According to CBS NEWS, Under the U.S. Food Labeling and Consumer Protection Act, food companies must identify major allergens if that food is an intended ingredient. These foods include wheat, egg, milk, peanuts, fish, shellfish, soy and tree nuts.

CBS states, “However, if food is produced on shared equipment, there’s still a risk that some trace of an allergen may be in the product. As a result, food makers began adding what is known as precautionary allergen labels. They state that a product “may contain” a specific allergen or that a food is “manufactured in a facility” that has products containing a specific allergen.
Those precautionary labels are voluntary, both in the United States and Canada…”

In a survey, however, about half of the respondents thought those precautionary labels were required by law. See: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-confusing-state-of-food-allergy-labels/

By Casey Brown

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to volunteer with The VRG at DC Vegfest. This is an annual event that is organized by Compassion Over Killing. Every year it includes various speakers, restaurants, non-profit organizations, and commercial businesses. This year the event featured speaker and vegan body-builder, Torre Washington, a cooking demonstration by Land of Kush, a Kids Zone with games, yoga, and a child nutritionist, and over 150 vendors like Vegan Treats and Dr. Bronner’s. It is a very popular event with over 15,000 estimated visitors throughout the day!

Many people at the event were either vegans/vegetarians or they were interested in making the transition, and they were all excited to receive many of The Vegetarian Resource Group’s resources. Our Vegetarian Journal was very popular since everyone was interested in receiving more information and vegan recipes that they could try! Our journals are packed with product and book reviews, delicious recipes, health information from our vegan dietitian, and much more! VRG’s “My Vegan Plate” handout and “Heart Healthy Eating Tips” were also popular among the crowd. These resources are great for both vegans and aspiring vegans hoping to improve their diet. The guides provide practical tips to help people learn how to cook, shop, and plan their diets better, so they can eat healthier. Our “Vegan Diets in a Nutshell” brochures are always popular since they provide detailed information for aspiring vegans and they simplify the information, making the transition easier for everyone! These brochures describe the typical foods that vegans eat and the common nutrients that people are concerned about when making the transition. Among the children, our coloring books were very popular, and many kids walked away from our booth with a huge smile on their face and they couldn’t wait to get home so they could color! The Kids Zone also had copies of our coloring books for the kids to use while they were there.

DC Vegfest is always a huge festival, and it was really exciting to walk around and see so many people at the event with VRG’s resources and reading copies of our Vegetarian Journal while they were waiting in long lines for food! I am looking forward to the event next year and to The Vegetarian Resource Group’s annual Pre-Thanksgiving potluck this coming Sunday. Information for the potluck can be found here: http://www.vrg.org/VeganThanksgivingPoster2016.htm!

To volunteer to help at VRG booths, contact Brigette at [email protected]

To support The Vegetarian Resource Group outreach, donate at www.vrg.org/donate

or join at http://www.vrg.org/member/2013sv.php

Medline Plus (National Institutes of Health)
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/

USDA’s Food and Nutrition Information Center: Human Nutrition and Food Safety https://www.nal.usda.gov/human-nutrition-and-food-safety

Centers for Disease Control http://www.cdc.gov/

National Center for Health Statistics (CDC) http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/

Oregon State University Micronutrient Information Center
http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic

Dietary Guidelines for Americans https://www.dietaryguidelines.gov/

Foods (FDA) http://www.fda.gov/Food/default.htm

Food Safety Information http://www.foodsafety.gov/

Office of Dietary Supplements (NIH)
https://ods.od.nih.gov/

Child Nutrition Programs (USDA) https://www.fns.usda.gov/schoolmeals

USDA Nutrient Data Laboratory
http://www.ars.usda.gov/main/site_main.htm?modecode=80-40-05-25

Economic Research Service (USDA) Food Choices and Health
http://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-choices-health.aspx

Vegan and Vegetarian Nutrition Research: 35 Years of Changes and What to Expect for the Next 35 (September 14, 2017)
http://www.vrg.org/blog/2017/09/14/vegan-and-vegetarian-nutrition-research-35-years-of-changes-and-what-to-expect-for-the-next-35/

And also visit www.vrg.org

From a student:

I’ve made a survey for those who have worked in the food service industry as vegetarians and the unique outlook on the industry from that stand point. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/WB8W3NB

Thank you.

Like No Udder (a Vegan Ice Cream Shop in Providence Rhode Island) is donating 10% of their ice cream sales to The Vegetarian Resource Group on Thursday November 10, 2016. They are located at 170 Ives Street in Providence, RI and are open 1-9 pm that day. Their ice cream is handmade mostly from organic ingredients and they offer both hard and soft serve ice cream, toppings, shakes, floats, and more. Thank you Like No Udder for your support!

For information on Like No Udder, visit their website: http://like-no-udder.com/

Field Roast offers three different options:

1. Celebration Roast with Traditional Bread Stuffing and Gravy – made with fresh onions, celery, cranberries and butternut squash. (product sheet)
2. Hazelnut Cranberry Roast en Croute – a rich, hazelnut-infused grain meat stuffed with Field Roast sausages, crystallized ginger, cranberries and apples – wrapped in a savory puff pastry. (product sheet) It’s even Toaster Oven friendly!
3. Smokey Forager’s Roast – mushrooms, wild huckleberries, and rice stuffing wrapped in a rich smokey tomato grain meat seasoned with spices. (product sheet)

Hilary’s is offering an exclusive Holiday Stuffing. It is vegan and gluten-free. The ingredients include a blend of organic millet, leafy greens and hemp seeds together with celery, apple, parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme See http://www.hilaryseatwell.com/products/holiday-stuffing/

Tofurky offers Tofurky Roast and Gravy. The Roast includes stuffing. For details see: http://www.tofurky.com/what-we-make/holiday/feast/

Gardein sells a Savory Stuffed ‘Turkey,’ a Holiday Roast, and Turk’y Cutlet. For more information see: www.gardein.com

Vegetarian Plus offers a Vegan Whole Turk’y with Gravy and Stuffing. For details see: http://vegetarian-plus.com/product/all-natural-vegan-whole-turkey/

The Vegetarian Society of DC’s most popular event is their Life-Affirming Vegetarian Thanksgiving feast, attended by more than 275 vegetarians and their families and friends. The event will be held on Thursday, November 24 from noon to 4:00 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency in Bethesda, MD and you must make reservations to attend. This year’s guest speaker is Dr. Neal Barnard from PCRM. Details on this event can be found here:

http://www.vsdc.org/activities/thanksgiving/

The Vegetarian Resource Group now has numerous vegan Thanksgiving recipes on their website, as well as a list of vegan Thanksgiving events sponsored by groups and vegan Thanksgiving dinners being offered at restaurants. Enjoy!

See: http://www.vrg.org/recipes/vegan_thanksgiving.php

The yogurt shop 16 Handles indicates its vegan offerings with a vegan icon. See:
http://16handles.com/flavors/?yogurt#
Locations are at: http://16handles.com/locations/

Here are ingredients for YoSoy Chocolate marked as vegan:
Water, Sugar, Corn Syrup Solids,
Coconut Oil, Cocoa Processed with Alkali,
Maltodextrin, Soy Protein Isolate, Vegetable
Stabilizer (Mono & Diglcerides, Cellulose Gel,
Cellulose Gum Locust Bean Gum, Carrageenan),
Tahitian Vanilla

and
Superfruit Acai:
Sugar, Açai, Raspberries,
Blackberries, Strawberries, Fruit Juice, Vegetable
Stabilizer.

The contents of this 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.

For information on more chains, see http://www.vrg.org/fastfoodinfo.php

For information on vegetarian and vegan restaurants, see http://www.vrg.org/restaurant/index.php

Like No Udder (a Vegan Ice Cream Shop in Providence Rhode Island) is donating 10% of their ice cream sales to The Vegetarian Resource Group on Thursday November 10, 2016. They are located at 170 Ives Street in Providence, RI and are open 1-9 pm that day. Their ice cream is handmade mostly from organic ingredients and they offer both hard and soft serve ice cream, toppings, shakes, floats, and more. Thank you Like No Udder for your support!

For details on Like No Udder, visit their website: http://like-no-udder.com/