Colorado State University (CSU) is located in Fort Collins Colorado and has an excellent reputation for its animal science and agriculture programs. Many vegan students considering the pursuit of higher education at CSU may feel apprehensive about applying to an institution so intimately linked with animal agriculture. The city of Fort Collins and the surrounding area of Northern Colorado is also well known for involvement in animal agriculture. Unfortunately, Northern Colorado is home to several feedlots, dairy farms, and slaughterhouses including JBS Swift one of the largest animal processing companies in the world. You might expect that CSU’s proximity to and relationship with animal agriculture could create a challenging environment for vegetarian and vegan students. However, CSU is surprisingly vegan friendly and ripe with advocacy opportunities.

Many incoming vegetarian/vegan freshmen may be worried about the on campus dining options available at CSU. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the campus dining halls are incredibly accommodating to students who follow plant based diets. Avoiding animal products in the dining hall is made easy by the Eat Well @ CSU labeling system. This labeling system marks food items that contain no animal products as vegan, whereas the vegetarian options are those that do not contain meat or fish. The dining halls are made up of stations such as the salad bars, pasta bar, and the Mongolian grill where students are able to create delicious and healthy vegan dishes. The salad stations offer various protein packed toppings including baked tofu, edamame and sautéed Portobello mushrooms as well as many varieties of vegan quinoa, pasta, and rice salads. The deli stations can prepare sandwiches made with various veggies, hummus, vegan cheese, vegan lunch meats, vegan mayonnaise, and other vegan condiments. Vegan students can also enjoy the Mongolian Grill where they can create their own stir-fry by picking veggies, a vegan sauce, and vegan proteins (choose from tofu or seitan) atop either noodles or steamed rice. If you let the cook know you are vegan, they will separate your meal from others so there is no non-vegan contamination during cooking. Some dining halls offer a Mexican food station where vegans and vegetarians have plenty of options including build your own burritos, tacos, and taco salads with various beans, veggie taco meat, and tamales. All tortillas, beans, guacamole, and salsas are always vegan! At the pasta station students can create their own pasta dish by picking veggies, a vegan sauce, and vegan proteins (choose from tofu, seitan, or veggie crumbles) atop different varieties of noodles. The grill stations all offer a few varieties of veggie burgers as well as vegan toppings including vegan cheese. At breakfast vegan students can enjoy scrambled tofu or vegan sausage. Additionally, all dining centers offer dairy alternative milks and vegan desert options including chocolate chip cookies, dairy free gelato, and Dutch caramel apple pie. Each dining hall also provides at least one vegan/vegetarian soup per day, as well as other express options including sushi. There is also one dining center on campus (Corbett) that offers an exclusively vegan/vegetarian station for lunch and dinner during the school week! The CSU dining halls offer many more vegan options and for more information regarding the plant based dining options at CSU please visit http://housing.colostate.edu/dining. Students may also take advantage of several vegan friendly restaurants within walking distance of campus such as Tasty Harmony http://tastyharmony.com/site/, the Rainbow http://www.rainbowfortcollins.com/ and Avogadro’s Number http://www.avogadros.com/.

One of the reasons CSU’s dining halls are so accommodating to vegetarian diets may be partially attributed to the fact that the dietitian for housing and dining services is a vegetarian. One of her current projects is the initiation of a Meatless Monday campaign which encourages students to eat vegetarian and vegan options one day per week by increasing the number and variety of plant based options in the dining halls. Some of the exciting new vegan options students can try at CSU’s new Meatless Monday events include aloo Gobi, Chana masala, mushroom and sweet potato stew, faro and braised tomato stuffed zucchini, as well as roasted cauliflower, spinach, and white bean pesto pasta!

Although CSU’s relationship with animal agriculture may represent a source of discomfort for many vegan students, it can also represent an excellent opportunity for activism. CSU is home to an active animal rights group called Rams Organizing for Animal Rights (ROAR). This group can provide new vegetarian and vegan students with a friendly campus community that is accepting of their diet and beliefs. The group can also help students become involved in activism activities and volunteer work. Another excellent activism opportunity for vegan students at CSU can be found at the bimonthly JBS Swift slaughterhouse protest. JBS swift is located just 30 miles from campus and has become the target of the nonprofit organization Greeley Cow Save. This is an excellent opportunity for students who are interested in being a voice for the voiceless. Northern Colorado is also home to several other active animal rights organizations including Animal Action Network and a branch of Direct Action Everywhere.

Despite Colorado State University’s intimate relationship with animal agriculture, this university is surprisingly accommodating to students with vegetarian eating patterns. Not only do vegan students at CSU have the opportunity to eat well, they also have the opportunity to join a well-established and active vegan community.

For more information about eating at college, see http://www.vrg.org/teen/#college

If you are a high school senior and looking at colleges, be sure to check out the VRG annual college scholarship contest: http://www.vrg.org/student/scholar.htm

It appears Wendy’s is expanding their Black Bean Burger test beyond our original report earlier last year: http://www.vrg.org/blog/2015/05/26/wheres-the-beef-not-in-this-burger-wendys-tests-new-black-bean-burger/

If you live in the areas mentioned, please let us know how they taste.

Wendy’s announced:
We’re testing our Black Bean Burger in three markets: Columbus, Ohio; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Columbia, South Carolina. We have chosen our test markets to be representative of the larger United States, and we look forward to hearing customers’ reactions to the Black Bean Burger.

Q: What are the ingredients in the patty?
A: Some of the main ingredients are: black beans, wild rice, farro, onions, brown rice, carrots, quinoa, corn, green bell peppers and red bell peppers. Sauce and seasonings include ingredients such as red wine vinegar, chili peppers, cumin, sea salt, oregano and cilantro.

Q: How do you cook the black bean patty?
A: We cook the black bean patty in a separate oven so it does not contact the grill where we prepare meat. However, the restaurant as a whole is not vegan or vegetarian so cross contact with other menu items is possible.

Q: Is the Black Bean Burger vegetarian?
A: Yes, the Black Bean Burger is vegetarian.

Q: Is the sandwich vegan if you order it without the sauce or cheese? Or, could I order this sandwich vegan?
A: The ingredients in both the bun and the black bean patty are considered vegan. The cheese and the Parmesan ranch sauce are not vegan. At Wendy’s, we make every sandwich to order, so just ask for your sandwich to be prepared without cheese or ranch sauce. Also, we cook the black bean patty in a separate oven so it does not contact the grill where we prepare meat. The restaurant as a whole is not vegan or vegetarian so cross contact with other menu items is possible.

Q: What kind of bun does the Black Bean Burger come with?
A: The Black Bean Burger is served on a toasted multigrain bun featuring nine different grains and seeds including white sesame seeds, red quinoa and rolled oats.

Q: When will the Black Bean Burger be available in my area?
A: We are in the very early stages of testing at this time. We do not have a timeline on when the Black Bean Burger will be available outside our current test markets, but we are closely tracking consumer inquiries.

Standard Build: CONTAINS: MILK, EGG, WHEAT
Vegan Build : CONTAINS: WHEAT

Buns are toasted in a common toaster with products that contain Egg, Soy, and Milk.

Nutrition information is based on standard product formulations. Variations may occur due to differences in suppliers, ingredient substitutions, recipe revisions, product assembly at the restaurant level, and/or season of the year. Quality Is Our Recipe, LLC and its franchisees, and Wendy’s International, LLC and its employees, do not assume responsibility for a particular allergy or sensitivity to any food provided in our restaurants. Federal regulations have identified 8 major food allergens: milk, eggs, wheat, soybeans, peanuts, tree nuts, fish and crustacean shellfish. For your convenience, menu items and ingredients that contain these major allergens have been indicated. Assembled in food preparation area where meat and dairy products are present.

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.

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

According to NonProfit Pro, these are the top five companies for Employee Giving:

1. Bank of America
They allow their employees to double their contribution to eligible charities each year with a $5,000 cap per calendar year.

2. Intel
For their matching program, after an employee has volunteered 20 hours of their time for eligible nonprofits, for each hour after the initial 20, Intel will donate $10 to the nonprofit, with a cap of $10,000.

3. Microsoft
They match employee donations up to $15,000 per year, per employee. Additionally, Microsoft employees who volunteer at a nonprofit for at least four hours per calendar year can receive $25 for every hour they volunteer.

4. Verizon
Verizon gives $750 grants to up to two organizations after an employee has volunteered for at least 50 hours at each separate nonprofit.

5. Medtronic
They match employee donations of up to $50,000 per employee per year. Additionally, they donate $500 after an individual employee volunteers for 25 hours at a nonprofit.

For info on other companies that make matching donations, see
www.vrg.org/donate and check “Would you like your employer to match? You could double your donation.”

Below are links to articles we’ve previously run in Vegetarian Journal featuring kale and other leafy green vegetables. Enjoy the recipes!

Vegan Cooking Tips: Quick Kale
http://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2014issue4/2014_issue4_cooking_tips.ph

How to Cook Mouthwatering Greens
https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2001may/2001maygreens.htm

Nutrition Hotline: Adapting Traditional Southern Recipes (includes Southern Greens)
http://www.vrg.org/blog/2012/02/22/nutrition-hotline-adapting-traditional-southern-recipes/

Soups of South America (features Portuguese Potato and Kale Soup)
http://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2012issue1/2012_issue1_soups_southamerica.php

Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day With Vegan Cuisine (features Colcannon)
http://www.vrg.org/blog/2014/03/05/celebrate-st-patricks-day-with-vegan-cuisine/

Sesame Kale
http://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2013issue3/2013_issue3_chinese_cooking.php

Kale Chips
http://www.vrg.org/blog/2015/06/10/vegging-out-as-a-vegan-teen/

To subscribe to Vegetarian Journal, visit:
http://www.vrg.org/member/2013sv.php

What could be better than sharing delicious vegan food with family and friends on Valentine’s Day? Below are two different pasta recipes from books published by The Vegetarian Resource Group. You may want to prepare a dish and give a gift of one of these books. The cookbooks can be ordered here: http://www.vrg.org/catalog/

Pasta in Paradise from Vegan Meals for One or Two
(Makes 2 servings)

4 ounces uncooked vermicelli, rice noodles, or spaghetti
¼ cup red or yellow bell pepper strips (about 1 medium pepper)
1 cup ripe chopped papaya (about 1 small papaya)
1 cup chopped tomatoes (about 1 medium tomato)
½ cup ripe chopped mango (about 1 half mango or look for frozen mango cubes)
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro of flat leafed parsley
2 teaspoons olive oil
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon white pepper
2 Tablespoons chopped peanuts

Cook pasta according to package directions. Rinse, drain, and set aside to cool. In a large bowl, combine pepper, papaya, tomatoes, mango, cilantro, oil, cinnamon, and white pepper and toss to mix. Add cooked pasta and toss to mix. Top with peanuts before serving.

Szechuan-Style Lo Mein from Vegans Know How to Party
(Serves 8)

1½ pounds thin rice noodles, vermicelli, or thin spaghetti
2 Tablespoons sesame oil (divided)
1 Tablespoon fresh minced ginger
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tablespoon red pepper flakes
2 Tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
6 cups fresh bok choy or Napa cabbage, thinly sliced (about 2½ pounds)
1 cup thinly sliced red bell pepper
1½ cups vegetable broth
½ cup thinly sliced vegan Canadian bacon or breakfast strips
4 thinly sliced green onions
½ cup minced fresh cilantro
½ cup chopped cashews (optional)

Heat 4 quarts of water to a boil. Break noodles in half and add to water. Reduce heat to medium and allow pasta to cook until just al dente (chewy). Drain and toss with 1 Tablespoon sesame oil. Set aside.
Heat 1 Tablespoon sesame oil in a large skillet or wok. Add ginger, garlic, and pepper flakes and sauté for 1 minute. Quickly stir in yeast and soy sauce to combine and add bok choy and bell peppers. Stir and cook quickly until bok choy is wilted. Add broth, lower heat, and simmer 5 minutes uncovered. Stir in cooked noodles and vegan bacon and cook until thoroughly heated.
Place lo mein on a serving platter or in a serving bowl. Top with green onions and cilantro and cashews (if desired). Serve hot.

One of the very few vegan restaurants to the east of Sacramento, California is a frequent stop for me. Baagan’s Rocklin location is a cafe that is 100% plant-based, offers gluten-free options, and makes all of the food in-house. As the only vegan in my household, it’s rare that I go to a restaurant where I can eat anything on the menu. My regular order is the seasonal panini on the gluten-free bread stuffed with seasonal veggies (typically peppers, onions, and either eggplant or butternut squash). and basil pesto sauce. I decided to expand my horizons and was pleasantly surprised.

Besides my panini, I’ve tried the grilled Baagan burger, the quinoa wrap, the tomato basil pesto sandwich, the PB&J sandwich, and my new favorite, Kitchari. The Baagan burger was so full of other fresh veggies that I barely tasted the burger, but it was delicious nonetheless. The burger is filled with a cheesy sauce that has the most accurate tasting mock cheese flavor I’ve ever tasted. The quinoa wrap also has a mock cheese sauce, but it has a chipotle http://genericsing.com kick to it that a lot of customers love according to Yelp. On a warm day, the tomato basil pesto sandwich is my go-to. Baagan uses fresh, local tomatoes and the same basil pesto sauce that’s in the seasonal panini. The PB&J sandwich is made with almond butter and your choice of jams available that day. Its simple and a great option for kids. I had never even heard of Kitchari until my last visit to Baagan, and I’m so glad I tried it. Quinoa, millet, and lentils are nearly soaked in yellow Indian curry sauce and mixed with peas, carrots, and red peppers. I like to call it the ultimate vegan comfort food.

Overall, Baagan has yet to let me down. I’ve loved everything I’ve tried, which is a good third of the menu. I’m excited to go back to try some of their desserts, smoothies, and shakes. Check out the rest of their menu and more info on www.baagan.com. Vegan/vegetarian restaurants in the USA and Canada can be found at www.vrg.org/restaurants

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: http://www.vrg.org/restaurant/index.php

B52 Vegan Bakery & Café
5202 Butler St.
Pittsburgh, PA 15201
B52 Café focuses on traditional American fare and savory pastries for breakfast and Middle Eastern and Mediterranean foods for lunch and dinner. Though most of the cuisine is Mediterranean, vegan cinnamon rolls, brownies, cookies, truffles, and more can still be enjoyed! Along with vegan staples such as tofu scramble and buckwheat pancakes.

Be Well Kitchen
4th Street Market
201 E. 4th St.
Santa Ana, CA 92701
After a consultation, the chef customized a unique meal plan for your needs. Programs range from a full day of three meals and a snack to week-long meals. Meals are available for pickup or delivery. Be Well Kitchen is devoted to flavorful and convenient healthy living.

The Cinnamon Snail
The Pennsy
2 Pennsylvania Plaza
New York, NY 10021
The Cinnamon Snail vegan food truck that serves mostly organic food, prepared without processed or artificial ingredients now has a store front location in Penn Station. Try their Thai BBQ Tempeh with Pickled Red Onions and Thai Basil, Arugula, Smoked Chili Roasted Peanuts and Sriracha Mayonnaise on Grilled Spelt Bread, their famous Beastmode Burger Deluxe, Ancho Chili Seitan Burger Grilled in Maple Bourbon BBQ Sauce with Jalapeno Max & Cheese, Arugula Smoked Chili Coconut Bacon and Chipotle Mayo on a Grilled Pretzel Bun, and a Lemongrass 5 Spice Seitan with Curried Cashews, Arugula, Sichuan Chili Sauce and Wasabi Mayonnaise on a Grilled Baguette. They also offer vegan desserts.

Dixie Dharma At Market On South
2603 E South St.
Orlando, FL 32803
Traditional southern dishes take on a plant-based twist at this market location. Dixie Dharma’s BBQ is known for its immaculate similarity to authentic pulled pork. Indulge in a “sloppy joe” or “baked mac ‘n cheese” at this hip location in central Florida.

Harvest Beat
1711 N 45th St.
Seattle, WA 98103
Harvest Beat is a restaurant on a mission. By creating prix-fixe menus based on the current availability of ingredients from local farmers and from their own gardens, which reduces the need for food storage and ultimately, food waste, and by composting all food scraps, they are keeping their carbon footprint to a minimum. Naturally, as the ingredients are always changing, so does the menu. This dish, served as the 4th course on a December menu, should give you an idea of the kind of fare served at Harvest Beat: eggplant roulade, jester squash mousse, grilled whiskey poached kohlrabi, Romanesco spears, micro arugula, and autumn olive chutney. There is also a limited take out lunch menu available offering soup and a sandwich wrap.

Kindred
1503 30th St.
San Diego, CA 92102
Located in South Park, Kindred boasts a wide selection of vegan cocktails. The menu features a number of classic dishes made vegan. Snack selections include Fried Pickles and Seitan Skewers. Main dishes range from the Memphis BBQ Jackfruit Sandwich to the Beet Risotto. Be sure to check out the weekend brunch menu, too. They are open late.

Nutritious You
6583 Midnight Pass Rd.
Siesta Key, FL 34242
The menu at Nutritious You includes a wide variety of snacks and cuisine with a health-conscious twist. Restaurant goers may recognize their snacks from various health food stores. The restaurant itself includes a wide variety of items including desserts, spreads, and take home items. Menu staples include options like Vegan Pizza or Falafel.

Revolution Juice
150 Huntington Ave.
Boston, MA 02115
Revolution Juice’s specialty is serving plant-based drinks to promote a nutritious and environmentally-friendly diet. Try their Carrot Ginger Curry, Vanilla Date-orade, or their Ginger Juice Shot from an expansive menu of juices, juice shots, smoothies, sorbets, coffees, teas, soups, snacks, and more at this juice bar which is located right between Newton and Belvidere Street.

Root
223 W Walnut St.
Lancaster, PA 17602
Root is the perfect vegan restaurant/bar to visit if you are in need of good vegan food and/or drinks! They offer a wide variety of specialty vegan foods including mushroom sliders, spinach dip, pizza, and Caesar salad! These typically non-vegan dishes are made with tofu, vegan cheeses, and mushrooms, and are much more delicious as a result. Stop in and enjoy a nice meal and vegan drinks!

Valhalla Bakery
2603 E South St.
Orlando, FL 32803
Valhalla Bakery is the perfect place to go to satisfy your vegan sweet-tooth craving. The cozy bakery is known for its Nanaimo bars, cupcakes, and artfully presented custom-order cakes that are suitable for any occasion from a birthday party to a wedding. Their ever-changing menu is also filled with a selection of pies, cookies, muffins, pretzels, tarts, buns, doughnuts, and even some gluten-free baked goods.

VeganBurg
1466 Haight St.
San Francisco, CA 94117
VeganBurg’s specialty is making completely vegan burgers. With the aim to promote an environmentally sustainable and nutritious diet, VeganBurg’s menu is full of options such as the Smoky BBQ (a mushroom burger high in beta-carotene) or the Tangy Tartar (a crunchy alfalfa burger with vegan tartar sauce). VeganBurg is not limited to burgers. Their sides include their Seaweed Fries and Handmade Spinach Pops, and they have a selection of vegan sweets. VeganBurg also has a Kiddie Meal for younger ones.

Vegebitez
9-2460 Neyagawa Blvd.
Oakville, ON L6H 7P4 Canada
Enjoy a wide range of fresh juices, vegan milk shakes, and more. For a late breakfast meal (served all day), you can sample muffins, parfaits, chickpea waffles, and scrambled tofu. For lunch or dinner try a wide range of salads, sides, and appetizers along with different types of burgers and sandwiches.

Want to talk to fellow vegetarian and vegan teens and young adults?

VegYouth is holding our first monthly chat of the year on Saturday, January 30th at 2 PM EST. We will discuss different ways to make a difference for animals, environment, and health through veg choices and advocacy. Those of all experience levels welcome. We’d love to have you there!

Join our Facebook to have access to the chat link.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/vyalliance/

Organizer Chloe was The Vegetarian Resource Group 2015 college scholarship winner.

http://www.vrg.org/blog/2015/07/22/chloe-falkenheim-from-virgina-is-2015-vegetarian-resource-group-10000-college-scholarship-winner/

This year’s deadline for the college scholarship is February 20, 2016.
See: http://www.vrg.org/student/scholar.htm

Project Juice states that they will be offering these seasonal dishes in their stores in Northern and Southern California. For locations, see: http://www.projectjuice.com/locations

Menu Items and nutritional information (complete ingredient lists are available upon request from Project Juice):

· Soba Protein Noodles with Roasted Sweet Potato and Almond Thai Dressing
o This dish combines macrobiotic black bean soba noodles, which are lightly tossed in coconut aminos and toasted sesame oil, with roasted sweet potatoes, red bell peppers, kale and crunchy cashews. It’s served in almond Thai dressing.

· Arugula Salad with Roasted Beets & Quinoa and Pomegranate Vinaigrette
o Arugula, roasted beets, quinoa, pickled onions, dried cranberries, candied pecans, pomegranate vinaigrette.

· Caesar Salad with Chickpeas & Cashew Parmesan and Caesar Dressing
o This salad combines romaine lettuce with kale, carrots, red cabbage and chickpeas, tossed with lemon juice and cracked pepper. The cashew Caesar dressing and vegan cashew Parmesan, made fresh with nutritional yeast, rounds out this dish.

· Roasted Vegetable Salad with Black Rice and Fig Balsamic Vinaigrette (*available in NorCal only)
o This seasonal item is full of roasted veggies – turmeric roasted cauliflower, Brussel sprouts, delicata squash and kale – paired with forbidden black rice and golden raisins, freshly roasted almond slivers and balsamic dressing.

· Veggie Spring Rolls with Thai Sesame Dipping Sauce
o Made with rice papers. Rolls are paired with a creamy Thai sesame dipping sauce.

· Blueberry Acai Chia Pudding
o Chia seeds, blueberries, acai.

· Quinoa Protein Oats
o With maple syrup drizzle and vanilla and candied walnut toppers.

The dishes range from $6.95 to $11.95 and are now available at all Project Juice locations.

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.

For information on quick service chains see http://www.vrg.org/fastfoodinfo.php

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

The Vegetarian Resource Group received a question about vegan-dedicated equipment (i.e., equipment that has never been in contact with animal or dairy ingredients) used to create chocolate. Our reader wondered if Divine Treasures http://dtchocolates.com/ located in Manchester, CT used this type of machinery since their chocolates are described as vegan on the website.

Divine Treasures
We spoke with Diane Wagemann the chocolatier founder and owner of Divine Treasures about her equipment. She told us that

“All of the equipment in my factory is vegan-dedicated. The equipment operated by my European suppliers to make the chocolate which I use to create my handmade divine treasures is not vegan-dedicated… My suppliers told me that they run cocoa butter by itself through their system after a milk chocolate run to ensure that any dairy residue is completely carried away.”

The chocolate Diane purchases from Europe is certified USDA Organic. The sugar is also certified USDA Organic. USDA Organic sugar has not been decolorized through cow bone char. Most non-USDA organic cane sugar is whitened through a cow bone char filter today in the United States.

Diane told us that the chocolate from her European suppliers is also “certified Fair Trade by the European community.” Diane’s chocolates do not carry this label nor the USDA Organic label because “…it is prohibitively expensive to pay the certifying agencies for use of their labels.” So Diane describes her handmade chocolates as “socially responsible.”

Divine Treasures chocolate is made from Peruvian cocoa beans shipped to and processed in Europe “the old-fashioned way…because they know chocolate.” There the chocolate is conched which means “the cocoa, sugar and other ingredients are thoroughly ground and blended producing a smooth and creamy texture…My high-quality chocolate is conched for a very long time up to three days rather than a few hours like inexpensive chocolate is.”

Here’s more information on conching: http://www.cacaochocolade.nl/main.php?lng=1&p=inhoud&h=5&g=1&s=5&z=0&sp=

From her European chocolate suppliers Diane receives “chocolate blocks containing cocoa, sugar, lecithin and vanilla…then I temper it on my machines to further enhance its mouthfeel to create my divine treasures.”

More information on chocolate tempering may be located here: http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/2015/11/chocoloate-chemistry-cocoa-butter-crystal-structure-emulsion

Here’s a How It’s Made segment that takes viewers inside a chocolate manufacturing plant: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkVlDRiB7j8

Diane commented on this video by saying:
“The video is interesting but the conching is not included. This would be done at the beginning stage before the truck delivers the chocolate. We do a lot of the same things but most things are done by hand. I would love to be able to afford the equipment and people that are doing all the chocolates. Dreaming positive and maybe someday we will be there.”

Although Diane would like to use chocolate that has been made on vegan-dedicated equipment from start to finish, she told The VRG that “it costs over one million dollars to buy equipment…there’s not a big enough market for vegan chocolate so chocolate makers run more than just vegan chocolate.” Diane told us that “I wish that vegans who complain about vegan purity issues would understand this.” A vegan herself for 16 years, Diane told The VRG that “95% of my customers are not vegan…they are people looking for high-quality chocolate.” “… “In this world we’re all trying to do the best we can.”

Allison’s Gourmet
Another hand-crafted, organic and fair trade vegan chocolatier, Allison Rivers Samson of Allison’s Gourmet http://www.allisonsgourmet.com/ echoed Diane’s frustration about the lack of vegan-dedicated equipment in her own way. She commented in 2012 at The VegNews Guide to Vegan Chocolate http://vegnews.com/articles/page.do?pageId=4371&catId=2 that

“…there are currently no manufacturers of the raw materials for organic chocolate (chocolate liquor) that have 100% dairy-free facilities. So for us, a 100% vegan company, even though the manufacturer of the base of our organic chocolate flushes the machines with thousands of gallons of organic dairy-free chocolate, we still must say “may contain traces” on the label. While this may present some confusion, there are some people (especially children) who have life-threatening allergies to dairy. In those cases, we encourage people to err on the side of safety. Another reason to eliminate dairy in the world!”

“Hopefully someday soon, the demand will be high enough that there will be facilities that produce exclusively dairy-free organic chocolate in exclusively dairy-free factories.”

The VRG asked Allison in January 2016 if there are now any chocolate liquor manufacturers who operate vegan-dedicated equipment. She replied by email:

“Thank you for checking in on this. I wish there was progress. Unfortunately, there are still currently no dairy-free, organic chocolate liquor manufacturers.”

Vegan Chocolatier Cooperative
The VRG asked Diane of Divine Treasures if she thought it ever feasible that vegan chocolatiers would create a cooperative in which they collectively purchase and use the equipment keeping it 100% dairy-free. Diane replied

“I think if everyone used high-quality chocolate it could work… It’s coming… It may not be because of vegans but [as someone told me] because of the demand for dairy-free products by people who are allergic to dairy.”

Daren Hayes, founder of Stirs the Soul, is a chocolatier who makes his own organic and fair trade raw chocolate starting from stone-grounding raw cocoa beans all done on his own equipment. http://www.stirsthesoul.com/about.htm Daren agrees that a vegan chocolatier cooperative would be a great way to ensure the production of vegan chocolate on truly vegan-dedicated equipment and he would be interested in participating. (Note: All of Daren’s products are vegan except four flavors of one variety which contain honey.)

As consumer demand for vegan chocolate and other vegan products grows, it becomes more likely that one day there will be vegan businesses using their own exclusively dairy-free equipment. Mintel Group Ltd. market research suggests this in a late 2014 report: http://www.mintel.com/press-centre/food-and-drink/number-of-global-vegetarian-food-and-drink-product-launches-doubles-between-2009-and-2013

Specifically with respect to vegan chocolate this report revealed:

“…there has also been considerable growth in the number of chocolate and sugar confectionery products launched carrying a ‘vegetarian’ or ‘vegan’ claim. Whilst just 4% of chocolate or sugar products launched in 2009 carried a vegetarian claim, this rose to 9% in 2013. The proportion of these products launched with a vegan claim similarly rose from 1% in 2009 to 2% in 2013.
Further to this, the number of chocolate and sugar confectionery products using a glazing agent boasted even larger growth with 32% of these products carrying a ‘vegetarian’ or ‘vegan’ claim in 2013, up from 13% in 2009.”

“Among chocolate and sugar confectionery products there is increasingly demand for vegetarian ingredients, reflected by the increasing use of both vegetarian and vegan claims on new product launches. Ingredients will continue to be scrutinized by consumers and manufacturers need to be responsive and proactive to quell any consumer concerns,” concluded Laura Jones Mintel Global Food Science Analyst.

More on Cocoa Butter as a Dairy Sanitizer
Intrigued by the use of cocoa butter as a dairy sanitizer for equipment The VRG sought out more information. We discovered a patent application for this use: http://www.google.com/patents/WO2012167873A1?cl=en suggesting that cocoa butter cleaning of chocolate-making equipment occurs in industry.

The VRG spoke with Claus Davids of Koco, Inc. a supplier of processing and packaging systems specifically for the food, cocoa, confectionery and baking industries. Claus discussed the use of cocoa butter to clean equipment by describing it as “the go-to” substance to flush machinery runs during changeovers and referring to it as a common practice. He said cocoa butter flushing would require “large amounts” of cocoa butter and be a very time- and labor-intensive process. He thought it would be difficult to thoroughly clean the equipment because of all the piping connections in the equipment’s lines. He further cautioned by email:

“I’d like to note, for clarification here, that cocoa butter is not a miraculous cleaner for dairy or anything of that sort. It does not guarantee elimination of dairy, at least not that I know. The only way to guarantee 100% dairy-free chocolate is to have a dedicated line of equipment where dairy is not used. We see this in kosher facilities, where they will not even consider making milk chocolate because it is so hard to eliminate dairy from the machinery and pipework. I would be hesitant to trust any company that claims to be dairy-free… In order to do this, they would have to tear down every piece of machinery and hardware and clean it completely.”

The reason cocoa butter is used as a cleaner is that you cannot bring water into a chocolate making operation – it breeds bacteria and puts the entire line at risk for contamination.

Interested readers may find information on kosher concerns in chocolate production: http://www.ok.org/v1/Content.asp?ID=171

Daren the chocolatier from Stirs the Soul was also doubtful of cocoa butter as a dairy residue remover from chocolate equipment saying its effectiveness “is subject to the equipment and the kitchen.”

When The VRG asked Allison of Allison’s Gourmet if her chocolate supplier uses cocoa butter to run through potential dairy residue on equipment she replied

“Our chocolate supplier processes their chocolate liquor where it’s grown, thus Peru and Ecuador. As stated on our website, thousands of pounds of dairy-free chocolate are flushed though the machines after processing milk chocolate. This is our allergen statement about dairy, which appears on each page that contains chocolate:

“Due to the limited demand for 100% dairy-free organic chocolate, the raw ingredients for organic, fair-trade chocolate are processed on equipment also used to process milk chocolate. The machines are cleaned meticulously between runs, and thousands of pounds of dairy-free chocolate are flushed through the machines.”

“For safety and legality, we must state that there could be a chance that chocolate items may contain traces of dairy, even though dairy is never an intended ingredient.”

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.

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