Wednesday, March 20, 2013

veganissimo: review and giveway contest

I often think of going vegan as unpeeling layers of an [organic, non-GMO] onion,  First, you decide to pimp your vegetarianism by eschewing eggs and dairy. Then you realize – ugh! – that most sugar is clarified using animal bone char, so you cut that from your diet. Then, holy moly – one day, someone tells you about carmine, the red dye made from crushed red bugs [I'm pretty sure even omnivores might easily give up that one]. And then you realize the collagen in your shampoo might have come from poor Bessie [RIP], so you find a kind and gentler alternative. Et cetera, et cetera.

"Veganissimo." It's a fun, new Italian-esque word that means someone who is as "vegan as possible," and the book of the same name can help you get there. Veganissimo A to Z: A Comprehensive Guide to Identifying and Avoiding Ingredients of Animal Origin in Everyday Products details every possible and impossible animal product. Written by Reuben Proctor and Lars Thomsen, it was originally researched and written for German-speaking countries. But now English speakers [and animals they care about] can reap the bennies.

Veganissimo is an important, incredibly well researched resource. Clean layout. Easy to read - using my readers [I guess their target audience is not middle-aged women]. Helpful icons allow you to quickly scan and access the info you need. Plus, the size is small enough to tuck in your backpack to bring along on shopping excursions.

What struck me as I scanned through this book is how impossible it is to be a pure vegan right now, unless you can somehow exist totally off the grid [Hopefully one day in the this will not be the case]. Sadly, they really do use everything but the "moo." At best, this book will raise awareness and help us on our journeys to Veganissimo-hood. And as an added extra bonus, if the vegan police come knocking on your door and criticize you for [insert ridiculous "offense" here], I'm sure you can scan their food/outfits/apartment and find the some snappy comeback referencing this handy little number.

I personally have no interest in debating veganism. I think that any step you make toward a more vegan lifestyle is a good one, and this book will definitely help you take it. Whether you are a 20-year vegan veteran, learning to keep your eyes peeled for animal sources of potassium tallowate in your make up, or you are a newbie herbivore who is just only learning the hows and whys of casein and whey, this book is an indispensable resource.

Contest!
The nice folks at The Experiment, publishers of Veganissimo, have offered to give away a copy to one lucky reader. Just leave a comment mentioning the most annoying hidden animal product [Personally, I have an issue with Trideth-3 Carboxamide MEA.....kidding. For me, it's honey.].

Earn brownie points by liking any or all of the following pages:
  • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Veganissimo.A.to.Z
  • Twitter: @experimentbooks
  • Facebook: https://twitter.com/theurbanvegan
  • Twitter: @theurbanvegan
I'll choose a winner midweek next week. Good luck. And read those labels. 

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69 comments:

Tina. said...

Yeah, honey and whey for me, I think.

Tina. said...

I like your page on Facebook.

Tina. said...

And I like Veganissimo A to Z on Facebook.

mooxinator said...

Google wasn't around when I went vegetarian. It wasn't until 5th grade that friend told me about the horrors of gelatin. The more I would learn, the more I would stepped towards my current vegan lifestyle. The most annoying animal product I run into is shellac on fruits and veggies. Gross. Just gross!

Lisa from western Mass said...

The most annoying animal product I run into is gelatin capsules and/or coatings on otherwise vegan vitamins.

Brittney Smith said...

Vitamin D3....tricky tricky.

Anonymous said...

Hardest would be your regular eggs and dairy... they show up in everything I want to eat, mostly packaged cookies and crackers :(

Anonymous said...

Liked your page on facebook :)

Anonymous said...

& I liked Veganissimo on facebook too

kelly g. said...

Casein, ugh.

kelly g. said...

I already like the book on FB (I'm kelly.garbato).

kelly g. said...

I also follow The Experiment on twitter (I'm @vegandaemon).

testy1234 said...

Mine is whey, seems to get into everything.

kelly g. said...

I like you on FB!

kelly g. said...

& follow you on twitter!

(whew, fingers so tired)

Andrea said...

beeswax

Andrea said...

I already like you on fb and follow you on twitter.

Nicole said...

Crushed cochineal beetles!

Lizzie Bordello said...

L-Cysteine is the one that probably upsets me the most - so many bread products that would otherwise be fine, have this added. Ugh!

Lizzie Bordello said...

I like Veganissimo on Facebook, now.

Lizzie Bordello said...

I like you on Facebook as well! :)

Lizzie Bordello said...

Now following Experiment Books on Twitter.

Lizzie Bordello said...

And I follow you on Twitter, too. :)

Vada said...

I discovered around Christmas that animal products are used in the production of many alcohols/spirits and ended up giving away wine I had recently purchased. (See barnivore.com)

I also "liked" you on facebook.

Unknown said...

definitely honey like you said - so many things that seem like they would be tasty (many whole grain breads) are made with honey!

Anonymous said...

Is this open overseas too?

If it is then, hm, I think all hidden ingredients are equally annoying, but whey powder and cheese might be the worst. It might seem weird, but they put cheese everywhere, just last week I accidentally sampled a guacamole with cheese in it, I had no idea!

yo-yo said...

Honey and beeswax. I mean really?? SO annoying....

Anonymous said...

yes!!! honey is it, for sure. so many perfectly suitable products/recipes are bombed by adding honey. i waste so much time reading labels of things that sound delicious and i get excited up until i read the last ingredient or the 3rd to last and curse under my breath as i put the product back on the shelf. DAMNIT, why can't they just use rice syrup or maple syrup or date syrup, or one of a dozen other preferable sticky sweetener options!?!?!?

Anonymous said...

p.s. i like both pages on facebook, as well :D

MarkTwain said...

honey is a big one, but also whey, and "natural flavorings" what are those????

Anonymous said...

Gotta be whey. Very sneaky stuff, whey. Oh - I just saw someone wrote beeswax - yep.

A few brownie points: followed you and Experiment Books on Twitter, followed you on FB. Tweeted here and there as well. Thank you for the giveaway!

Christy Reed said...

I have issues with casein, gelatin in otherwise vegan supplements, and whey

rika@vm said...

Awesome guide book!

♡ rika, vegan miam
www.veganmiam.com
★ i travel + i eat vegan blog ★

Jolca said...

I am with you on the honey, it's everywhere.

Richa said...

I am with you on honey and whey too.. hides in all those tiny prints!

Richa said...

i follow you and the experiment on facebook.

veganricha.com

Richa said...

and veganissimo too. also on twitter!

www.veganricha.com

tracy stuntz said...

I'm scared of "natural flavors"

tracy stuntz said...

liked your page on facebook

tracy stuntz said...

liked the experiment on facebook

tracy stuntz said...

followed you on twitter - I'm traftycracy

tracy stuntz said...

followed the experiment on twitter

Unknown said...

Hardest for me was gelatin. I didn't know it was an animal product until after I was vegan. now it makes me sick when I think about it

Unknown said...

followed @experimentbooks on twitter

Unknown said...

followed @theurbanvegan on twitter

Painted Moonkin said...

For me, it's "caramel color" which can be vegan, or it might not be vegan, so you have to choose to take it on faith that it's derived from corn , not cane sugar (and not necessarily vegan.)

Suzanne Poldon said...

I just come across your blog and I LOVE it!!
The most annoying animal derived product in my books is "artificial flavours"; who knows where they come from!! Also, gelatin because I miss gummy bears (ironic, huh?) :(

Laura Ann said...

I worry about "natural flavors" because who knows? Also dairy seems to be in so much, in the tiny print!

Alison said...

L-Cysteine and D3 or "natural flavors" because I have no idea what those flavors might be.

Valerie said...

While honey is really annoying the one that gets me lately is milk fat. Dark chocolate covered nuts or fruit? Looks great, let me just check the label. Oh wait, last ingredient, milk fat. Or just as annoying, confectioner's glaze, for the same reason.

Audrey said...

I think vegan wine is tricky, as it's not clearly labeled.

Audrey said...

I follow The Experiment on Twitter.

Audrey said...

I like Veganissimo on FB

The Veggie Polyglotographer said...

Can that book be sent to France? That book would be helpful for me, because it's really difficult for me to be vegan right now (I actually wrote a post about it). Gelatin is probably the most annoying hidden animal product EVER. The other day I found maple syrup throat losanges with gelatin!!! Since when do throat losanges need gelatin?!

Unknown said...

I never understood why most, if not all, contraceptives are not vegan. does my birth control pill really have to contain lactose?! why?!

Genevieve said...

Artificial flavors is really annoying, but that L-c... that's in breads might be more annoying. Or maybe honey because it is in so many products that would otherwise be vegan. Vitamin d3 is annoying too!

Vanessa said...

i don't like the fat of animals they put any and everywhere in

Isabelle Van Beringen said...

I dislike the animal fats and other slaughter waste the add to food to change the texture or taste

Lydia Claire said...

I've been looking at vitamins and found carmine to be in some of them. Gelatin is always annoying!

Lydia Claire said...

I am following https://twitter.com/theurbanvegan

Lydia Claire said...

I have liked https://www.facebook.com/Veganissimo.A.to.Z

Amy Christian said...

I would say gelatin. All ingredients from animals gross me out, but gelatin for some reason has always seemed extra icky to me. I'm transitioning into veganism and this book looks aweseome!

Birgit said...

Natural flavors and gelatin are the main two.

Bird said...

I'm with everyone who said 'natural flavors'. Also calcium carbonate...because it can either be refined from a salt or (more commonly nowadays) come from ground up oyster shells. No more antacids. Boooo.

kdrnjevich said...

Estrogen in medications for menopause and birth control pills.

kdrnjevich said...

Estrogen in medications for menopause and birth control pills.

Chris said...

I hate whey because it's in practically every bread that should be vegan.

Unknown said...

The most annoying animal ingredient to me is whey! The book looks amazing, yes please.

alazare said...

Whey, and all "hidden" dairy. Blech!