By Jeanne Yacoubou, MS
VRG Research Director

As of late 2011, Chipotle Mexican Grill® is offering a brown cilantro-lime rice option at all of its restaurant locations. The VRG was informed by a Chipotle® customer service representative that the brown rice is a "vegan friendly option as it does not contain animal-based ingredients."

We also received confirmation that select Chipotle® restaurants are testing a new product called Garden Blend™. A senior staff member at Chipotle® told us that Garden Blend™ is "a vegan offering… the recipe was worked over between us and the folks at Gardein™." According to the Gardein™ website, Garden Blend™ is a "vegan blend of plant proteins, grains and vegetables marinated in our chipotle adobo, then grilled."

As of February 2012, Garden Blend™ is available at four Chipotle® locations:

• Chelsea West in New York City
• DuPont Circle in Washington, DC
• Alameda and Logan in Denver
• 9th and Pearl in Boulder, CO.

The contents of this article, our website, and our other publications, including the 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 employees or company statements. Information does change and mistakes are always possible. Please use your own best judgment about whether a product is suitable for you. Further research or confirmation may be warranted.

For more information on fast food and quick service chains, visit http://www.vrg.org/fastfoodinfo.htm

For all kinds of vegetarian and vegan information, please subscribe to our free enewsletter: http://www.vrg.org/vrgnews

There are many ways to stay connected to The Vegetarian Resource Group!

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Need vegan recipes for Passover? Right now we’re offering a special!

Get both Vegan Passover Recipes and No Cholesterol Passover Recipes for just $13 and receive FREE shipping. A must have for every home that wants to celebrate a healthy and ethical Passover. Enjoy egg-less blintzes, knishes, apple latkes, sweet and sour stuffed cabbage and much much more.

Makes a great gift!

Passover begins April 6 and ends April 14.

For ordering call (410)366-8343, send your check to VRG at P.O. Box
1463, Baltimore, Maryland 21203, or go to:
http://www.vrg.org/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=26

VRG’s Guide to Vegan and Vegetarian Food Ingredients Windows Phone 7 app is featured on WPCentral today, in honor of Fitness Month: http://www.wpcentral.com/fitness-month-windows-phone-helps-make-being-vegetarian-easier

Perfect for deciphering ingredient labels while you are on the go, our Guide to Vegan and Vegetarian Food Ingredients lists the uses, sources, and definitions of 200 common food ingredients. It also states whether the commercial source of the ingredient is vegan, typically vegan, vegetarian, typically vegetarian, typically non-vegetarian, or non-vegetarian.

	Windows Phone 7 App Developed for VRG by Techark Solutions
	iPhone, iPod Touch & iPad App Developed for VRG by Catch Productions

Print copies of the Guide are available here.

The online version is available here.

Editor’s note: The purpose of our food ingredient research is intended to educate people to enable them to make informed decisions about the foods that they choose to eat. Vegetarians and vegans will draw their own lines at what they will or won’t eat. Do what you feel is appropriate for your circumstances. The guide should not be used to criticize others or feel overwhelmed. We live in an imperfect world and do the best we can.

The contents of this blog, 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.

Nutrition Hotline

Question: "I am trying to take my grandmother’s Southern recipes and make them healthier. What are some ideas to make them meat-free and more suitable to my diet?"

Answer: There are many delicious ways to make Southern recipes healthier and meat-free. One qualm about Southern food is the amount of saturated and total fat that are present. Many Southern dishes are either pan-fried or deep-fried in a large amount of oil. Fatback, lard, and butter are also heavily used in Southern cooking, as a seasoning, in frying, or in baking. The issues with these fats are the amount used and their saturated fat content. The sodium content of many Southern dishes is also a concern. Greens and fried foods are often heavily salted.

Coming from a Southern background, in the past I have eaten my share of collards cooked with ham hocks. I actually prefer the healthier way to make collards which involves the monounsaturated fat-rich olive oil. Instead of simmering collards with chicken stock and a ham hock, sauté collards in olive oil with fresh garlic or garlic powder for a few minutes until the leaves become bright green. You can either serve the greens like this with a side of vinegar or, for more tender greens, add vegetable stock to cover and allow the greens to simmer until the desired texture is reached. If using the vegetable stock method you can either eat as is or place the mixture in a food processor and process, making a thick collard puree. This thick collard puree is perfect as an alternative to mashed potatoes; all you have to do is add a teaspoonful more of olive oil, salt to taste, and, if desired, nutritional yeast.

To make Southern greens with no cooking required, take 10 cups of fresh washed kale with the stems removed (which is about a large 27-ounce bag that could feed 4-6 depending on how much you and your family or guests like kale). For a more rustic dish, rip the kale leaves into small pieces, or for a more refined dish, cut the kale leaves into thin ribbons, the size of shredded cabbage for coleslaw. Place the prepared kale into a bowl. In a food processor, place a handful of raw sunflower seeds, a tablespoon of mustard, 2 teaspoons of nutritional yeast, 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and 1-½ tablespoons of your favorite vinegar. Season with salt and pepper and add water to attain a consistency of thick salad dressing, like Caesar salad dressing. Once the desired consistency is attained pour this dressing over the kale leaves, toss, and eat immediately or cover and marinate in the refrigerator for up to one day. Have fun with this dressing recipe by adding other nuts or seeds such as cashews, or pepitas. The great thing about this dressing is that you can add your own flair by adding completely different ingredients like olives, shallots, pickled jalapeños or hot sauce. Whenever I make this kale salad at home it is always different, depending on the ingredients that I find in my pantry.

For me, a characteristic flavor profile of Southern food is smoke. The meat products used in many vegetable dishes tend to add a smoky flavor. One way to attain this smoky flavor without adding meat is grilling. Try taking whole romaine lettuce leaves, and tossing them with olive oil salt and pepper. Place lettuce onto a hot grill and cook until the leaves are wilted but still retaining their color; do not be afraid if you see grill marks on the lettuce because this is where the flavor is! Serve with the dressing for kale, which is described above, to emphasize the smoky flavor.

Another tasty Southern dish is black-eyed peas, which are sometimes made with fatback or lard. My favorite way to cook black-eyed peas involves a little Asian influence. I use a teaspoon of peanut oil and a ¼ cup of lite coconut milk per 2 cups of cooked black-eyed peas, or if you like things saucier, add more lite coconut milk and a splash of soy sauce for that fantastic umami flavor. Season with 2 teaspoons each of minced garlic and nutritional yeast; add salt to taste. To make this dish even more hearty serve the black-eyed peas over brown or wild rice.

Written by Amanda Gilley, a Culinary Nutrition student from Johnson & Wales who did an internship with the VRG.

One $500 award; two $250 awards!

The Rules:

Create and submit a video relating what you want to tell others about vegetarianism and/or veganism.

Some possible topics: food, nutrition, your feelings about veganism and/or vegetarianism, water usage and vegetarianism, vegetarianism and animal rights, or other vegetarian topics which appeal to you. Humor and feelings are appreciated. All videos should be positive, not be critical of anyone, and not include any footage of animal cruelty. You may submit a video you have already made.

Aspects of judging include accuracy and judges wanting to share the video with others.

Entrants give permission to The Vegetarian Resource Group to post and share the video, to link to and from the video, and share the video with the media.

DEADLINE: April 20, 2012

Please e-mail to [email protected]:

1. Your name
2. Street Address, City, State, Zip
3. Phone number
4. E-mail contact
5. Indicate if 18 or older. If you are under 18, please include a parent or guardian's permission for entry and use of the video.
6. A brief statement on why you are interested in vegetarianism.
7. A link to your video.
8. Include Vegetarian Video in the subject line of the e-mail.

Click through to read the rest of the scholarship rules »

Share VRG’s Video!

Check out VRG’s video, "A Hunter’s Guide to His Vegetarian Daughter and His Vegan Son," and share with your friends!

Check out other vegetarian videos here »

For information about VRG’s scholarship for high school seniors, see http://www.vrg.org/student/scholar.htm

For information about our internships, see http://www.vrg.org/student/index.php

Most people in the United States eat more salt than is recommended. The 2010 Dietary Guidelines call for less than 2300 milligrams of sodium daily, and less than 1500 milligrams for at-risk groups (non-Hispanic blacks, persons aged ≥ 51 years, and persons with hypertension, diabetes, and chronic kidney disease). Close to 9 out of 10 Americans who should be consuming less than 2300 milligrams of sodium and a whopping 99% of those who should consume less than 1500 milligrams of sodium exceed these recommendations. That’s a problem because excessive sodium increases the risk for high blood pressure and for heart disease and stroke.

If we could identify foods that are the main sources of sodium on a day-to-day basis, we could start taking steps to cut the salt. A new study identifies the top 10 categories – foods that contribute the most sodium to the average American’s diet on a daily basis. Here they are, ranked from highest to lowest contributor of sodium:

1. Breads and rolls
2. Cold cuts/cured meats
3. Pizza
4. Poultry
5. Soups
6. Sandwiches
7. Cheese
8. Pasta Dishes
9. Meat Mixed Dishes (like meat loaf)
10. Savory snacks (chips, popcorn, pretzels)

While many categories on the list are not vegan, there are still a couple of messages here for vegans. First of all, some foods that may be eaten by vegans, including bread and rolls, soups, and salted snacks can supply more salt than we need. It’s a good idea to check labels for sodium and choose lower sodium foods. Secondly, notice what’s not on the list. That would be fruits, vegetables, grains, beans, among others. Cutting down on sodium on an individual basis means eating fewer processed foods. That’s where people who are already used to eating whole plant foods have the advantage. For a week’s worth of low sodium menus see http://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2005issue4/2005_issue4_lowsodium.php.

The study's authors say, “Reducing the sodium content of the 10 leading sources by one fourth would reduce total dietary sodium by more than 10%. This could prevent an estimated 28,000 deaths and $7 billion in health-care expenditures annually.” We have to wonder what the effect would be of eliminating categories 2, 3, 7, and 9 completely.

This study was published in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

What could be a better time to enlighten your community, your campus, your co-op, or your coworkers about the ethical, environmental, and wholesome food choices highlighted by a vegetarian or vegan diet than during National Nutrition Month®?

VRG is happy to provide vegetarian and vegan outreach materials to support your personal, organizational, or institutional campaign. Our “Vegetarian and Vegan Diets in a Nutshell,” “Heart Healthy Eating Tips”, and “My Vegan Plate” are especially popular brochures at all types of events. Click here to see our catalog of guides and handouts. To request any of these materials, send us an email at [email protected].

We have already been approached by an event coordinator in North Carolina who requested 750 brochures that will be distributed to the general public, registered dietitians, and nutritionists.

We provide guides and handouts free of charge, but donations are greatly appreciated. To contribute to the printing & shipping costs of these materials, please see our donation page: http://www.vrg.org/donate.

National Nutrition Month® is a nutrition education and information campaign sponsored annually by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics: http://www.eatright.org/nnm/.

VRG’s Eleanor Wolff Scholarship is a $2,500 paid internship at the VRG office in Baltimore for a student who is motivated to use the knowledge and skills they gain from the internship to impact and make effective change on behalf of vegetarianism.

Eleanor Miltimore Wolff became a committed vegan late in life. Once she learned and understood that dietary choices affected not only one’s personal health, but also the health of the planet and the well being of the animals, there was no looking back. Leather shoes and purses, along with non-vegan food products went out the door. Her children and grandchildren were showered with vegan reading material. When she exercised she would sport a T-shirt proclaiming: “I think, therefore I am — a vegetarian”. Eleanor was a military censor during World War II, but there was no censoring her commitment to a plant based diet and lifestyle.

In her memory, the Eleanor Wolff Scholarship is a $2,500 paid internship at the VRG office in Baltimore (plus $1,000 toward housing) for a student who:

1. Wants to be an effective change agent on behalf of vegetarianism
2. Is motivated to use knowledge gained from the internship to make a significant impact within his/her world
3. Could not participate in this development effort without a little financial assistance

VRG also offers unpaid internships.

If you would like to apply for a VRG internship, please send a resume, writing sample, and cover letter detailing your interests, skills, goals, and vegetarian knowledge to:

The Vegetarian Resource Group
P.O. Box 1463
Baltimore, MD 21203

or e-mail to [email protected]

For more information about the Eleanor Wolff Scholarship and to view what past recipients have said of their experiences, see http://www.vrg.org/student/eleanor_wolff_scholarship.php.

For information about all VRG internships see: http://www.vrg.org/student/index.php

By Jeanne Yacoubou, MS
VRG Research Director

In October 2011, The VRG received an email with this question: "I was…wondering if the color added to butter is vegetarian, because I have heard that beta-carotene is added to it and that gelatin is often used as a stabilizer in beta-carotene.”

Beta-carotene is a highly pigmented (red, orange, or yellow) substance known as a carotenoid which is commonly found in vegetables and fruits. It is known as a "provitamin" because beta-carotene is cleaved into vitamin A in the body. Gelatin is derived from collagen found in animals' skins and bones. Pig and cattle are the most common sources; fish gelatin is also commercially available.

While looking into this issue, The VRG discovered that beta-carotene is used only rarely to color butter these days. It is, however, common in margarine today. The beta-carotene gives a yellowish color to the margarine which would otherwise be white.

In November 2011, we called Land O'Lakes® and Smart Balance®, manufacturers of several margarine products. Company representatives for both companies told us that they used beta-carotene in their products, but it is not stabilized (or "carried") by gelatin. Wegman's® also told us that their brand margarine, although it contains beta-carotene, does not contain gelatin. Wegman's® stated that they use a vegetable oil-stabilized beta-carotene.

Further research revealed that gelatin stabilization of beta-carotene may also occur in fruit juices/drinks and soft drinks. In fact, as a food technologist at a major company which manufactures many beta-carotene products explained to The VRG, gelatin (or some other suitable carrier), is more likely to be used in water-based products to carry the beta-carotene rather than in oil-based products such as margarine. (Beta-carotene in margarine is easily stabilized by vegetable oils similar or identical to the vegetable oil(s) that compose the margarine itself because beta-carotene is fat-soluble.)

The food technologist explained to us that because beta-carotene is insoluble in water, it needs a carrier in the form of an encapsulation to keep it dissolved in a water-based juice/drink. Without a carrier, beta-carotene would likely form an oily ring at the surface of a fruit juice or soft drink. She referred to a major soft drink in which unencapsulated beta-carotene formed such an oily ring until it was reformulated with something suitable to carry it.

We also learned that beta-carotene is a sensitive substance that decomposes quickly and loses its color-fastness easily. A carrier helps prevent beta-carotene's breakdown. (Other antioxidants added to a juice/drink perform this function for beta-carotene once it is dissolved in solution.) Without a carrier, beta-carotene would not provide the desired beverage color in a dissolved form.

The VRG learned from the Vegan Society of the UK that Coca-Cola® UK is an example of one of a few companies that uses gelatin-stabilized beta-carotene in several of its beverages. To quote from the Coca-Cola® UK website http://www.coca-cola.co.uk/faq/ingredients/coca-cola-drinks-suitable-for-vegans-vegetarians.html:

None of the Coca Cola and Schweppes brands contains milk, eggs or any products derived from mammals. However, vegans and vegetarians should note that a few of our drinks contain small traces of fish gelatine, which is used as a stabiliser for the beta-carotene colour. These products are Lilt, Lilt Zero, Kia-Ora Orange Squash, Kia-Ora Orange Squash No Added Sugar and Schweppes Orange Squash.

To the best of our understanding, Coca-Cola® does not need to label the gelatin as an ingredient in these beverages. According to page 14 of the UK Food Labelling Regulations 1996, clause 17, titled "Ingredients which need not be named":

(d) any substance other than water which is used as a solvent or carrier for an additive and is used in an amount that is no more than that which is strictly necessary for that purpose.

A Commission Directive published in the Official Journal of the European Union (27 November 2007) and accessed at http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2007:310:0011:0014:EN:PDF
states that a permanent exemption from labeling is given to "4(a) fish gelatine used as a carrier for vitamin or carotenoid preparations…"

In the UK, gelatin would fall into the category of "solvent or carrier" for beta-carotene. As explained above, beta-carotene, insoluble in water, forms an oily film at the surface of water-based drinks unless it is formulated with something else (such as gelatin) that prevents this.

The VRG wondered if gelatin-carried beta-carotene were used as a color additive in any beverages sold in the United States. The short answer to this question, to the best of our present knowledge, is "no."

We canvassed a large number of juice companies including Sunny Delight®, Very Fine®, Minute Maid®, Dole®, Nestle®, Cascadian Farms®, Muir Glen®, Apple & Eve®, Fuze®, and Wegman's® in November and December 2011. Among those that add beta-carotene to their beverages, (and not all listed here do), The VRG was told in all cases that gelatin is not the stabilizer for the beta-carotene.

The VRG also contacted Coca-Cola® USA in December 2011 to ask if any of their beverages contained gelatin-stabilized beta-carotene. A media representative at Coca-Cola® US responded promptly to our inquiry by phone and told us that "Coca-Cola® US does distribute products with beta-carotene. The beta-carotene is used as a colorant in some products and in others it may be used as a source of vitamin A." In a later email response she said:

The final word is that we do use beta-carotene but it does not have the fish gelatin. All the products having beta-carotene are kosher. I include a complete list of products below.

Vitaminwater XXX, Vitaminwater Zero XXX, Vitaminwater Zero Glow, Vitaminwater Zero Rise, Vitaminwater Essential, Vitaminwater Zero Drive; Vitaminwater Energy

Minute Maid Orange Juice 100 Kids Plus, Minute Maid Light Orange Beverage

Odwalla Super Protein Mango, Odwalla Mango Tango, Odwalla Superfood Mo Beta, Odwalla Super Protein Pumpkin, Odwalla Strawberry Banana, Odwalla Superfood Red Rhapsody, Odwalla Super Protein Mango

Fuze Banana Colada, Fuze Mixed Berry, Fuze Slenderize Tropical Punch, Fuze Peach Mango, Fuze Orange Mango, Fuze Slenderize Cranberry Raspberry, Fuze Slenderize Strawberry Melon, Fuze Strawberry Guava, Fuze Slenderize Pomegranate Acai Berry, Fuze Slenderize Blueberry Raspberry.

A look at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations shows that unlike the European regulations which have a specific exemption from labeling ("d" above) for solvents or carriers, US regulations do not have anything comparable. They are otherwise very similar in wording to the European regulations. They read as follows in Title 21, Part 101, Subpart G:
§ 101.100 Food; exemptions from labeling.

(3) Incidental additives that are present in a food at insignificant levels and do not have any technical or functional effect in that food. For the purposes of this paragraph (a)(3), incidental additives are: (i) Substances that have no technical or functional effect but are present in a food by reason of having been incorporated into the food as an ingredient of another food, in which the substance did have a functional or technical effect.(ii) Processing aids, which are as follows: (a) Substances that are added to a food during the processing of such food but are removed in some manner from the food before it is packaged in its finished form. (b) Substances that are added to a food during processing, are converted into constituents normally present in the food, and do not significantly increase the amount of the constituents naturally found in the food. (c) Substances that are added to a food for their technical or functional effect in the processing but are present in the finished food at insignificant levels and do not have any technical or functional effect in that food.

However, even without an exemptive clause specifically for solvents or carriers, The VRG wondered if the US regulations given above could somehow be interpreted such that a food or beverage company could legally exclude gelatin used as an incidental additive or as a processing aid (which is a type of incidental additive according to the regulation stated above), from an ingredients label. We asked the FDA and two food technologists this question.

When we first called the general information line at the FDA in December 2011 and spoke to Ann, she told us that in order to rule on exemption from labeling decisions made by companies, a company must demonstrate to the FDA that the incidental additive or processing aid does not "…make a significant difference to the end product. [When it does] it must be labeled."

We asked two food technologists if the gelatin carrying beta-carotene was making a significant difference to the final beverage and got somewhat different answers. One stated that gelatin stabilized the beta-carotene color blend before addition to the final product (but not against chemical breakdown), while a second thought the gelatin stabilized the beta-carotene against chemical breakdown (and subsequent color breakdown) before addition to the beverage. The second food technologist also thought that the gelatin encapsulation made the beta-carotene water soluble.

If the former reason were true and gelatin functioned only before addition to a final product, it appears to the writer that FDA regulations would not require gelatin to be labeled on an ingredients statement. However, if the gelatin were functioning to keep the beta-carotene dissolved in water and/or keeping its color stable in the final product, (in which case the gelatin would have a functional role in the final product), it would need to be labeled. If gelatin were operative in both ways, one of which is functional in the finished product, then it appears labeling would be required.

An email response received from the FDA in January 2012 on this question was in agreement with this prediction:

We do not generally make determinations as to whether an ingredient in a particular product is an incidental additive or not.

However, the key as to whether an ingredient is an incidental additive and thus must be included in the ingredient statement is whether the ingredient functions in the finished product. In this case you suggest that the gelatin helps the beta-carotene stay dissolved in the product. It would seem then, that the gelatin is functioning in the finished product to keep the beta-carotene dissolved.

Because The VRG hasn't located a company in the United States that uses gelatin to stabilize beta-carotene in its foods or beverages doesn't imply that no one does. Readers should remember that labeling decisions about whether an incidental additive or processing aid is functional in a final product are made by individual companies which submit their proposals to the FDA. When a dispute arises, or if a petition is made by an individual or another company to the FDA for further investigation, a company may be ordered to change its labeling or what it uses to make its final product.

In most cases, consumers are left to hope that companies are doing all they can to meet "truthful and not misleading" FDA requirements for their labels based on the regulations. However, since there is no legal definition of "vegetarian" or "vegan" in the US, and, therefore, no regulations about it, companies, (and the average consumer), are often left with questions on vegetarian/vegan labeling issues in terms of incidental additives and processing aids. Companies use the regulations that are available (see above) in making their labeling decisions about all substances added to foods and beverages whether they are added directly or indirectly.

It may be asked if, since fish is a major food allergen according to the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004, (FALCPA), gelatin derived from fish would be required to be labeled even if present as a processing aid, unlike the analogous European law as described above exempts fish gelatin. There is no specific mention of fish gelatin as exempt from labeling according to FALCPA. The only specific exemption from labeling in the case of an ingredient derived from a major food allergen is highly refined oils and ingredients derived from those oils. http://www.fda.gov/Food/LabelingNutrition/FoodAllergensLabeling/GuidanceComplianceRegulatoryInformation/ucm106187.htm

What makes the situation unusually problematic for "natural" (i.e., not synthesized in a lab) beta-carotene is that it is exempt from being explicitly labeled; "coloring" is sufficient. (See the third column of "color additives" entry in the table at the end of http://www.fda.gov/food/foodingredientspackaging/ucm094211.htm.) In the case of "natural" beta-carotene labeled only as "coloring," it is unclear if gelatin, when present, would need to be labeled especially if there are more than one coloring agent in the beverage.

Further research revealed that there are several formulations of beta-carotene that are all-vegetable and do work well in beverage applications. These are known as "cold water dispersants" or "non-ringing emulsions." We were told that these formulations are more expensive than gelatin-stabilized beta-carotene. A sales representative at a major company that produces beta-carotene ingredients told The VRG that the all-vegetable varieties are "one-third more expensive" than gelatin-containing formulations at the same beta-carotene concentration level. She emphasized that "it's not really the gelatin that determines the price but the beta-carotene concentration and the stability of its matrix."

A sales representative from another other company partially concurred stating: "Regarding cost, the primary driver is the concentration of beta-carotene, not the cost of gelatin versus starch or other ingredients." For example, according to two companies which sell beta-carotene, an all-vegetable, 10% cold water dispersible beta-carotene formulation, encapsulated in dextrin, vegetable oil, sucrose esters, and/or gum arabic, with DL-alpha-tocopherol and ascorbyl palmitate as antioxidants, and silicon dioxide as a processing aid, may cost $140-$195/kilogram.

Companies certainly want their ingredients to be as inexpensive as possible, but, even more importantly, we were told that they want to ensure that the beta-carotene is stable and will remain stable during production and while on the store shelf. A sales representative told us that the process of making an all-vegetable beadlet to carry the beta-carotene is less stable (and, therefore, more costly) that that needed to make a gelatin-carried formulation. The encapsulation itself may break down. Companies are always working to develop encapsulations that won't decompose easily but are inexpensive.

Currently, there are several companies manufacturing all-vegetable beta-carotene products suitable for coloring water-based beverages. Specific formulations suitable for certain applications depend on many factors including juice acidity and desired color intensity. Some companies market their products as animal-free such as this BASF® advertisement describes: "Lucarotin® 10 CWD/O is based on a dispersion of stabilized beta-carotene in vegetable oil. Very fine droplets of this dispersion are embedded in a matrix of modified food starch and glucose syrup. The free-flowing powder product is protein-free and manufactured without ingredients of animal origin."

The VRG would like to remind concerned readers to inquire about ingredients if they have doubts. For example, we located a kosher-certified beta-carotene formulation that was made with porcine gelatin. The colored gelatin is often used to make supplement and pill caplets.

The contents of this article, our website, and our other publications, including the 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 employees or company statements without any guarantee of absolute truth in any case. Information does change and mistakes are always possible. Please use your own best judgment about whether a product is suitable for you. Further research or confirmation may be warranted.

For more information on sources of food ingredients and to purchase our Guide to Food Ingredients, visit the VRG at http://www.vrg.org/ingredients/index.php

For information on fast food and quick service chains, food ingredients and for other information of interest to vegetarians and vegans, please subscribe to our free enewsletter on our homepage: http://www.vrg.org/vrgnews/

There are many ways to stay connected to The Vegetarian Resource Group!
Get our blog delivered right to your inbox: http://feeds.feedburner.com/TheVRGBlog
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To support VRG research, please donate at http://www.vrg.org/donate

Each year, VRG awards $10,000 in college scholarship money to two high school seniors who have promoted vegetarianism in their schools/communities ($5,000 to each). The deadline – February 20 – is right around the corner, so if you want to apply, or know someone who should apply, click here for more information.

VRG also offers The Eleanor Wolff Scholarship which is a paid summer internship ($2,500 plus $1,000 toward housing) at VRG’s Baltimore office. Here’s http://trueviagraonline.com what our interns have had to say about their experiences: http://www.vrg.org/student

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Link to our scholarship on the web!

Copy the text below to use this image to promote our scholarship on your website!

<a href="http://www.vrg.org/student/scholar.htm"><img decoding="async" src="https://www.vrg.org/img/home/scholarship_banner.jpg" width="195" height="135" alt="Vegetarian Resource Group College Scholarships!" /></a>

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Would you like to sponsor a scholarship or internship? This provides a tremendous opportunity for students who are doing some great work promoting vegetarianism.
Click here to read about past scholarship winners (right-hand side).
Click here to read about past Eleanor Wolff Scholarship winners.