What’s Vegan?

FOR THE SAKE OF CLARITY:

I’m an ethical vegan – meaning, I’m vegan for ethical reasons, not heath reasons.  When I say something is vegan, I mean that, to the best of my knowledge at the time of publication, the product contained no animal products and I didn’t see any ethical issue with the producers of the product.  That can change.

Another thing to consider if you are vegan for health reasons:  I may say something is vegan, but the product’s ingredient list might include the savage warning, “May Contain…” and go on to list stuff that’s not vegan.  Essentially, the product’s manufacturer is trying to cover themselves in the event that there is cross contamination during the manufacturing process. This means that while the ingredients don’t have any non-vegan items on the list, non-vegan items (such as dairy) are present in the facility, so there’s always a risk of cross contamination.  I still call these items vegan.  I’m sure some people don’t feel that way, but that’s how this site will operate.