is not acceptable and I hope this affords you with the reassurances you seek.

As mentioned, although I cannot disclose customers or their uses we support NatureSeal customers across UK, Europe, Middle East, Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

Food Freshly®
The VRG also corresponded with Benjamin Singh, Director of Technical Sales with Food Freshly http://foodfreshly.net/ about their products. He was writing from Germany.
The VRG: Do you use L-cysteine in any of your anti-browning products? On which foods? In which countries?
Food Freshly: We don’t use L-cysteine in our products because our products are to be applied on fresh-cut produce. The application of L-cysteine on fresh-cut produce is not permitted in most countries.
The VRG: It appears that L-cysteine on fresh-cut produce is permitted in Australia and New Zealand. But can you confirm that your products in those countries are anti-browning agents NOT containing L-cysteine? I haven’t heard about this in the US – maybe you have?
Food Freshly: Thanks for the update. I will have our compliance people evaluate this. As far as we are concerned, L-cysteine doesn’t have permission to be used on fresh-cut produce in the US. Our product range is completely free of L-Cysteine in all countries.

M-TEchX®
We also emailed M-TEchX about their anti-browning agents and received a reply from Kanji Morishima. http://mtechx.co.jp/eng/portfolio/mx-gk01/
The VRG: Does your anti-browning agent contain L-cysteine or whey?
M-TEchX: …Our product, food formulation about anti-browning of avocado… [I]t doesn’t contain L-cysteine nor whey at all. But it contains protein very little, just for your information…
The VRG: Is it plant protein? Or animal protein? Can you tell me its name?
M-TEchX: …We cannot disclose the name without NDA. But it is plant protein, not animal one. [VRG Note: “NDA” stands for “non-disclosure agreement.”]

For more ingredient information, see http://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.

The Vegetarian Resource Group (a vegan organization) seeks Senior Editor in Baltimore to edit and layout (design) 36-page Vegetarian Journal four times a year, plus periodic miscellaneous tasks, such as designing brochures, t-shirts, decals, etc. Averages about five to eight hours per week. Must be proficient in InDesign and have good writing/editing skills. Send writing sample, design sample, resume, and cover letter addressing vegan knowledge, short and long term goals, and magazine editing and layout experience. Reply to editor job at [email protected] $14/hour.

The Vegetarian Resource Group has one needs based paid internship ($3,500 stipend) in Baltimore this coming summer for eight weeks.

To apply send a resume, writing sample, and cover letter addressing your need, vegetarian knowledge, past activism, short term and long term goals, and what you hope to learn from the internship.

Send to Att. Internship; vrg@vrg. Indicate if applying for the needs based internship. For more information, see:
http://www.vrg.org/student/index.php

Carnival Cruise Line said they are proud to offer a wide variety of vegan-friendly options on all its ships.

See:
How to Eat Vegan on a Cruise

According to DairyReporter.com, Dean foods has ended milk procurement contracts with more than 100 dairy farms, because consumers are drinking less fluid milk. The company will continue to buy milk from about 12,000 dairy farms. According to Dean Foods, Americans drink about three gallons less milk per person per year since 2010 and per capital consumption is down roughly 11 gallons since 1975.

For information about nondairy milks, see:
Guide to Non-Dairy Milks