Clif Bars

[Guest guest]

Kim & All, Usually, when a product label says may contain trace amounts of dairy, nuts, whatever, it means the food item is processed on the same equipment as are food items containing those ingredients; they usually put that information in for people with severe food allergies. The recipe for that item doesn't usually contain those ingredients. I consider those items vegan. I'd rather eat things from vegan kitchens only if possible but I will sometimes buy my vegan food that might be processed with dairy or eggs or honey - flesh, no. But that's just me. Everyone has to decide for themselves how they feel about this issue. Take care. Lisa

 

In a message dated 12/27/06 8:16:06 PM, grnflea writes:

 

 

Recently I read that Clif Bars are considered vegan even though they may contain trace amounts of dairy.  Please chime in on this.  I usually don't purchase anything that says "trace amounts" as it isn't really vegan.

 

What's your thoughts on this?

[Guest guest]

Hi Kim,

 

Not too long ago the " May contain trace amounts of

dairy " disclaimer showed up on Clif products and I

called them about this since I had thought them to be

vegan as well. Were they doing something different in

the production or had it been there all along?

 

The person I spoke to explained that although all of

the ingredients are vegan, some of them are processed

on equipment that's also used to process dairy

products. The equipment is thoroughly cleaned

afterwards and that the chances of any dairy getting

into Clif products is extremely small, however, they

added the disclaimer because people with highly

sensitive dairy allergies could be affected by even

the slightest amount.

 

From what I was told by Clif, it seems unlikely that

any dairy would be in their products and they're just

covering their asses from any liability. I normally

steer clear of products that " may contain trace

amounts of dairy, " since there's the possibility that

they're not vegan. On the other hand, any time we go

to a non-veg restaurant there's a pretty good chance

that traces (or larger quantities) of animal products

can get in our supposedly vegan meals.

 

These days the " May contain trace amounts of... "

disclaimer is on the majority of packaged products

I've seen on the shelves, especially chocolate. Green

& Blacks organic chocolate (now owned by

Cadbury-Schweppes) has it, but Millennium uses it.

I've seen products in VegNews, a vegan magazine, that

have the disclaimer, so they obviously consider them

vegan. I'm not under the delusion that everything I've

eaten in the last 14 years is completely free of

animal products, but I do everything I can to reduce

the chance of contamination. Avoiding non-veg

restaurants and processed, packaged foods is probably

the easiest way, but not always an option.

 

-Rob

 

 

--- grnflea wrote:

 

> Hi,

> Happy Holidays to everyone. Recently I read that

> Clif Bars are considered vegan even though they may

> contain trace amounts of dairy. Please chime in on

> this. I usually don't purchase anything that says

> " trace amounts " as it isn't really vegan.

>

> What's your thoughts on this?

>

> Thanks,

> Kim