undercover investigation of vegan LA restaurants

[Guest guest]

Very interesting article - Long-time readers of this list may recall that I have had twice had the unfortunate experience of getting supposedly vegan food from SF vegetarian restaurants that weren't vegan. (One restaurant is no longer in business and I was informed the second has corrected this practice.)

 

I would encourage everyone who dines at local veg restaurants to check this out....

http://www.quarrygirl.com/2009/06/28/undercover-investigation-of-la-area-vegan-restaurants

 

Cheers,

Tammy

My two cents, vegan-style .. - today or read it on GenerationV.org

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Thanks for posting this. I think their work is pretty amazing, and

there are implications for vegans everywhere, not just Los Angeles.

Poor labeling of fake meats imported from Asia would affect us here in

San Francisco, and I would be interested to know how many restaurants

here would fail the same tests. I'm certainly going to think twice

about eating fake meat in restaurants now, unless the source has been

fully vetted. Maybe some of us on this list should invest in some

testing kits and follow the same process they outlined.

 

Anyone know how Golden Era stacks up?

 

On Jun 30, 2009, at 12:39 AM, Tammy, BAVeg wrote:

 

>

>

>

> Very interesting article - Long-time readers of this list may recall

> that I have had twice had the unfortunate experience of getting

> supposedly vegan food from SF vegetarian restaurants that weren't

> vegan. (One restaurant is no longer in business and I was informed

> the second has corrected this practice.)

>

> I would encourage everyone who dines at local veg restaurants to

> check this out....

>

http://www.quarrygirl.com/2009/06/28/undercover-investigation-of-la-area-vegan-r\

estaurants

[Guest guest]

I'm not surprised in the slightest by the results. The article is definite a

must read, including the 200+ comments.

 

Many vegans have been in denial about these products for years. A quick trip

to your local Asian market, and a read of the labels on some of these 'fake'

meat products will re-enforce how dumb they think we are.

 

Over the years I've had numerous confrontations with restaurant owners about

their 'vegan' dishes. Tammy mentioned two SF restaurants we outed a few

years ago. But there have been others (probably 5 or 6), e.g. I remember

having a heated discussion with the original/former owner of Garden Fresh in

Mountain View.

 

Over the years I'd repeatedly questioned him about his fake meats, I finally

convinced him to show me some of the packaging, which only had 3 to 4

ingredients listed - which was impossible in my book. We stopped eating

there. To be fair he never claimed the restaurant was fully vegan, but was

very insistent that the meats where. Not long after he sold the place to the

current owner, who now says the place is fully vegan - but who knows.

 

Around the same time as the Shangri-la and Bok Choi incidents Tammy

mentioned, I went in search of test kits to buy, but couldn't find a way to

purchase them as a consumer, so I'm super happy to see that someone broke

thru that barrier.

 

On the question of Golden Era, about 10 years ago, not long after they

opened, we got talking with Nancy the owner (and daughter of the owner of

Golden Lotus). She said she had once made a surprise trip to one of their

suppliers, and was disgusted to find they used eggs when they assured her

over the phone that everything was vegan. At the time she stressed that all

their fake meats were now vegan, but again it's virtually impossible for the

lay person to check....until now.

 

I'd love to work on a similar project for the Bay Area, and BAVeg would be

happy to help with funding if it's not too much and done in a very

controlled way.

 

Any volunteers, especially with a food/lab background?

 

Cheers

 

Chris

www.BayAreaVeg.org

 

 

 

On Behalf Of

Steve Simitzis

Tuesday, June 30, 2009 10:31 AM

Tammy, BAVeg

Cc: BAV mail list

Re: undercover investigation of vegan LA restaurants

 

Thanks for posting this. I think their work is pretty amazing, and

there are implications for vegans everywhere, not just Los Angeles.

Poor labeling of fake meats imported from Asia would affect us here in

San Francisco, and I would be interested to know how many restaurants

here would fail the same tests. I'm certainly going to think twice

about eating fake meat in restaurants now, unless the source has been

fully vetted. Maybe some of us on this list should invest in some

testing kits and follow the same process they outlined.

 

Anyone know how Golden Era stacks up?