I accidentally ate dairy! What should I do?

Question

I am so mad at myself right now. I'm a vegan and yesterday I bought these "soy" yogurts and I didn't check the ingredients. I can't believe I didn't check the ingredients. I always read before buying, but the yogurts were clearly labeled soy and I didn't even think about the possibility that there could also be milk in them. I'm devastated right now after eating one and noticing on the box that it contains milk. I've been crying because I'm really mad and disappointed and I can't stand the thought of having eaten something that came from a poor cow. I don't know what to do. Please give me some advice! Has this ever happened to anyone else?

Answer 1

You realize that if we didn't milk cows they would die right?  But I suppose you would rather us not milk them and let their milk glands explode...yes that's definitely much better.

ETA:  Apparently Kirbyish has never ACTUALLY lived or worked on a farm and can't tell the difference between false propaganda and fact.  Nice try though.

Answer 2

i'm so sorry T_T

i hate to break it to u but ur just going to have to move on. u didn't eat dairy on purpose. think of this experience as a life lesson (:  

Answer 3

I just wanted to comment about the person who said if we don't milk cows they will die. Uh, that is not true at all. Dairy farms inject cows with a hormone to make them over produce milk. In this case if they are not milked it puts them in agonizing pain. Otherwise it is just like humans. If you don't breast feed for a while it is uncomfortable as the milk builds up but then it goes away, but nothing on them will explode!

Answer 4

OH stop that!!!! if you were  a true vegetarian or even the slightest vegan  you would know soy  is not a milk from any animal  soy is from a bean  and companys should not call it  milk... stop crying

Answer 5

Self flagellation is always helpful in these circumstances.

Answer 6

OK, so you mistakingly ate some dairy....I'm betting that this has happened before and you just didn't realize it.  I think you are doing more than your part of saving the world by living a vegan lifestyle, don't let this be such an issue for you!  Live and learn.....I think most people wish they had your problems, eating dairy unintentionally or struggling with cancer, starvation, the war.......COME ON

Answer 7

Its ok your allowed hiccups in life no one is perfect your still a good person just let it go and move on and not dwell on something so incredibly small your still basically a vegan all the time so thats wonderful

I am  thinking about becoming vegan so i know how it can sometimes be difficult

Answer 8

There isnt much you can do. You are just going to have to accept that you made a mistake. Its okay. Everyone makes mistakes, be happy it wasnt something worse. Just remember that you are doing something to help, and even though you made a quick mistake, you still make a difference.

Answer 9

Yeah, it can happen. Don't beat yourself up, but remember to check the ingredients next time. A lot of those things (soy cheese, soy ice cream, soy yogurt) are meant for the lactose intolerant. They can usually handle small amounts of dairy, so they put it in for "natural flavoring."

ETA: VWgirl, I'm not sure why people say this. Cows wouldn't have to be milked if we didn't forcedly inseminate them, causing them to lactate 10 times as much as they do naturally.

ETA again: Obviously you haven't, either. Any factory farm worker WILL TELL YOU that's how it's done. Lactation only happens after giving birth. I'm curious to hear how you think cows give milk. Contrary to what they taught you in preschool, they don'y just do it naturally.

Answer 10

It's over and done with and it was a mistake.  The only thing to do is move on and resolve to be a more careful label reader in the future.  It's these little accidental s***w-ups that we learn from... every veg*n has them from time to time.

Answer 11

You made a mistake, it happens.  Give yourself a break!

Answer 12

theres no turning back now, my advice try a little hamburger

Answer 13

It's ok

It's not like you did it on purpose or anything accidents happen & maybe next time you'll check the ingredients don't torture yourself =]

Answer 14

The thing you should feel bad about is not slipping up once and eating diary, it's throwing away the yogurt!! You're trying to be this awesome good person, but you're wasting perfectly good food! Do you have any idea how many people out there are frickin starving their brains out, and you are just going to throw it away?!?! If you want to make the world a better place, it's all or nothing, darling. You can't live on this high horse and say "Oh I'm good and you're all bad" when you're just going to throw   things that are good like FOOD into a hole in the earth!!!! That pisses me off. You should have given it to someone or something.  

Answer 15

This is not even funny.

Get over it and move on.

You didn't know there was dairy in it so learn from your mistake and that's it.

Next time you troll, try not to make it so obvious.

Anyone that cries over this is seriously disturbed.

"You realize that if we didn't milk cows they would die right?"

LMAO!

Answer 16

you cant do anything.

its not like you drank it on purpose.

just try to get over the fact that you drank milk and donate money to vegan stuff or something

Answer 17

Nothing you can do now. Keep in mind your intentions. They are what are the most important. You intended to avoid dairy and bought soy yogurt with that intention in mind. You did the best you could. In the future, you will do better. Try not to beat yourself up over it too much.

One other thing you can do, in the future, is to stick to organic, natural stuff when you're buying non-dairy dairy products. That way, you at least sort of cover yourself if in case there's a hidden animal ingredient. (While casein is still casein, if it came from an organic pasture-raised cow, your conscience is clearer than if you ate milk from one that was raised on hormones indoors.)

Good luck, and keep in mind that we all do the best we can with the information we have in any given situation.  

Answer 18

It's not a big deal.  We all slip up once in a while.  Think about it like this, you've been vegan for I don't know how many months or years, so you've made a huge contribution to the welfare of animals.  It's not like that's going to get undone just because you slipped once.  

I suggest you write a letter to the company and ask them to label their products better.  

Answer 19

Don't fret  you said it was an Accident  that means you didn't do it on purpose! So it's not your fault  just be more careful so it don't happen again!    I once accidentally ate beans that had meat in it!  Somehow the can of beans got labelled wrongly.  A can of pork and beans must've got dropped in with the beans that are without pork, probably during the labelling area!  Reading can't always prevent something.. accidents happen.  I now look more close at the beans from the can before I even put a spoonful in my mouth! The brand the error occurred with is wass Stokely!  

Answer 20

Hey...none of us are perfect.  You have the best intentions!  Just think of how many other animals you have spared due to your convictions.  You made a MISTAKE! nothing more. ease up on yourself........now go purge and say hail mary 400 times (j/k  just tryin to make u not cry or be upset anymore)