{Animal products} Not on the label (BBC)

Ethical Man has discovered a whole range of food additives don’t even get listed on the ingredients.

I’m spending a month as vegan to see how cutting animal products out of my diet will affect my environmental footprint. It is surpisingly difficult to avoid animals; you'd be amazed how many foods contain animal products in some form or other.

There was a huge response when I wrote about my concerns that an amino acid used as an additive in bread is sometimes manufactured from human hair. I was reassured to discover that it is possible to avoid the substance – called L-Cysteine or E920 – because it is listed on the ingredients.

Then last week Britain’s leading organic baker, Andrew Whitely, wrote to me to warn of what he calls of “baking’s big secret” – the use of enzymes.

Andrew describes the use of these enzymes as secret because they do not appear on the label. Industrial bakers use a loophole to classify them as “processing aids”. The problem for a vegan like me – or for that matter for Jews, Muslims and vegetarians – is that some of these enzymes are manufactured from animals, including pigs.
***
more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/newsnight/2007/01/not_on_the_label.html

first part: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/newsnight/2007/01/does_your_daily_bread_contain_human_hair.html

x(

I hate hidden ingredients. There's no honest reason to hide the ingredients in things.

Another issue I've encountered is writing to food manufacturers. They are responsive about questions regarding ingredients, but they always add the disclaimer that at any time in the future they might change the ingredients or the source for their ingredients. So, an item I buy today may be vegan, but I cannot be assured of that in the future. Still, I do not consider that a drawback to being vegan. ;) In fact, being vegan has made me a much better cook! I'd put my vegan green chile sauce up against anyones!! ~slurp

The human hair thing is really disgusting! ~retch

Thanks, I will check out these links.

so the good news is that more and more companies are putting "contains wheat" or "vegan" right on their ingredients list, which is a great help.

Also, as the previous poster mentioned, use as many fresh ingredients as possible, and when using canned or frozen, sometimes more natural (fewer ingredient) versions are available.

Either way, interesting article.