Dear Vegetarian Resource Group,

I had an amazing experience joining the University of Pennsylvania community over the past few months. The people I have met during the past semester have changed my outlook and enriched my life. All the activities, resources, and opportunities on campus overwhelmed me in the beginning, but eventually I found my stride.

I used the past semester to explore the options available to me, and what I truly desired. Attending several entrepreneurship events led me to researching the possibilities of starting a business or nonprofit related to veganism, or under the broader umbrella of reducing the total amount of suffering in the world. Realizing that veganism is a cause that I would dedicate my life to, and that I could use my passion and skills to help reduce the total amount of suffering in the world, changed how I see my future.

I would like to thank The Vegetarian Resource Group and all the donors who made the generous scholarship possible. Your support eases the financial burden of college on my family and me. Most of all, it tells me that no matter how tough it gets, there are people out there who believe in me and support me in any way they can. Thank you.

-Aaditi Tamhankar

To see more on VRG scholarship winner Aaditi, go to:
http://www.vrg.org/blog/2017/05/08/new-jersey-high-school-senior-receives-10000-vegetarian-resource-group-college-scholarship/

For information on the 2018 Vegetarian Resource Group scholarship contest, go to:
http://www.vrg.org/student/scholar.htm
The annual deadline for graduating high school seniors in the USA only is February 20th.

To donate towards VRG internships and scholarships, go to www.vrg.org/donate
Indicate in the Comments the purpose of your donation.

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

To apply send a resume, writing sample, and cover letter addressing your need, vegan/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:
VRG Needs Based Internship

You or someone else you know may be looking to shed some pounds. With that in mind, we’re sharing an article we previously ran in Vegetarian Journal that will help you lose weight on a vegan diet. Dietitians Reed Mangels, PhD, RD and Chef Nancy Berkoff, EdD, RD offer a lot of helpful advice including a chart listing lowfat vegan foods to meet your nutritional needs, a sample vegan menu, and vegan recipes. See: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2006issue1/2006_issue1_weight.php

To subscribe to Vegetarian Journal please visit:
Subscribe to Vegetarian Journal

Also, if you’re looking for a terrific vegan weight-loss cookbook, consider purchasing Appetite for Reduction, by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. You can purchase this book directly from The Vegetarian Resource Group here: http://www.vrg.org/bookstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=67

Pictured above: Stanford Inn (Mendocino, CA, US)

Whether you live in a cold climate and are sick of winter already or you simply want to get away for a while, The Vegetarian Resource Group has a list of veggie Bed and Breakfast establishments around the world on www.vrg.org. Start packing today!

The complete list can be found here:
http://www.vrg.org/links/vacation.htm#main

The Vegetarian Resource Group maintains an online Guide to Vegan/Vegetarian Restaurants in the USA and Canada. Below are some recent additions. The entire guide can be found here:
VRG Online Veggie Restaurant Guide

To support the updating of this online restaurant guide, please donate at:
Donate to VRG

Café My House
1015 Wellington St. West
Ottawa, ON K1Y 2Y1 Canada
Café My House is an upscale restaurant serving seasonal multi-course tasting menus and brunches. Located just blocks away from the heart of Ottawa’s art district, the restaurant offers a plant-based take on fine dining. Dishes on past tasting menus include risotto-stuffed cabbage, mushroom steaks with miso butter, and jalapeno-mint ice cream. Charcuterie and nut cheese boards are also available. Wine pairings are served alongside the multi-course menus; Café My House sources its natural and biodynamic wines from independent wineries worldwide. The restaurant also has an ever-changing cocktail menu that offers drinks created with house-made bitters, syrups, and liqueurs.

Carina’s Bakery
4725 SW Lombard Ave. #108
Beaverton, OR 97005
Located in a small shopping center across the street from Beaverton Town Square, Carina’s Bakery serves a variety of Swedish baked goods, coffee drinks, and savory lunch items. All items are vegan and soy-free, with gluten-free options available as well. The uniqueness of Carina’s Bakery not only comes from its baked goods, but also from its owner, Carina Comer, who is legally blind. Besides her love of crafting traditional pastries and cookies, she also has a strong commitment to helping people with disabilities learn various skills and share their love of baking. Hiring people who are visually impaired is one way that Carina’s Bakery supports the surrounding community.

Die Pie
11215 Jasper Ave.
Edmonton, AB T5K 0L5 Canada
Die Pie, located in downtown Edmonton, serves vegan pizzas (see photo above) and entrées. Chefs Neil Royale and Karuna Goodall are a brother-and sister-team whose passion for creating plant-based cheeses led them to open their own pizza restaurant. Die Pie offers several different options of vegan cheese including cheddar, harvarti, and gorgonzola. All of the cheeses used on their pizzas are made in-house from ingredients such as cashews and hemp seeds. Fan favorites include the pulled pork pizza, made with jackfruit, and the macaroni and cheese pizza served with cashew mozzarella and king oyster bacon. Gluten-free, nut-free, and soy-free options are available.

Hello 123
1122 Queen St. West
Toronto, ON M6J 1H9 Canada
Hello 123 offers something for everyone with an appetite for healthy, fresh, plant-based eating. Breakfast options include parfaits, avocado toast, waffles and ‘Porridge of the Week’. There are smoothie bowls, cold press juices and coffees and teas. Lunch entrees are offered in either ‘small’ or ‘bigger’ sizes and include salads and noodles with protein options like seasoned chickpeas, seared tempeh and hemp and sunflower balls. The dinner menu consist of many of the lunch entrees in bigger portions.

Urbavore
1103 Church St.
Lynchburg, VA 24504
Homemade, plant-based interpretations of the some of the South’s favorite food dishes is what Urbavore offers to new and seasoned plant-based palettes for both breakfast and lunch. Breakfast or ‘breakie’ choices include biscuits and mushroom gravy, homemade waffles, and pecan scones and maple icing. Homemade mushroom and lentil patties are features under the ‘Burgers’ section of the menu. Lunchtime ‘sammiches’ include ‘Crabbie sliders’ with New Orleans Remoulade and The Barbocoa with cilantro cream sauce, which are both made with Jackfruit. A different soup is featured weekly as a side along with other sides like mac n’ cheese, handmade sweet potato chips, and Caesar and House salads. Sweets are last, but certainly not least, on the menu and include Creme Brulee and Sirabella NY Style Cheesecake.

Vegan Hippie-Chick
1034 Fort St.
Victoria, BC V8V 3K4 Canada
How hip is vegan, plant-based food? Come check out the menu at this groovy cafe that boasts some of the coolest food items in Victoria, BC, Canada where breakfast is served all day. The appetizers are creatively re-named ‘appies’ and include onion rings with nacho cheeze dip, cheezy kale chips, dilly pickle wedges or a cheezy plate. Other menu items include delicious sandwiches like oyster mushroom “pulled pork” in either half or full sizes, raw veggie burgers, and salad bowls like the Far Out Falafel or the Trippy Taco Salad. In addition to the traditional café fair, Vegan Hippie-Chick offers gourmet raw pizza by the slice, made with buckwheat crust. One’s sweet tooth is not neglected either as this cafe also serves five choices of both sweet square trays and birthday cakes.

Vegan Kitchen
794 Neapolitan Way
Naples, FL 34103
Located in the Neapolitan Plaza strip mall, this small restaurant boasts a clean, stylish interior and a tantalizing menu. Options range from traditional Asian fare, such as Pad Thai and dumplings, to an Asian “burrito” (stuffed with rice, mung beans, wheat protein, and avocado, then finished off with a vegan mayo) and a Vegan Shrimp Pasta with your choice of tomato sauce or pesto, topped with mushrooms, cauliflower, and zucchini. Ask about their daily desserts!

By Jeanne Yacoubou, MS

We received an email inquiry from Tom about the Black Diamond Mature Reserve Cheddar Aged 4 Years Premium Sharp Cheddar Crafted in Canada that he had purchased in Maryland. Tom wrote:

“I’m hoping you can help me find an answer! I have been a vegetarian for 45 years, and finally found a cheddar cheese that I like. It says “enzymes” on the package…I can’t get a straight answer from Diamond in Canada (I called) or the number listed on the package of the American distributor…Their distributor in US told me when I called them that they thought that it probably was microbial… But they weren’t sure, because many of the cheeses that come from Canada are made with rennet. The person in Canada whom I talked with said that I would have to get information from the US distributor only. …Hope you can help. I’ve run up against a brick wall, and I bought 20 pounds of it!”

Note that there are many vegan cheeses now, so the easy and safe option is to purchase those. For example, see:

http://www.vrg.org/blog/2017/05/30/the-vegetarian-resource-groups-guide-to-vegan-cheese/

http://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2017issue2/2017_issue2_vegan_cheese.php

http://www.vrg.org/nutshell/Public/VeganCheese2016.pdf

Tom sent us a photo of the cheese label which stated “Black Diamond is a trademark of Parmalat® Canada and distributed by Lactalis® American Group based in Buffalo, NY.”

On the contact request form itself that we sent in, http://www.blackdiamond.ca/contact-us/, this FAQ appears:

“Is there any Rennet in Black Diamond Cheese Products? Most of our Black Diamond natural cheese products are made using microbial enzymes. Some of our products might contain rennet derived from calves when rennet is listed on the ingredient declaration found on the packaging.”

In November-December 2017 The VRG initially called Parmalat, the Canadian company which owns the Black Diamond brand. We were told hat since Black Diamond is not sold in Canada, they had no information on it. He instructed us to call Parmalat’s US distributor, Lactalis American Group.

We called Lactalis and were told that when “enzymes” is listed on the label of Black Diamond cheeses “the enzymes could be animal or microbial; we cannot guarantee one or the other.”

The VRG then asked if the UPC codes on the cheese could be tracked to the American plant where Tom’s cheese was packed and possibly we could know definitively which enzyme was used. It was indicated that the UPC codes could help uncover more information about the cheese making process.

In a second call, we then relayed three UPC codes. She typed them into her computer and said that the codes had not been found in her system. She then repeated what she had declared during our previous call: “The enzyme source in all Black Diamond cheeses could be animal or microbial; we cannot guarantee the source.”

VRG General Advice on Dairy Cheese Enzymes

Some cheeses that have “enzymes” on their label may contain animal rennet or animal lipase.

Only if “microbial” or “vegetarian” appears before “rennet” on the label can you be sure that animal rennet had not been used in the cheese making process.

But even then some consumers may be concerned that the so-called “vegetarian” enzymes originally began many microbial generations ago with animal genetic material that had been engineered into a microbial genome. See: http://www.vrg.org/blog/2012/08/21/microbial-rennets-and-fermentation-produced-chymosin-fpc-how-vegetarian-are-they/

VRG readers may also enjoy many vegan cheese alternatives widely available today. See: https://www.vrg.org/blog/2017/05/30/the-vegetarian-resource-groups-guide-to-vegan-cheese/

[Note: Read labels carefully. “Casein” and ingredients ending in “caseinate” are dairy-derived. Whey is also dairy-derived.]

Lipases may be included in the general word “enzymes” on cheese labels. When in doubt inquire of the manufacturer. See: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2008issue3/2008_issue3_update_renet.php for more information.

Incidentally, we asked if lipase was used in the Black Diamond cheddar cheese. Lipase may be used to enhance a cheese’s flavor. She informed us that she had no additional information on lipase itself. “Lipase is an enzyme and as I said before about enzymes, we cannot guarantee its source whether animal or microbial in Black Diamond cheeses.”

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 judgement about whether a product is suitable for you. To be sure, do further research or confirmation on your own.

When making your end-of-year donations, please remember The Vegetarian Resource Group. We greatly appreciate your support. Visit: www.vrg.org/donate

Here are some of the ways your donation will be used throughout the year to come:

$25 Sponsors sending Vegetarian Journal for a year to a Vegetarian/Vegan or Animal Rights Group located overseas in a poor country.

$50 Would go towards reprinting copies of our various vegan brochures/handouts.

$100 The cost to send a box of vegan literature to a student vegetarian/animal rights/ environmental organization for outreach on their campus.

$200 Allows VRG to send Vegetarian Journal for a year to 20 high school students applying to the Vegetarian Resource Group Scholarship.

$300 To print VRG Banners to use at outreach tables throughout the USA.

$500 Will enable us to give runner-up scholarships to high school seniors who promote veganism.

$600 So we can reprint our Spanish coloring book (this would be a matching donation).
See: http://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2010issue4/2010_issue4_back_cover.php

Thank you and happy 2018 from The VRG Staff!

Hindus want the Food and Drug Administration to change labeling laws so that labels indicate if gelatin contain beef or pork.

For more information, see:
https://www.globalmeatnews.com/Article/2017/12/14/Hindus-have-beef-with-US-gelatin-law?utm_source=newsletter_daily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=14-Dec-2017&c=yazB%2FDHFv2UdsB3XG%2FKgkw%3D%3D&p2=

Lieber’s jel contains: Ingredients: Sugar (non-bone char), adipic acid, carrageenan, potassium citrate, locust bean gum

Order from Vegan Essentials.

https://store.veganessentials.com/liebers-unflavored-jel-p1760.aspx

Also sold in many kosher stores.

We also saw Geff and Glicks brands in a nonkosher supermarket, which caters to the Jewish community.

Note that not all kosher gelatin is vegetarian, so you need to read the label or ask the company.

For more information on gelatin, see:
http://www.vrg.org/ingredients/index.php#gelatin

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 judgement about whether a product is suitable for you. To be sure, do further research or confirmation on your own.

By Jeanne Yacoubou, MS

Alternative names: pregelatinized modified starch; pregelatinized food starch; modified starch; instant starch; soluble starch; pregel/prejel starch

Commercial source: plant (corn, tapioca, potato, wheat)
Used in: dry mixes (soups, sauces, etc.), baby food/formula, fruit juice, baked goods, hot cereals, potato products, salad dressings, gravies, pharmaceuticals
Used for: thickening, stabilizing, retaining moisture (in foods); binding, filling or disintegratng (in tablets)

Definition: Prepared from starch or flour, pregelatinized starch easily dissolves in cold liquids eliminating a heating step in manufacturing and becoming viscous like gelatin. It is widely used in foods and pharmaceuticals and also in several other industries including mining/drilling, construction and textiles.

Major Manufacturers:

https://www.tateandlyle.com/ingredient/mira-gel-starch

Tate & Lyle wrote in an email: “I can assure you that no gelatin is used in the production of our prejel starches…Our T&L products are vegan and vegetarian.”

https://www.cargill.com/pharmaceutical/pharma-products/starches

Further information:

http://www.jpharmsci.org/article/S0022-3549(15)00249-X/pdf

https://www.colorcon.com/products-formulation/all-products/excipients/tablets/starch-1500

http://www.grainprocessing.com/industrial-starch-products/pregelatinized-starches.html

http://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/biochemistry-genetics-and-molecular-biology/modified-starch

http://www.vrg.org/blog/2017/12/12/pregelatinized-starch-is-vegan-present-in-many-tylenol-excedrin-motrin-target-pain-relievers/

Classification: Vegan

Entry added: December 2017

For information on other ingredients, 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 judgement about whether a product is suitable for you. To be sure, do further research or confirmation on your own.

Through December 31, 2017, you can give a gift membership to The Vegetarian Resource Group (includes a 1-year subscription to Vegetarian Journal) for $15 each (40% discount). This offer is valid in the USA only!

This is a terrific way to share the vegan message, as well as support VRG. Gift subscriptions can be done online by simply typing in your message and the address(s) of the gift recipient(s) in the comments field. Go to: https://www.givedirect.org/donate/?cid=1565