traces of egg/milk

BlackpearlEliza

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  1. Vegan newbie
Hello,
I'm just wondering. When a package says the product may have traces of milk or egg in it (because it's made in a factory where they use milk or eggs), would you still buy it or avoid it? And why?
Byebye ^^
Eliza
 
Hello Eliza,

This is a good question. Personally I would buy it.

There are many vegans who prefer to boycott companies that manufacture non-vegan products or have their food prepared in non-vegan factory environments. Their reasoning makes sense to me - we all want to reward the consciously and deliberately vegan enterprises that exist, and most of us do. For even more of us, however, we buy from a mix of sources with a ranged scope of vegan credentials.

I also like to reward companies that aren't fully vegan but offer vegan products. Think of it more like positive reinforcement for good behaviour: you make something vegan, you get paid. We're living in something of a vegan boom at the moment, which is great, and it is responsible for several companies transitioning towards going fully-vegan because their vegan products sold better than their other products on offer.

Whereas I am yet to hear of a single instance where a particularly big company has decided, overnight, to go fully-vegan because it had nothing vegan already on offer but somehow 'saw the light'. Why? Because the body of vegan consumers is not yet large enough to hold real sway. Our organised boycott schemes can send a message, yes, but not a financial one - i.e. there aren't enough of us (yet) to make that kind of a financial dent. There is also the reason that most (big) companies are partially owned by public stocks, and where this is the case only money talks. This is ultimately why it took Tesla (the car manufacturer) so long to win the full support of the board over going vegan.

For as long as we are significantly outnumbered by omnivores I'd say we ought to be positively reinforcing companies that offer both vegan and non-vegan products by buying their vegan options. This means buying vegan products that, it so happens, are prepared in non-vegan factories.

But, again, I totally understand the reasons people still prefer to boycott. Ultimately I support everyone here - it's the fact that we are choosing vegan that really matters. :) :heart:
 
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