Why Hidden Ingredients Are Such a Problem
Food labeling laws don't require companies to disclose every substance used in production — only what ends up in the final product above a certain threshold. That means:
- Processing aids (like gelatin used to filter wine or juice) don't have to be listed
- Carrier substances for flavors and colorings often go undisclosed
- Cross-category additives like E-numbers can be either plant or animal-derived depending on the manufacturer, with no way to tell from the label
The result? A product can be legally labeled vegan-friendly while still containing animal-derived substances. Knowing what to look for is the only real protection.
Category 1: The Dairy Derivatives You've Probably Missed
Everyone knows to avoid milk, cheese, butter, and cream. But dairy shows up under a lot of other names.
Casein and Caseinate
Casein is the primary protein in milk and one of the most common hidden dairy ingredients. It appears in:
- Non-dairy creamers (this is not a typo — many "non-dairy" products legally contain casein)
- Protein bars and powders
- Processed meats
- Some breads and baked goods
- Certain soy cheeses
Look for: casein, sodium caseinate, calcium caseinate, potassium caseinate, ammonium caseinate
Whey
The liquid byproduct of cheese production. It's cheap, protein-rich, and widely used. You'll find whey in protein supplements, crackers, chips, instant noodles, and flavored snacks.
Look for: whey, whey powder, whey protein, whey protein concentrate, whey protein isolate
Lactose
The sugar found in milk. Used as a filler and flavor carrier in:
- Prescription and over-the-counter medications
- Flavored chips and seasonings
- Processed meats
- Some margarines
- Certain "dairy-free" chocolates that use lactose as a processing aid
Lactalbumin and Lactoglobulin
Less common but worth knowing. Both are milk proteins found primarily in processed foods, protein supplements, and infant formula.
Ghee
Clarified butter. It's prominent in South Asian and Middle Eastern cooking and appears in many packaged foods from these cuisines. Not always obvious from the front of the package.
Category 2: Egg Derivatives With Unfamiliar Names
Eggs are another category where the derivatives go far beyond the obvious.
Albumin
The protein in egg whites. Used as a binding agent in baked goods, processed meats, and some pastas. Also appears as "egg albumin" or "albumen."
Globulin and Lysozyme
Egg-derived proteins used as preservatives and stabilizers. Lysozyme is particularly common in European cheeses and some wines, but it also appears in packaged foods as a natural preservative.
Ovalbumin
Another egg white protein. Less common but worth watching for in protein supplements and specialty food products.
Mayonnaise and Aioli Derivatives
Any product that uses mayo or aioli in its formulation will contain eggs. Watch for these in:
- Sandwich spreads and condiments
- Pre-made salads
- Some dressings labeled as "creamy"
Category 3: Gelatin — The Most Widespread Hidden Ingredient
Gelatin is made by boiling the skin, bones, and connective tissue of pigs and cows. It's one of the most widely used animal-derived substances in food production, and it hides in places most people would never think to check.
Where Gelatin Hides
Capsules and supplements: The vast majority of soft-gel supplements use gelatin capsules. This includes fish oil, vitamin D, vitamin E, and many probiotics. Look specifically for "vegetarian capsules" or "plant-based capsules" on the label.
Marshmallows: Standard marshmallows contain gelatin. This applies to virtually every major brand including Kraft Jet-Puffed. Vegan marshmallows exist — Dandies is the most widely available.
Gummy candies: Gummy bears, worms, rings, and most chewy candies use gelatin as their base. This includes Haribo, Trolli, Black Forest, and most store-brand gummies.
Jell-O and gelatin desserts: Obvious in retrospect, but worth stating.
Yogurt: Some yogurts use gelatin as a thickener. This is more common in low-fat and fat-free versions where manufacturers remove the fat but want to maintain a creamy texture.
Cream cheese and sour cream: Some brands use gelatin as a stabilizer. Check the ingredients list.
Frosted cereals: The shiny sugar coating on some cereals uses gelatin as a glazing agent.
Wine and beer: This is the one that surprises most vegans. Gelatin is used as a fining agent to clarify wine and beer — it binds to tannins and proteins, then settles out. By law, it doesn't have to appear on the label because it's considered a processing aid. Use Barnivore.com to check whether a specific wine or beer is vegan.
Panna cotta and mousse: Most restaurant versions use gelatin. Always ask.
Category 4: E-Numbers That May Come From Animals
E-numbers are the EU's system for classifying food additives. Some are harmless plant-derived compounds. Others come from insects, shellfish, or mammals. The problem: the same E-number can be either animal or plant-derived depending on the manufacturer.
E-NumberNameSourceFound In
E120
Carmine / Cochineal
Crushed insects
Red/pink foods, cosmetics
E441
Gelatin
Pig/cow bones
See above
E542
Edible Bone Phosphate
Animal bones
Some baked goods, supplements
E570
Fatty Acids
Animal fat (sometimes)
Bread, chewing gum
E631
Disodium Inosinate
Often from fish/pork
Chips, instant noodles, soups
E901
Beeswax
Bees
Glazed confectionery, pills
E904
Shellac
Lac beetles
Confectionery glaze, fruit coatings
E910, E920, E921
L-cysteine
Duck feathers, pig bristles
Bread, baked goods
E966
Lactitol
Milk
Low-calorie foods
E120 — Carmine (The Most Important One to Know)
Carmine is made from the dried, crushed bodies of cochineal insects — specifically the female Dactylopius coccus. It takes roughly 70,000 insects to produce one pound of carmine dye.
It produces a brilliant red-to-pink color and appears in:
- Red and pink yogurts
- Strawberry-flavored products
- Some juices and drinks
- Cosmetics (lipstick, blush, eyeshadow)
- Certain medications
Look for: carmine, cochineal, carminic acid, Natural Red 4, E120
E904 — Shellac
Shellac is a resin secreted by the female lac beetle. It's used as a glazing agent to give foods a shiny appearance and to coat fruit to extend shelf life.
Look for it on: apples, citrus fruit, bell peppers (it's used on produce at a retail level), confectionery, pharmaceutical tablets, and supplement capsules.
E631 — Disodium Inosinate
Often derived from sardines or pork, this flavor enhancer amplifies umami taste. It's almost always combined with MSG (E621) in packaged snacks, instant noodles, and soups. When you see "flavour enhancers" in an ingredient list, this is often one of them.
Some manufacturers use a plant-derived version — but there's no way to tell from the label. When in doubt, contact the manufacturer.
Category 5: Animal-Derived Fats and Oils
Lard and Suet
Rendered pig fat (lard) and beef or mutton fat (suet). These appear in:
- Pie crusts and pastry (especially in traditional European baking)
- Refried beans — canned refried beans from major brands frequently contain lard
- Flour tortillas — many commercial brands use lard
- Some crackers and biscuits
Tallow
Rendered beef or mutton fat. Used in some margarines, cooking fats, and as a frying medium in some fast food operations.
Bone Char Processed Sugar
This one is specific to the US. Some American white sugar is filtered through bone char — the charred bones of cattle — to achieve its bright white color. The bone char doesn't end up in the sugar, but the process involves animal products.
Bone-char-free sugar options include: organic sugar, beet sugar, raw sugar, and brands that explicitly state they don't use bone char (Florida Crystals, Wholesome Sweeteners, Zulka).
Category 6: Sneaky Ingredients in Bread and Baked Goods
Bread seems like it should be safe. Water, flour, yeast, salt. But commercial bread often contains a surprising number of additives.
L-Cysteine (E920)
An amino acid used as a dough conditioner and flour improver. The most common sources are duck feathers and pig bristles, though synthetic and plant-derived versions exist. It's widely used in commercial bread, rolls, and pizza dough.
Mono and Diglycerides
Used as emulsifiers, these can be derived from animal fats or plant oils — and the label doesn't tell you which. They're extremely common in bread, margarine, peanut butter, and packaged baked goods.
Look for: mono and diglycerides, monoglycerides, diglycerides, E471
Glycerol / Glycerin (E422)
Can be derived from animal fats (a byproduct of soap manufacturing) or plant sources. Used as a humectant to keep products moist. Common in baked goods, confectionery, and some beverages.
Vitamin D3
Most vitamin D3 supplements and fortified foods use lanolin — a waxy substance derived from sheep's wool — as the source. Vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol) is always vegan. Some manufacturers now produce D3 from lichen.
When buying fortified foods (plant milks, cereals, orange juice), check whether the D used is D2 or D3, and if D3, whether it's from lichen.
Category 7: Alcohol and Beverages
Wine
As mentioned in the gelatin section, most conventional wine uses animal-derived fining agents: gelatin, isinglass (fish bladder protein), egg whites (albumin), or casein. None of these appear on the label.
Vegan wine exists and is increasingly available. Look for:
- Wines labeled "vegan" or "unfined"
- Wines that use bentonite (a clay) as the fining agent
- Check barnivore.com before you buy
Beer
Similar issue. Many beers use isinglass as a fining agent, particularly cask ales and some lagers. Guinness switched to a vegan-friendly filtering process in 2018 — one of the most notable changes in the industry. Most craft breweries now disclose fining agents or use vegan alternatives.
Isinglass
Derived from the dried swim bladders of fish. Used to clarify beer and wine. It doesn't appear on labels but is one of the most common animal products in alcohol production.
Some Orange Juice
Certain fortified orange juices contain omega-3s sourced from fish oil (typically anchovies). Tropicana Healthy Heart is a well-known example. The omega-3 source is usually disclosed on the label if you look carefully.
Category 8: Ingredients You'd Never Suspect
Confectioner's Glaze (Shellac Glaze)
The shiny coating on hard candy, jelly beans, and some chocolate. Made from shellac (lac beetle resin). Jelly Belly beans, for example, use confectioner's glaze.
Look for: confectioner's glaze, pharmaceutical glaze, pure food glaze, resinous glaze, shellac
Castoreum
A secretion from the castor sacs of beavers, located near the anal glands. Used as a natural flavoring, particularly in raspberry and vanilla flavors. It can appear simply as "natural flavors" on a label.
The good news: castoreum is increasingly rare in food production due to cost. But it is still used and legally obscured by "natural flavors."
Iridescent Food Coloring (Pearl Colors)
Certain pearlescent food colorings come from fish scales. The ingredient is usually listed as "mica" or "pearl essence" — but some pearl colorings use guanine derived from fish scales.
Keratin
A protein from animal hair, hooves, and horns. Primarily used in hair and cosmetic products, but occasionally appears in supplements marketed for hair and nail growth.
Pepsin
An enzyme from pig stomachs used in some cheeses (as a coagulant), supplements, and digestive aids.
Rennet
An enzyme used to curdle milk in cheesemaking. Traditional rennet comes from the stomach lining of calves. Vegetarian rennet (microbial or plant-derived) is increasingly common, but you need to check.
How to Check Ingredients Quickly
Reading every label for 30+ potential animal-derived substances is exhausting. Here are the tools that make it manageable:
Our Ingredient Checker: Use the spvegan.com ingredient checker to scan any ingredient list.
Barnivore (barnivore.com): The definitive database for vegan alcohol. Covers over 60,000 beers, wines, and spirits.
Is It Vegan? App: Barcode scanner that checks products against a vegan database. Works for packaged foods in the US and UK.
HappyCow: Useful for checking restaurant menus and finding vegan-friendly options nearby.
Contact the manufacturer: When in doubt, email or call. Companies are required to know what's in their products and most will answer ingredient questions directly.
Quick Reference: The Master Checklist
Save this list and scan for these names before buying:
Dairy: casein, caseinate, whey, lactose, lactalbumin, lactoglobulin, ghee, butter, cream, milk solids, milk powder
Eggs: albumin, albumen, globulin, lysozyme, ovalbumin, ovomucin, mayonnaise
Gelatin: gelatin, gelatine, E441, kosher gelatin (may still be animal-derived)
Insect-derived: carmine, cochineal, E120, carminic acid, shellac, E904, confectioner's glaze, lac resin
Fish-derived: isinglass, omega-3 from fish, fish gelatin, E631 (often), anchovy
Animal fats: lard, suet, tallow, mono and diglycerides (check source), glycerin/glycerol (check source)
Amino acids: L-cysteine, E920 (often from feathers/bristles)
Other: bone char (sugar processing), rennet, pepsin, castoreum, beeswax (E901), lanolin (vitamin D3 source), keratin
The Bottom Line
Reading labels gets easier with practice. Within a few weeks of knowing what to look for, scanning an ingredient list takes about 30 seconds. The harder category is the stuff that doesn't appear on labels at all — processing aids like gelatin in wine or isinglass in beer.
For those, you rely on research, apps, and manufacturer transparency. The vegan food industry has pushed hard for clearer labeling over the past decade, and progress is happening — but it's slow.
In the meantime: when in doubt, check. Our ingredient checker tool exists exactly for this situation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are natural flavors always vegan? No. "Natural flavors" can legally include animal-derived substances like castoreum (beaver secretion), anchovy extract, or chicken broth concentrate. Contact the manufacturer to confirm the source of natural flavors in any product you're unsure about.
Is glycerin/glycerol vegan? It depends on the source. Glycerol can be derived from animal fats (a byproduct of soap production) or from vegetable oils. Most glycerol used in food today is plant-derived, but there's no guarantee without confirmation from the manufacturer.
Are E-numbers vegan? Some are, some aren't. E120 (carmine) and E441 (gelatin) are always animal-derived. Others like E631 can be either. A good rule of thumb: if an E-number isn't on a verified vegan list, check before assuming.
Is bread always vegan? Not always. Commercial breads commonly contain L-cysteine (E920), mono and diglycerides, and sometimes milk or eggs. Artisan sourdough made from flour, water, and salt is a safe bet. For packaged bread, check the label.
Is wine vegan? Not automatically. Most conventional wine is fined using gelatin, isinglass, egg whites, or casein. Look for wines labeled as vegan or unfined, or check barnivore.com.
What's the easiest way to check if a specific product is vegan? Use the spvegan.com ingredient checker, scan the barcode with a vegan app, or check the brand's website. For alcohol, Barnivore is the most comprehensive resource available.
