Some Cheese Alternatives Aren’t Vegan

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Figuring out how to eat safely is becoming a chore because of fake recipes and misinformation. Cheese alternatives are exciting because dairy is usually the hardest food to give up upon adopting a vegan diet.

Up until a few years ago, faux cheese was hard to come by, and the options that existed weren’t very appetizing. Now that’s changed and there are many amazing brands, flavors, and textures of vegan cheese. Unfortunately, most people aren’t educated as to what constitutes a vegan diet.

In fact, many people still think that vegetarians and vegans are one in the same, and that they both consume seafood. Some even believe that a plant-based diet includes chicken. It’s no surprise that grocery store shelves are stocked with so much confusion, and that companies are labeling food as being dairy-free which are often mistaken as being vegan.

The truth is, most dairy-free foods still contain eggs and other animal byproducts, which means they’re not vegan.

This brings us to cheese alternatives which are even more confusing. To be safe, you shouldn’t be eating any dairy alternatives that do not have the word “vegan” printed on the package.

Phrases like “plant based” and “dairy free” are being used a lot these days, but they do not mean the product is vegan. Even some of the most conscientious label readers have been tricked by food phrases that pretend to be vegan; these contain dairy derivatives, eggs, and other suspicious animal protein based ingredients.

Just because a package is labeled as “soy cheese” does not mean that it contains vegan cheese. Be on the lookout for non-vegan words such as casein (milk protein) and natural flavorings, which could be anything. If the label doesn’t state the item is vegan, assume the natural flavorings aren’t either. You can always call the company to be sure, but don’t trust the grocery store to know.

I recently went to a “health food” store that had an entire section labeled “Meatless Mania” with the words “vegetarian” “vegan” and “plant based” written below the items; this is incredibly tricky because vegetarians do not need special cheese…vegetarians literally consume dairy.

So, stocking the shelves in this area with a soy cheese that contains milk protein, and isn’t vegan, is not only deceptive, but incredibly dangerous. Dairy allergies are a real thing, and I am not talking about lactose intolerance which causes stomach aches. I can’t tell you how many people assume that’s all that happens. A dairy allergy is the same as a peanut allergy, and can cause anaphylaxis.

I have also seen the same issue occur at a regular grocery store, but somehow I felt that was less surprising than what I witnessed at the health food grocer because the health food grocer was selling the milk containing soy cheese in the meatless mania section under its own brand name!

This was not a simple mistake made by a confused stock person…this was blatant deception. The moral to the story is DO NOT TRUST your diet to corporations of any kind.

Try to avoid eating processed foods because they’re generally unhealthy anyway, but also because deceptive marketing practices are being used to ride off the popularity of the vegan diet. Consume cheese alternatives at your own risk!

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