Vegan food contains no animal-derived ingredients whatsoever. That means no meat, poultry, fish, dairy, eggs, or honey, and no additives sourced from animals. While the FDA doesn’t have a legal definition for “vegan” on food labels, the term is commonly used to communicate that a product is entirely free of animal-derived ingredients.
What Vegan Food Excludes
The obvious exclusions are straightforward: no beef, pork, chicken, turkey, fish, shellfish, milk, cheese, yogurt, butter, cream, or eggs. But vegan food also rules out less obvious animal products like honey, beeswax, and gelatin. Honey is excluded because it’s produced by bees and harvested from them, which veganism views as a form of animal exploitation, not just cruelty.
Where it gets tricky is processed food. Dozens of common additives come from animals, and they’re often listed by code numbers or technical names that don’t immediately signal their origin. Some of the most common ones to watch for:
- Gelatin: Made from boiling animal skin, ligaments, and bones. Found in gummy candies, marshmallows, and some yogurts.
- Carmine (also called cochineal or E120): A red dye made from crushed insects. Used in juices, candies, and cosmetics.
- Shellac (E904): A resin produced by lac insects. Used as a shiny coating on candies and some pills.
- Casein and whey: Milk proteins that show up in non-dairy creamers, protein bars, and bread.
- Beeswax (E901): Used as a glazing agent on fruits and confections.
- Lanolin (E913): Derived from sheep wool. Sometimes used in vitamin D3 supplements and glazing agents.
- Lactitol (E966): A sweetener derived from cow’s milk.
- Lysozyme (E1105): A preservative sourced from chicken eggs, sometimes found in aged cheeses and wine.
Even sugar can be a gray area. Some cane sugar is filtered through bone char (charred animal bones) during processing. Certified vegan products require documentation from the sugar manufacturer proving bone char wasn’t used. Similarly, beer, wine, and fruit juice sometimes use animal byproducts as clarifying or filtering agents, which disqualifies them from vegan certification even though no animal ingredient remains in the final product.
Vegan vs. Plant-Based
These two terms overlap but aren’t identical. “Vegan” is a strict exclusion: no animal products, period. It doesn’t say anything about how healthy the food is. Vegan packaged foods can be loaded with refined starch, added sugar, salt, and saturated fat from tropical oils like coconut oil (one tablespoon of coconut oil contains 12 grams of saturated fat). French fries and soda are technically vegan.
“Whole-food plant-based” is a narrower dietary pattern that excludes animal foods but also cuts out processed foods, refined flours, added oils, and solid fats. Research published in the European Heart Journal notes that people eating “unhealthy” plant-based diets emphasizing refined grains, fried foods, sweets, and sweetened beverages actually had higher risk of heart disease and mortality compared to those on whole-food versions. So “vegan” on a label tells you what’s not in the food. It doesn’t tell you whether the food is nutritious.
What Certified Vegan Actually Means
When you see a “Certified Vegan” logo on a product, it means more than just “no meat.” The Vegan Awareness Foundation, which manages the certification, requires that every ingredient be documented as non-animal-derived, with paperwork no older than three years. The product also can’t have been tested on animals since 2009, including nutrition studies, toxicity testing, or clinical trials on animals of any kind, even those where animals weren’t harmed.
The certification extends to packaging too. Animal-derived biopolymers used in food packaging that contacts the product will disqualify it. The logo can only be placed on individual products, not on whole companies, restaurants, or farms.
Products without this certification might still be vegan, but you’re relying on the manufacturer’s own claim rather than an independent review. Reading the ingredient list is your most reliable tool for unlabeled products.
Cross-Contamination and “May Contain” Labels
A product can be vegan in its ingredients but manufactured on shared equipment that also processes milk, eggs, or other allergens. USDA guidelines allow statements like “made in a facility that also processes milk and eggs” or “may contain milk.” These warnings exist for allergy safety, not for vegan certification purposes. A product with a “may contain milk” label could still qualify as vegan if no milk is intentionally included as an ingredient. Whether that distinction matters to you is a personal call.
Nutrients to Pay Attention To
Vegan food can meet all your nutritional needs, but a few nutrients require deliberate planning because they’re naturally concentrated in animal products. Vitamin B12 is the most critical. Clinical evidence suggests a daily intake of about 4 to 20 micrograms is appropriate to prevent deficiency across all life stages, though official recommendations vary by country (1.5 micrograms per day in the UK, 2.4 in the US, 4 in the EU).
Many plant-based milks and cereals are fortified with B12, but fortification is inconsistent. Research on the UK market found that milk substitutes were far less likely to be fortified with B12 than with calcium, making them unreliable as a sole B12 source. The British Dietetic Association advises that anyone on a vegan diet should take a certified B12 supplement in addition to eating fortified foods. Other nutrients that may need supplementation include iodine, iron, vitamin D, and omega-3 fatty acids.
Common Vegan Substitutes in Cooking
If you’re adapting a recipe, most animal ingredients have workable plant-based swaps. For eggs in baking, one egg can be replaced with a third of a cup of applesauce, a quarter cup of vegan yogurt, one mashed banana, or a “flax egg” (one tablespoon of ground flaxseed mixed with three tablespoons of water, left to sit for five minutes). Flax eggs work especially well in pancakes and muffins.
For milk, any plant-based milk (soy, oat, almond, coconut, cashew) substitutes at a one-to-one ratio. Buttermilk can be mimicked with one cup of soy milk plus a tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar. For butter, use vegan butter at the same measurement, or substitute three-quarters of a cup of coconut or vegetable oil for every cup of butter called for. These swaps won’t produce identical results in every recipe, but they cover the functional role the animal ingredient was playing: binding, moisture, or fat.