Is it vegan?
Is it vegan?
The E-numbers, additives, sweeteners and hidden animal ingredients that trip people up, each with a plain verdict and the primary source behind it. When the honest answer is that it depends, we say so.
As of July 18, 2026, 88 ingredients checked: 28 not vegan 23 it depends 37 vegan
Sourcing can change by brand and batch. When in doubt, read the label or ask the maker. Last reviewed July 18, 2026.
Not vegan
- Not vegan
Carmine and cochineal (E120)
That bright natural red in the yogurt or the candy is often crushed insects. Carmine, cochineal extract, Natural Red 4, E120: all the same animal dye.
- Not vegan
Gelatin
Gelatin is boiled animal collagen, usually from pig or cow skin and bone. There is no plant version; the plant swaps are agar, pectin and carrageenan.
- Not vegan
Isinglass
Isinglass is fish. It is a collagen made from dried swim bladders and used to clarify some beers and wines, which is why a plain-looking pint can fail the vegan test.
- Not vegan
Shellac and confectioner's glaze (E904)
That mirror shine on candy is bug resin. Shellac, confectioner's glaze, resinous glaze, E904: a secretion of the lac insect.
- Not vegan
Casein and caseinate
Casein is milk protein, and it turns up in surprising places, including some non-dairy creamers and a few plant-styled cheeses.
- Not vegan
Whey
Whey is the liquid left when milk curdles, dried into powder. It is milk, so it is not vegan, and it hides in more than protein shakes.
- Not vegan
Lactose
Lactose is milk sugar. Even though it is a carbohydrate rather than a protein, it comes from milk, so it is not vegan.
- Not vegan
Honey
Honey is made by bees, and bees are animals, so honey is not vegan. Maple syrup, agave and date syrup are the usual swaps.
- Not vegan
Beeswax (E901)
Beeswax is a bee product. Worker bees secrete it to build the comb, so the shine on a waxed apple or a sweet, and the base of many a lip balm, comes straight from the hive.
- Not vegan
Lanolin
Lanolin is wool grease from sheep. No sheep is killed for it, but it is an animal product all the same, and it is the quiet source of most vitamin D3 on the shelf.
- Not vegan
Collagen
Collagen is the scaffolding of animal bodies: skin, bone, connective tissue. There is no plant version, so every real collagen supplement is animal-derived, and vegan collagen is a different thing wearing the same name.
- Not vegan
Royal jelly
Royal jelly is bee food, secreted by workers to raise queens. Like honey and beeswax, it is something taken from a hive, which puts it outside a vegan diet by definition.
- Not vegan
Chondroitin
Chondroitin is cartilage in a capsule: cow windpipe, pig ears and noses, shark and fish. Unlike its shelf-mate glucosamine, it has no easy plant version, so the supplement is animal through and through.
- Not vegan
Lard
Lard is pig fat with a friendlier name. It shows up in flaky pastry and old-school refried beans, and no amount of good technique changes what it is.
- Not vegan
Tallow
Tallow is rendered beef or mutton fat. It has had a small comeback in frying and skincare, and the comeback does not make it plant-based.
- Not vegan
Suet
Classic suet is the crumbly kidney fat of a cow or sheep. There is a vegetable version that works just as well, but the boxes sit side by side, so read carefully.
- Not vegan
Ghee
Ghee is butter with the milk solids cooked off. The process is clever, the nutty flavour is real, and it is still dairy from start to finish.
- Not vegan
Aspic
Aspic is the glossy jelly around a terrine or a pork pie. The shine is gelatin from simmered bones and meat, which puts it firmly on the animal side.
- Not vegan
Albumin and albumen
Albumin is the workhorse protein of egg white, and sometimes of blood plasma. Either way it is an animal binder wearing a lab-coat name.
- Not vegan
Pepsin
Pepsin is an enzyme scraped from animal stomachs. It sits next to rennet in the cheese aisle and in a lot of digestive supplements.
- Not vegan
Castoreum
Castoreum is a beaver gland secretion that the internet loves to put in your vanilla ice cream. It is an animal product, and also almost never in your ice cream anymore.
- Not vegan
Keratin
Keratin is the protein in hair, nails, horns and feathers. The keratin in a smoothing treatment is sourced from exactly those animal parts.
- Not vegan
Elastin
Elastin is the protein that lets skin snap back. In a serum, it is usually harvested from animal connective tissue, the same as its cousin collagen.
- Not vegan
Propolis
Propolis is bee glue, the resin bees use to seal the hive. Like honey and beeswax, it is a product of the colony, so it is off the vegan list.
- Not vegan
Lysozyme (E1105)
Lysozyme, additive E1105, is an enzyme pulled straight from egg white. It quietly guards some hard cheeses and the odd wine.
- Not vegan
Bone phosphate (E542)
Bone phosphate, additive E542, is exactly what it sounds like. It is ground animal bone, used as an anti-caking agent and a mineral source.
- Not vegan
Lactitol (E966)
Lactitol is a low-calorie sweetener with a dairy secret in its name. It is made from lactose, so the milk connection is not a coincidence.
- Not vegan (usually)
Marshmallows
Standard marshmallows are made with gelatin, which is animal collagen, so they are not vegan. Purpose-made vegan marshmallows use plant gelling agents and are sold in most large supermarkets.
Sometimes — it depends
- Sometimes
L-cysteine (E920)
L-cysteine softens dough and often starts as animal keratin, from feathers or hair. Fermentation-made and synthetic versions are vegan, so it genuinely depends.
- Sometimes
Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol)
Vitamin D3 is usually made from lanolin in sheep's wool, but a lichen-derived vegan D3 exists, and D2 is plant-based. Check the label or ask.
- Sometimes
Omega-3 (EPA and DHA)
Fish oil is not vegan, but the EPA and DHA in it start in algae, and algal oil delivers the same omega-3s. Plant ALA from flax and chia is vegan too.
- Sometimes
Bone char sugar
Some cane sugar is whitened by filtering it through charred cattle bone. The sugar holds no bone, but the process is animal, so it depends on the brand.
- It depends
Mono- and diglycerides (E471)
This emulsifier is in half the bread aisle, and it starts life as fat. That fat can be soya oil or beef tallow, and E471 on the packet will not say which.
- It depends
Glycerin / glycerol (E422)
This sweet, syrupy workhorse shows up in everything from icing to toothpaste. It can be pressed from plant oil, rendered from animal fat, or built from petroleum, and E422 keeps the secret.
- It depends
Stearic acid and magnesium stearate (E570)
This is the quiet powder that stops tablets and sweets from sticking. The fatty acid behind it can come from vegetable oil or from beef tallow, and 'magnesium stearate' will not say.
- It depends
Natural flavours / natural flavors
Most 'natural flavours' really are plants and microbes. But the legal box is big enough to hold meat, dairy, eggs and even a secretion from a beaver, and the label almost never says which.
- It depends (usually not)
Rennet
Traditional rennet is an enzyme taken from the stomach of a slaughtered calf. Plenty of cheese now uses an animal-free version instead, but the label rarely tells you which, and either way the cheese still contains dairy.
- It depends
Wine
Wine is grapes, but the way it is clarified is the catch. Many bottles are fined with fish, egg, milk or gelatin, others with clay or plant protein, and the label almost never tells you which.
- Sometimes
Worcestershire sauce
That savoury depth in the classic bottle comes partly from fermented anchovies, the last thing most people expect in a condiment. But anchovy-free vegan versions sit right next to it on the shelf.
- Sometimes
Squalane
Squalane is the skincare oil with two very different backstories: one starts in a shark's liver, the other in an olive. They are chemically identical, so only the label tells you which is in the jar.
- Sometimes
Beer
Most beer is just grain, hops, water and yeast, which sounds vegan and often is. The complication is what happens after brewing: some beers are cleared with fish, and the label rarely tells you.
- Sometimes
Glucosamine
The joint supplement most people reach for is usually built from crab and shrimp shells. A corn-fermented vegan version exists, but it is the exception, so the default bottle is off the menu.
- Usually not vegan
Chitosan
Chitosan is a fibre supplement and clarifier made, most of the time, from crushed shellfish shells. A newer fungal version is genuinely vegan, but it is the exception.
- It depends
Disodium inosinate (E631)
Disodium inosinate, E631, is a savoury flavour booster with a murky supply chain. It can come from fish, from meat, or from fermentation, and the label rarely says which.
- It depends
Disodium guanylate (E627)
Disodium guanylate, E627, is made by fermentation, which sounds vegan-friendly. The wrinkle is that it almost never travels alone, and its usual partner is the one to watch.
- It depends
Disodium ribonucleotides (E635)
E635 is not one additive but two working together: disodium inosinate plus disodium guanylate. Its vegan status is only as clean as the inosinate inside it.
- It depends
Stearoyl lactylates (E481, E482)
Sodium and calcium stearoyl lactylate are bread and cake softeners with two reassuring plant-sounding parts and one that is not guaranteed. The stearic acid is the question mark.
- It depends
Polysorbates (Polysorbate 80, E433)
Polysorbate 80 is the emulsifier that keeps ice cream smooth and sauces from splitting. It is built partly from a fatty acid, and that fatty acid is where the vegan question lives.
- It depends
Vitamin A (retinol and carotene)
Vitamin A comes in two forms with two different back-stories. One can be pulled from fish liver, the other is pure plant pigment, and the label decides which you are getting.
- It depends (dark usually yes)
Chocolate
Cocoa is a plant, so plain dark chocolate is usually vegan. Milk and white chocolate contain milk solids by definition, and dark chocolate can still carry milk fat or a may contain warning.
- It depends
Chewing gum
Most gum base today is synthetic polymer, which is vegan, but gum base is a trade secret and can include lanolin, beeswax, gelatin or shellac without naming them.
Vegan
- Usually vegan
Lecithin (E322)
The emulsifier in your chocolate is almost always soya or sunflower, both vegan. Just now and then, especially in baked goods, it is whipped from egg yolk instead.
- Vegan
Vitamin B12 (cobalamin)
Here is the reassuring one. The B12 in your supplement or fortified plant milk is grown by bacteria, not squeezed from an animal, and every vegan needs a reliable source of it.
- Vegan
Figs
Figs are a fruit, so they are vegan. The famous fig-wasp story is true biology, but it does not turn a fig into an animal product, and many common and dried figs are grown with no wasp involved.
- Vegan, with an asterisk
Palm oil
Palm oil is a plant oil, so by the letter of the definition it is vegan. The asterisk is what growing it can cost: cleared rainforest and lost habitat for orangutans, tigers and rhinos, which leads many vegans to avoid it or seek a certified-sustainable version.
- Usually vegan
Taurine
Taurine got its name from ox bile, which is a rough first impression. In practice the taurine in your energy drink is made in a factory, not an animal, and it is added precisely because a plant diet has almost none.
- Vegan
Carrageenan (E407)
Carrageenan is a thickener pulled from red seaweed. It has its critics on other grounds, but the vegan question is not one of them.
- Vegan
Agar (agar-agar, E406)
Agar is the vegan answer to gelatin, a firm jelly set from seaweed. It has been doing this job in Asian kitchens for a very long time.
- Vegan
Pectin (E440)
Pectin is the setting power inside fruit, the reason a jam thickens. It is about as plant-based as an ingredient gets.
- Usually vegan
Xanthan gum (E415)
Xanthan gum is a thickener grown by bacteria on sugar. It is almost always vegan, with a rare asterisk over what the bacteria were fed.
- Vegan
Guar gum (E412)
Guar gum is a thickener ground from a legume. Bean to powder, there is no animal step anywhere in it.
- Vegan
Gellan gum (E418)
Gellan gum is a gelling agent grown by bacteria, not scraped from an animal. It is what keeps the cocoa evenly suspended in your oat milk.
- Vegan
Gum arabic (acacia gum, E414)
Gum arabic is hardened sap from acacia trees. It is the quiet stabiliser behind fizzy drinks and gummy sweets, and it is entirely plant-based.
- Vegan
Locust bean gum (carob gum, E410)
Despite a name that sounds like an insect, locust bean gum is pure carob seed. It gives ice cream its scoopable chew.
- Vegan
Citric acid (E330)
Citric acid is the sour note in half the pantry. It is grown by a mould on sugar, which is a lot less glamorous than lemons and just as vegan.
- Usually vegan
Lactic acid (E270)
Lactic acid sounds like it should be dairy. In a factory it is made by fermenting plant sugars, and the milk connection is mostly in the name.
- Vegan
Monosodium glutamate (MSG, E621)
MSG is savoury seasoning made the way vinegar is: fermentation. Its reputation has taken more hits than it deserves, and none of them is that it is an animal product.
- Vegan
Annatto (E160b)
Annatto is the orange in a lot of cheddar and snack dust. It comes from a seed, so on the vegan test it is a clear pass, even when the food around it is not.
- Usually vegan
Caramel colour (E150)
Caramel colour is burnt sugar, more or less, the brown in cola and gravy browning. It is almost always vegan, with a rare footnote about the sugar it starts from.
- Usually vegan
Beta-carotene (E160a)
Beta-carotene is the orange in carrots, bottled as a colour and a supplement. The pigment is plant or lab-made; the only animal risk is the capsule it sometimes rides in.
- Vegan
Silicon dioxide (silica, E551)
Silicon dioxide is sand, essentially, added to keep powders from clumping. There is nothing animal about a mineral.
- Vegan
Maltodextrin
Maltodextrin is processed plant starch, a bland filler and bulking agent. Corn, wheat or tapioca in, white powder out, no animal step.
- Usually vegan
Glycine (E640)
Glycine is the simplest amino acid, sold as a sweetish additive and supplement. The commercial version is synthesised in a factory, not boiled out of an animal.
- Vegan
Ascorbic acid (vitamin C, E300)
Ascorbic acid is vitamin C, the antioxidant on a thousand labels. It is built from glucose, which is about as plant-based as a starting material gets.
- Usually vegan
Tocopherols (vitamin E, E306 to E309)
Tocopherols are vitamin E, added to keep oils from going rancid. They are pressed from vegetable oil, so the antioxidant itself is plant-based.
- Vegan
Inulin
Inulin is a prebiotic fibre pulled mostly from chicory root. It is plant storage carbohydrate, plain and simple.
- Usually vegan
Biotin (vitamin B7)
Biotin is the vitamin behind a hundred hair-and-nail gummies. It is made synthetically and is found in plants, so the vitamin is fine; the gummy around it is the thing to read.
- Vegan
Vanillin
Vanillin is the molecule that makes vanilla taste like vanilla, and most of it is made in a factory or from wood. Despite the internet's favourite rumour, it is not beaver.
- Vegan
Konjac (glucomannan, E425)
Konjac is a plant whose root fibre becomes shirataki noodles and wobbly jelly. Root to noodle, it is entirely plant-based.
- Vegan
Alginate (algin, E401 to E404)
Alginate is seaweed turned into a gelling powder, the trick behind those little juice pearls. It is plant-based from the tide up.
- Vegan
Erythritol (E968)
Erythritol is a sweetener grown by yeast on plant sugar. Unlike its milk-derived cousin lactitol, its name hides nothing.
- Vegan
Sorbitol (E420)
Sorbitol is a sweetener and moisture-keeper made from plant glucose. It is the reason sugar-free gum stays soft, and it is plant-based.
- Vegan
Stevia (steviol glycosides, E960)
Stevia is sweetness from a leaf, hundreds of times stronger than sugar. It is a plant extract, no animal step required.
- Vegan
Xylitol (E967)
Xylitol is the tooth-friendly sweetener made from birch or corn. It is plant-based, though a quick warning: it is dangerous to dogs.
- Usually vegan
Calcium carbonate (chalk, E170)
Calcium carbonate is chalk, essentially, quarried from rock to firm, whiten and fortify. It is a mineral, so it sits on the vegan side, with a rare shell-derived footnote.
- Vegan
Nutritional yeast
Nutritional yeast is vegan. Yeast is a fungus, not an animal, and nooch is grown on a sugar medium and then deactivated by heat.
- Usually vegan
Bread
Plain bread is flour, water, yeast and salt, so it is vegan. Softened supermarket loaves and enriched breads are where dairy, egg, honey and animal-derived dough conditioners appear.
- Usually vegan
Vinegar
Vinegar is fermented plant material, so it is vegan. The only footnote is wine and cider vinegars made from drinks that were fined with isinglass or gelatin.
How these verdicts are made
A wrong answer here sends someone home with the wrong jar, so on these pages the sources do the talking. What each substance is made from comes from a named primary source: FDA and Federal Register color-additive rules, the WHO and FAO food-additive experts, NIH chemical and fact-sheet references, and The Vegan Society's own definition. Where a page quotes, the quote is checked against the archived source text before it can publish, so what you read is exactly what the source wrote.
Some answers are genuinely it depends. Vitamin D3, omega-3, L-cysteine and refined sugar all change with the source or the process, and we mark those plainly rather than force a clean yes or no. For the nutrition behind the swaps, see The Evidence, our companion shelf of vegan nutrition answered straight from the studies.
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