Dairy Traces in Vegan Foods?
"May Contain Traces" Doesn't Always Mean Definite Contamination
Jun 4, 2009
It's a common scene for many vegans. The perfect product is sitting on the shelf—maybe it's an incredibly nutritious cereal or a decadent bar of dark chocolate. After rejoicing silently at the discovery of this new product, you turn it over to discover—"May Contain Traces of Dairy," or "made on the same equipment with egg". As unfortunate as this sight is, it isn't as big of a deal as it seems. Here are some facts about these warnings and why they end up on otherwise vegan foods' packages.
FDA and Allergy Warnings
Warnings such as, "may contain traces of dairy" are generally applied to products where equipment has been shared; this process is common in small business who share food manufacturing facilities with other companies. When products are made on the same equipment, they must list ingredients that in some small case could come in contact with the vegan food. Nevertheless, a quick investigation will reveal that these companies take great care in cleaning the equipment and maintaining the purity of their vegan products.
While the FDA doesn't require companies to include the phrase, "may contain traces of..." because according to them, doing so contradicts with Good Manufacturing Practice, many vegan companies include this information for their consumers for knowledge purposes. Non-vegan companies include this also, just so consumers know that although thorough cleaning is undertaken, very minute traces may be found in the food; this is to ensure that people with food allergies (especially those people with one of the 8 main food allergies) know what is present in their food, or what could be in the rarest instance.
Vegan Label
Many vegan companies will still include a label that states their items are vegan, even when produced on the same machinery as items containing dairy. Therefore, they also most put that their items may contain traces of dairy. According to Vegan Action, "Our motivation is working to end cruelty to animals and we don't feel that avoiding trace amounts of animal products in vegan foods helps end animal suffering. It is far better for the animals that these vegan products exist." The site goes on to say that many vegan companies would not even exist without the use of shared machinery. Isn't a trace of dairy better than no vegan product at all?
The Verdict
The bottom line is, many vegan companies include this label because they share machinery with other companies that may produce items containing dairy, eggs, or other animal products; this is for allergy purposes and consumers general knowledge.
Vegans may or may not be overly concerned with this. It is a personal choice to eat products containing these warnings. Although it seems that many vegan products include this label, and avoiding these products would limit choices in food items.
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