Vegans, abstain: The most popular alcoholic beverages are made with animal derivatives | The State

The trend of nutrition and Health current does not stop talking about immense benefits to follow a plant-based diet, based on this it has been reported An increment the followers of the vegan streams and vegetarian Recent polls suggest that more than 5 million adults follow a vegan diet only in the U.S.

Vegan diets exclude consumption of all the animal products: meat, dairy, eggs, and honey, and most of them also remove any animal derived by-product or insects, including those used during the food processing.

While they exist different types of veganism, for people who practice it in its entirety it can be difficult to find alcoholic drinks that comply with the principles of the vegan diet. However it is well known that find vegan alcohol it is not always such a simple task, the main factor is that manufacturers are not usually required to list all ingredients containing drinks as popular as beer, wine and spirits.

If you are interested in the topic, the first thing you should know is that contrary to popular belief: not all alcoholic beverages are vegan. In fact the use of animal derived products Produced by alcoholic drinks is quite generalized, the reason is not that there are no alternatives, rather these ingredients have years of use in the industry and certainly there is very little demand of consumers. Now the animal products can be used during processing or as ingredients of the drink itself. A clear example of these ingredients of animal origin in the production of alcoholic beverages is that they are used as clarifying agents, which are substances that help filter out impurities and improve clarity, the taste and aroma of alcoholic beverages. They are also often used as colorants or defoamers.

With the objective of expand the available information, we gave ourselves the task of making a list of the products of most popular animal origin in the production of alcoholic beverages.

• Milk and cream: Believe it or not two of the dairy most famous in the world, are used to provide a richer flavor and creamy in varieties like the beers and spirits. At the same time they are a basic in the cocktail production and mixed drinks.
• Whey, casein and lactose: These three ingredients are cataloged as milk by-products, depending on the type of alcohol they are occasionally used as ingredients or clarifying agents.
• Honey: Honey is fermented to create a product called mead and is used as sweetener in various alcoholic beverages.
• Egg: This may be a bit impressive to some, but the egg It’s one of the ingredients of animal origin most used in alcohol production. Specifically, egg white protein: albumin, is often used as clarifying agent in the wine.
• Jelly: Another of the most popular and logical, is the use of gelatin since it is an ingredient that is derived from skin, bones and cartilage of the animals. And thanks to this it is used as clarifying agent.
• Chitin: Chitin is a fiber that is used as a clarifier. Although vegan versions exist, it is often a by-product that is obtained from insects or shellfish.

The good news is that currently there are many brands that include as an important part of their content, which are products free of food of animal origin. In such a way that with the simple fact of read labels a little more thoroughly, you can see if it is an option friendly to the vegan diet. The main drinks in which specialists recommend pay special attention are: lto beer, wine, cider, the spirits, fortified wines, some liquors and packaged cocktails.