From food and nutrition to beauty and ethics, our experts are here to answer your questions. Got a burning question? Just email our experts at simplyvegan@anthem-publishing.com

meet our experts

Charlotte Willis is a freelance journalist and health writer who’s worked with online vegan resources and The Vegan Society. She is researching the links between food and psychological health while taking a doctorate degree in counselling.

Dominika Piasecka is Media & PR Officer at The Vegan Society. She is dedicated to bringing information about veganism to new audiences and inspiring people to change their lifestyle to benefit the animals, the planet and their health.

Clea Grady A vegetarian since the age of 12, Clea became vegan after taking part in Veganuary 2014 and was marketing manager for the movement until June 2017. She now runs her own public relations company, chipsandgrady.co.uk

Accidentally vegan

Q Please can you explain why some foods are called ‘accidentally vegan’ but are not actually labelled on the packaging as vegan?

This is a fantastic question, one which I believe pretty much every single vegan can relate to. It looks vegan, you’ve read and re-read the ingredients list four times simply scanning for allergens… yep, it sounds vegan. So why does the packaging state ‘suitable for vegetarians’?

Sometimes, vegan products aren’t labelled as such due to the “made in an environment that handles dairy products” or “may contain dairy” manufacturing warnings. In my eyes, this means that the product will be vegan, but there is a slight risk of contamination, which you may or may not be willing to take!