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Top tips for new vegans

When doing anything new it can feel like there is a lot of pressure to get it right first time, and this can lead to negative thinking about the journey to reaching that goal, where one slip-up might lead to giving up. Adopting a vegan diet can take time as you learn more about what’s in your food and you explore new ingredients. So don’t panic – simply take care, read the labels, ask what something contains if you’re not sure, but, most importantly, if you find you’ve eaten something and realised afterwards that it wasn’t vegan, do not despair and don’t give up!

Here are a few of my top tips so you won’t get caught out:

• Look out for milk. One of the most common issues when grabbing lunch or a snack on the go, or doing your weekly shop is that so many things contain hidden milk. This is most prominent in things like snacks: crisps commonly have milk powder in the flavouring, occasionally even in salt and vinegar flavours. Milk is also often hidden by its different names, so watch out for anything with lactic or whey in the name.

• Anti-caking agents can also crop up in unexpected places, and these often contain animal bone – they are called things like ‘bone phosphate’.

The following ingredients are never vegan, so check for these:

ALBUMEN – an egg white protein.

BEESWAX – comes from bees, obviously!

CASEIN – a protein obtained from dairy.

COCHINEAL (CARMINE) – is a dye made from acid extracted from female insects.

CONFECTIONER’S GLAZE – uses shellac, which is made from beetle cocoons.

FOOD-GRADE WAX – often from beeswax, and therefore bees.

GELATINE – jellified animal fats, often used as a gelling agent in food.

ISINGLASS – a gelatine obtained from fish.

LARD – animal fat.

RENNET – this is used in cheesemaking and comes from milk.

VITAMIN D3 – often comes from fish, beef liver or eggs (unless specified as a vegan alternative).

WHEY – a protein from milk.