Do vegetarians eat animal fat?

Question

My friend is a vegetarian and he eats butter and lard... now i'm pretty sure that's ok 'cause he's not Vegan... but is it REALLY ok?

Answer 1

Butter is OK but doesn't lard come from a dead animal?  If he eats that, he is not vegetarian

Answer 2

Do any of the posters here have any idea what is in butter? Of course butter contains animal fat in the form of butterfat. All mammalian milk (and milk products) do.

Lard is made from rendered animal fat after the animal has been slaughtered. However most "lards" you buy in the supermarket today are partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, not real lard.

Answer 3

Butter is ok, but lard isn't...Butter isn't animal fat, lard is, get it? lol

Answer 4

Butter is vegetarian.  Lard is not!  Your friend is not too bright.  Of course it's not.  GMAB.

Answer 5

hes not really a vegetarian then.

Answer 6

Butter could be considered animal fat--it is a product of bovine lactation.  However, vegetarians do eat dairy products and eggs.

Lard, on the other hand, is not vegetarian, as it is pig fat, a slaughter byproduct.

Answer 7

Butter, yes. Lard, no.

See, the defining characteristic of vegetarianism is that we don't eat dead animals.  Butter is a dairy product, which comes from a live animal.  Lard is a slaughter byproduct, which comes necessarily from dead animals.  Each vegetarian may make his or her own call when it comes to dairy and eggs, but NO vegetarian eats dead animal foods.  So, if your friend eats lard, he's not a vegetarian.

Answer 8

Vegetarians do not consume any slaughter by products, such as lard or gelatin.

Butterfat is acceptable to most vegetarians because it is not rendered from the carcass of the animal.

Answer 9

Yes, it's okay. Vegetarians don't eat MEAT, while vegans don't eat any animal products like butter.

Answer 10

No, they must kill innocent little animals to make butter and lard. He's not a true vegetarian if he consumes butter and lard. Tell him that. But, I believe you can get vegetarian butter, but it's a bit more expensive. It has no animal bi-products.  

Answer 11

well im trying to get off all animal products considering im trying to go vegan but vegetarians of course can still use butter and such if there lacto or what not but its really not necessary once you realize it and put some effort into it

Answer 12

Yes they do.Butter contains a high amount of animal fat including cholesterol. People who say it does not do not know what they are talking about. It is a dairy product that is acceptable as part of the vegetarian diet.

Lard (pig fat) on the other hand is a slaughter product which vegetarians generally consider unacceptable.

Answer 13

Butter isn't animal fat...It comes from milk, which is an animal product but not one that requires killing the animal to eat it. Butter is vegetarian, but it isn't vegan. Lard, however, isn't really vegetarian since the animals have to die for it, so I don't think it's ok for your friend to eat lard.

Answer 14

Eggs and dairy contain animal fat, so lacto-ovo vegetarians do eat animal fat. Cholesterol, an animal fat, is found in eggs and dairy.

Lacto vegetarians eat butter, but not lard, because the animal had to die to get the lard.

Lacto = dairy

Ovo = eggs

Answer 15

Vegetarians eat butter, but not any other animal fat

Vegans avoid ALL animal fats and products

Answer 16

no, vegetarians, like myself, DO NOT EAT LARD!!!!!