Some Maple Syrups May Not Be Vegan

I will not call myself a vegan, but I do eat foods that are whole food and plant bases. As a result, I am on many websites and blogs that have to do with plant-based food choices. I have been using maple syrup for a while as my sweetener of choice. Try it in coffee; you will be hooked.

As for some other sweeteners, honey is not vegan since it comes from bees, sugar is processed using bone char to get it nice and white, so one of the easy go-to alternates and is a chance to support local farmers is ...maple syrup. Then... I read an article at WellAndGood.com that maple syrup may not be vegan.

WHAT? It is just boiled down maple sap. How is it not vegan?

Apparently, maple syrup producers will add a product to 'defoam' the syrup after being boiled down. That defoamer can be made from animal fat, and that makes it no longer vegan. There are also defoamer products that are made from a vegetable base instead. That would be vegan.

The article did give a few hints to sort the vegan from the non-vegan maple syrup; organic maple syrup, if it labeled a kosher or clearly marked as vegan... that you should be fine.

If you have a product you love but are unsure if it is vegan or not and that is important to you, the answer is simple. You could ask the producer of that product if they used a vegetable-based or animal-based defoamer.

Now you know.

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Categories: Food, Lifestyle, Moose Morning Show