Mars products become non vegetarian.

Tar.Aldarion

InFront wrote:

The gelatine might be vegetarian (yes, such a thing exists!) I've eaten vegetarian/ halal gelatin food, apparently it's made from plant extracts or something (well I trusted the person who told me that:) )

There is no such thing as vegetarian gelatin as cathy said, although I'm sure your friend just used that term not to confuse you, 'it's like a vegetarian geletin'. Your friend was probably referring to pectin or another alternative that is used.

However pre-gelatinized wheat starch is vegetarian, but that is something different.

Do vegetarians usually not eat food derived from dead animal products? As silly as that question might sound, the vegetarians I know eat cheeses, and chocolates that are (in Islam) Haram because of animal fats. Or are they just not being strict vegetarians?

I imagine they are just not strict and although not wholly vegetarian, try to live the lifestyle as best they can.
They eat cheeses with animal rennet you mean?

princess k

hiya,thanks for the heads up on this. im 1 of those veggies that reads every ingredient on foodstuffs...it was getting easier as so many manufacturers had the suitable logo displayed. cannot believe they have done this. i sent an e-mail,havent had reply yet,no doubt it will be as pathetic as the other replies they sent out.

igtica

Thanks for pasting this across from the veggie society site. It's really frustrating that a company as big as mars have taken such a big step backwards. It's seems odd to cut out a quickly increasing part of society. It's seems so odd to add an animal by-product when they are able to create their products without. I hope that we get a reaction from mars, although it's not likely.

sportswear

tar how are m+m's not vegitarian?


i am extremely pissed off about this. more so by the fact that it won't be labelled in their products. a lot of people won't know about this.

jelly tots are veg!

Tar.Aldarion

Jelly tots are vegan I thought M&Ms were not vegetarian, but 'm not sure, I'll have to read a packet.

InFront

Yeah M&Ms are not vegetarian.

Tar.Aldarion

What is in them?

InFront

I don't know really, all I know is that they're not vegetarian. It seems like it might be rennet, judging by this link, but it isn't explicitly clear what the reason is.
http://www.scouseveg.co.uk/2007/04/30/mars-confectionary-no-longer-vegetarian/

Nature Boy

What are skittles fruits? Are they the regular ones?

It's pretty grim viewing looking at the long list of their products that are no longer veggie

sportswear

i think skittles are ok here but the american ones have gelatine. i can't see anything sinister in the ingredients.

please correct me if im wrong

nervous_twitch

Tar.Aldarion wrote:

There are a lot of vegetarian sweets and bars. There are many that are not though. M&Ms, polo fruits. etc.

Polo fruits were definitely vegetarian at some stage.. has this changed?!

Tar.Aldarion

I believe they are not, I'll check it out for you again at some stage. If they are not it is due to the red dye that would have been used for the red one.

r3nu4l

I'm not a vegetarian and obviously this is just a business decision designed to increase profit but it is sad nonetheless. I don't seek out vegetarian products at all but am quite happy to eat something that has been made with vegetraians in mind.

The more vegetarians the better imo, that means more red meat, poultry, eggs and fish for me

Tar.Aldarion

Vegetarians eat eggs mostly.

r3nu4l

Tar.Aldarion wrote:

Vegetarians eat eggs mostly.

Wtf? Why? There is no way an egg can be called vegetable matter! It's animal protein!

Tar.Aldarion

r3nu4l wrote:

Wtf? Why? There is no way an egg can be called vegetable matter! It's animal protein!

You are thinking of a vegan, not a vegetarian. You may need to look up the difference.
In this case I would be referring to Lacto-ovo vegetarians or ovo-vegetarians.

r3nu4l

Well, you learn something new everyday!

In fairness then, the term vegetarian is misleading as all vegetarians do eat animal products of one sort or another, they simply don't eat meat. Shouldn't vegetarians simply be called meat-avoiders? I know that sounds trollish but I'm serious, I'm actually disappointed!



/Perhaps this thread isn't the best place for discussing this topic.

Tar.Aldarion

r3nu4l wrote:

Well, you learn something new everyday!

In fairness then, the term vegetarian is misleading as all vegetarians do eat animal products of one sort or another, they simply don't eat meat. Shouldn't vegetarians simply be called meat-avoiders? I know that sounds trollish but I'm serious, I'm actually disappointed!



/Perhaps this thread isn't the best place for discussing this topic.

We do not eat anything that comes from the death of an animal, this includes many products that are commonly found in sweets and other foods like jelly, marshmellows etc etc.

Before the term vegetarian was coined we were called Pythagoreans, after the mathematician/philosopher.

r3nu4l

I prefer the term Pythagoreans so...although I suspect not all vegetarians are great thinkers It's funny I always thought that those 'vegetarians' who ate eggs or dairy products were cheating somehow! Looks like they were legit (although I still think it's a copout!).

Either way, to get back on-topic is there an online petition to gather Pythagorean opinion into one resource that can be presented to Masterfoods? I think it's a very backward move tbh and would sign such a petition even as a non-Pythagorean!

Vegeta

I was thinking about this too over the weekend.

The way I see it (in my very narrow and cultureless mind, which is open to correction) is that people are vegetarians on moral grounds.

So obviously you don't want animals suffering, then why would you drink milk or eat eggs, butter etc etc etc. If you object to using animal products on moral grounds then why not go the whole nine yards and become a vegan.

Or is it ok to have natural organic products, like eggs that come from chickens who don't sit in a cage 24hrs a day under artifical lighting etc

I know there are varying degrees of dedication but I'd say its tough being a vegetarian.

Tar.Aldarion

r3nu4l wrote:

I prefer the term Pythagoreans so...although I suspect not all vegetarians are great thinkers

Maybe we were called that because we have higher IQ's, according to studies?
Nah, I too like that name, but it would confuse people even more! I think we were called that up until some time in the 1800's wheich is pretty recent.

It's funny I always thought that those 'vegetarians' who ate eggs or dairy products were cheating somehow! Looks like they were legit (although I still think it's a copout!).

It's the ones who eat fish that are cheating, pesky pescetarians!
I imagine vegetarian exists opposed to vegan because some people might feel we can use products from an animal without hurting them and it is still ok, or some might feel that if there is a less harsh alternative to veganism more people will make that step. A lot of people would see vegetarianism as their stepping stone to veganism, as giving up all dairy etc would be quite difficult.

Either way, to get back on-topic is there an online petition to gather Pythagorean opinion into one resource that can be presented to Masterfoods? I think it's a very backward move tbh and would sign such a petition even as a non-Pythagorean!

I am unsure if there is a petition,the Irish Vegetarian society replied to an email to sweet-rasmus(a person on this forum) but I can't remember what action they said they were taking. A lot of emails have been sent yet to annoy them, annoying people being our WMD.

I was thinking about this too over the weekend.

The way I see it (in my very narrow and cultureless mind, which is open to correction) is that people are vegetarians on moral grounds.

People are vegetarian for a variety of reasons, ethical, health, environment, etc.
I think there are a few books like '101 reasons to be a vegetarian' around the place.

So obviously you don't want animals suffering, then why would you drink milk or eat eggs, butter etc etc etc. If you object to using animal products on moral grounds then why not go the whole nine yards and become a vegan.

I don't know if my reply above to r3nu4l answered tat sufficiently but I can't be making huge posts in work.

Or is it ok to have natural organic products, like eggs that come from chickens who don't sit in a cage 24hrs a day under artifical lighting etc

That would vary from person to person, but I don't know any vegetarian that condones battery chickens treatment.

I know there are varying degrees of dedication but I'd say its tough being a vegetarian.

Hard at first, as I only liked meat growing up, couldn't eat anything without meat in it. After a few months it is a piss of cake, especially when I discovered fake meat etc.

sweet-rasmus

yes, i got a reply from the irish vegetarian society. they hadn't actually heard about it till i emailed them last saturday.

"this is a very big backward step. I hadn't heard the news and have just emailed on behalf of the VSI - I will also draft up a hard copy letter as a follow up which I'll arrange to have all committee members sign. "

r3nu4l

I did a quick Google and there is a petition...yay!
But it's down...Aw!
Which probably means huge amounts of people are trying to sign it...Yay!
Or that there is a Government conspiracy and the site has been taken down...Aw!
Or...ad nauseum

So there is a petition but the site is currently offline.

Here is the link to the petition and here is a link to a blog post about it.
If it comes back online over the day I'll sign it.

EDIT: Tar, tahnks for the replies, interesting reading. The paradox in my eating habits is that I won't eat battery farmed chicken because that is cruel...but I still eat chicken. I'm sure I can rationalise that somehow...if I don't think about it

Tar.Aldarion

r3nu4l wrote:

I did a quick Google and there is a petition...yay!
But it's down...Aw!
Which probably means huge amounts of people are trying to sign it...Yay!
Or that there is a Government conspiracy and the site has been taken down...Aw!
Or...ad nauseum

Lol.

So there is a petition but the site is currently offline.

Aw.

Here is the link to the petition and here is a link to a blog post about it.
If it comes back online over the day I'll sign it.

Yay.

EDIT: Tar, tahnks for the replies, interesting reading. The paradox in my eating habits is that I won't eat battery farmed chicken because that is cruel...but I still eat chicken. I'm sure I can rationalise that somehow...if I don't think about it

Aw/yay?

Tar.Aldarion

The story has been on BBC now and I just heard it on the radio. A guy called Mihael called into a show to warn other vegetarians and told people about the petition etc.

Reptileboy

Tar.Aldarion wrote:

The story has been on BBC now and I just heard it on the radio. A guy called Mihael called into a show to warn other vegetarians and told people about the petition etc.

Oh god, I wonder if that was me. I sent an email last night to Newstalk's Moncrieff show because I wanted to warn other vegetarians who might not have heard about Masterfoods decision. I missed the first 30 minutes of his show, so I have no idea either way.

Did you hear it on Moncrief or was it on some other radio show or station?

I think we should be writing not only to Masterfoods, but also other media outlets who might put pressure on the company to reverse its decision. At the least it will prevent Vegetarians from unknowingly consuming animal by-products.

Rennet in particular annoys me because it comes from the stomach lining of a newborn calf. I think even meat eaters would find that hard to stomach.

Tar.Aldarion

Reptileboy wrote:

Oh god, I wonder if that was me. I sent an email last night to Newstalk's Moncrieff show because I wanted to warn other vegetarians who might not have heard about Masterfoods decision. I missed the first 30 minutes of his show, so I have no idea either way.

Did you hear it on Moncrief or was it on some other radio show or station?

I think we should be writing not only to Masterfoods, but also other media outlets who might put pressure on the company to reverse its decision. At the least it will prevent Vegetarians from unknowingly consuming animal by-products.

Rennet in particular annoys me because it comes from the stomach lining of a newborn calf. I think even meat eaters would find that hard to stomach.

I don't know where I heard it. If your name is michael, there is a good chance that is was you. Good look with writing to people, that one on the radio was well written.

sweet-rasmus

ah, signed the petition. but plenty of people aren't taking it seriously with celebraty names and comments as names. oh well.

r3nu4l

Yep, I signed it too...Ren Ual, that's me
Edit, now I think I'll sit back and have a Snickers...aw ****!

Tar.Aldarion

I signed also now. Special power of annoyance activated.