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Pareve vs. vegan

Robin wrote:
> <<Ok, I admit it.  I have a terrible sweet tooth.  Are there any gummy 
sweet
> candies (ex. candy corn) out there that are Vegan?  Thanks>>
>
> This is an old question, posted quite a while ago.  I mailed my answer to 
the
> wrong place... and only found out about it now.  Still applies, though. 
 It
> also applies to the person who complained about KNORR"S bouillon.  ANY 
item
> which has a reliable kosher certification and the word PARVE next to it, 
is
> totally 100% animal product free, be it bones, skin, or dairy (excluding 
a
> very very few items made with gelatin, which are clearly marked and hard 
to
> find).  Also, it is produced on factory equipment that has been 
"kosherized"
> (more stringent than sterilization) from animal products.

This is a very common misconception, which I find myself correcting 
periodically on this list (although it hasn't come up recently). Kosher 
parve (also spelled pareve) does NOT equal vegan, or animal product free. 
Eggs and fish are pareve, so it is entirely possible to find pareve items 
which contain eggs. As to fish, the OU will mark an item containing them as 
such, but I wouldn't trust other agencies to do the same.

In other words - if you are a vegan, just because it says kosher pareve, it 
doesn't mean you don't have to read the label. Also, another common pitfall 
is that many things are marked, say, OU-P. The P does NOT stand for pareve, 
it stands for Passover (the item is kosher for Passover, when our dietary 
laws are much more stringent). In the case of OU-marked products, chances 
are that if it doesn't say anything else it probably *is* pareve. But you 
might have missed the D for dairy.

Another point, which has to do with allergies rather than vegan 
convictions. According to Jewish law, a product may accidentally contain a 
small amount of dairy, for instance, and still be considered pareve.  There 
is a kashrut website which periodically carries health warnings about this. 
You might want to bookmark it: http://www.kashrut.com. Here is an example:

Sunshine Animal Crackers All-American Cookies, in 8.5 ounce boxes. Recall 
#F-019-9.
CODE: SO3189A.
MANUFACTURER: Sunshine Biscuits, Inc., Sayreville, New Jersey.
RECALLED BY Sunshine Biscuits, Inc., Elmhurst, Illinois, press release, 
Trade Notices and fax on
October 8, 1998, and by E-mail on October 9, 1998. Firm-initiated recall 
ongoing.
DISTRIBUTION: Wisconsin, New York, New Jersey, Texas.
QUANTITY: 4,357 cases (12 boxes per case) were distributed; firm estimated 
that 35 percent of
product remained on market at time of recall initiation. .
REASON: Product contains undeclared eggs and dairy ingredients.

I am not affiliated with this website in any way, I just consult it 
frequently.

Be well, Hadass

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