I am a vegetarian, is it ok to eat foods that have been produced on the same manufacturing lines as meat?

Question

I have noticed that under the list of ingredients there is a warning saying "processed on the same machinery as fish, meat etc".

Answer 1

im a vegetarian too and i would say its probably not the best idea since it came in contact with the meat but thats only if your a very strict vegetarian. if youre not too worried about it then its fine

Answer 2

It's really up to you and your reasons for going veggie.  I know some that don't give it a 2nd thought, but I know more that prefer to avoid what they call "contaminated" foods.

I wouldn't worry too much about factory foods like Morning Star veggie burgers being made in the same plant as their chicken patties because they probably clean well and don't co-mingle. But I would be leary of restaurant foods that are deep fried or cooked on the same griddle or grill.

Answer 3

It really depends on you. Alot of vegans won't touch ANYTHING that is an animal byproduct, or has been touched by an animal byproduct if you're going less strict, then you don't need to be that anal about it. But, ultimately, it's up to you.

Answer 4

Vegetarianism is a religion, and like all religions has its orthodox and liberal wings. You have to decide which congregation you belong to.

Answer 5

That's your call.  Me personally, just because something may have touched a fish doesn't make it off-limits.  I'm not buying the fish or paying someone to kill it.  They just have to put that there to avoid being sued.

Answer 6

it shouldn't bother you unless you really like animals and you don't want your food around meat

Answer 7

I reckon it's up to you.

I wouldn't eat it, but it all comes down to how strict you are or want to be.

Answer 8

it depends completely on how strict you want to be. Personally, I see nothing wrong with it, I think Vegetarianism is for idiots.  

Answer 9

Different people take their vegetarian-ism to different levels.  It's a matter of your comfort level.  

If you are vegetarian for health reasons, there should be no reason why you should avoid foods processed in plants that produce meat.

If it is for other reasons, you have to use your own digression.

Answer 10

It all depends on your personal morals. I personally don't eat foods processed on the same line as meats.

Answer 11

i dont think so. i think they only add that if your alllergic to that because the germs itself could infect it, yeah. lol in cangrats of being a vegertarian, me 2! make sure u eats lot of yogurt nd protein [=

good luck                     -KiMMiE [=

Answer 12

I dont think there is anything wrong with that.

Answer 13

I would not like that at all. I wouldn't be sure what type of residue was left. If I want vegetarian food, I want it to be VEGETARIAN....

Answer 14

Well, I'd say if vegetarian is your choice as far as nutrition goes, you should probably be the one to decide whether you think it's okay for you to eat these kinds of foods or not. Like everyone else is saying-there aren't exactly rules and you probably aren't just doing this just because you feel like it. It's about what you believe is right and wrong-not a standard you have to follow

Answer 15

There are no such rules. You can be a vegutarian on any level you want some eat fish some dont some do other things some don its really up to you.

Answer 16

it really depends on your personal preferences and beliefs

if you are a "hardcore" vegetarian you might not want to eat foods prosessed near meat or if you are a vegan

however if you are a less strict vegetarian you can eat it

you will still be a vegetarian as long as you don't eat meat

there are different types of vegetarian

its really up to you

Answer 17

Depends on what your idea of vegetarianism is.  

Answer 18

If you are having to ask others about this, you may want to look at the whys behind your being a vegetarian in the first place.

Answer 19

They have to wash (at least by law) the machinery each time they switch products, so it should be okay if contamination is your concern.   It's akin to eating a Mounds bar and the wrapper says "manufactured in a factory that also produces peanuts."  

Answer 20

Usually those warnings are in place for allergy info purposes, aka if someone is deathly allergic to fish, tree nuts, etc. then they need to be warned of the possible contaminent.  

In general, as the other posters have mentioned, it depends on how strict you are, and also what your reasons for vegetarianism are based in.  If you're into health only, shouldn't matter.  If you're mostly against animal cruelty, consider the scource of the product, aka from a local, organic, or free-range producer, or from a huge processed conglomerate?    

If the ingredient list doens't say the fish, etc is an "ingredient", chances are the amouts are so trace as to be negligible; it's not much different than knowing that the resturant you ordered your food from also cooked meat in that pan before they washed it, meat was served previously on your plate, you didnt' personally clean off the grill well before they put your veggies on it, etc.  Even living at home w/ non-veggies you have to watch out for this -  I had a rommate who seemed to eat nothing but fried hamburgers, and it felt like the dishes were *always* greasy, so I secretly re-washed them after he did the initial round of dishes before I would use them.  

The FDA also doesn't make manufacturers list "flies" as an ingredient in ketchup, but in any ground-up tomato (or other product that's pureed and processed), they're bound to be in there (often moreso in natural products or organic farming where less pesticides are used!).  So are rat hairs present in peanut butter.  But again, if the amount is small enough, it passes health inspections and most consumers are never the wiser.

I have been a veggie for almost 14 years, and I have basically found that if you think about those types of things too much, you'll never be able to have a "normal" life.  I tend to think this is the difference between being an ovo-lacto vegetarian that tries to be able to eat with friends and family in a non-drama-queen, non-obtrusive manner, vs being an all-out vegan that only eats strictly vegan food, from strictly vegan manufacturers and resturants, or to take it a step further and only buy whole-food, fresh organic ingredients and make everything from scratch.  The latter is really the only way to have real, true food safety and purity.  Otherwise, really, you're never *really* "safe" from meaty infiltration.

I draw the line at over meaty-ness (people's atitudes of "why can't you just pick the meat off??", etc, ugh) where I *know* meat is involved and impossibly combined in my food, and I won't go there.  Anything that I know has meat in it that isn't obvious, like worchetschire sauce (Bloody Mary's out of the picture), Ceaser dressing, Cheeze Whiz, most Hostess products, etc, I always avoid.  Things like pre-packaged noodle meals from Whole Foods or Trader Joe's or other health food stores that warn of things being potentially processed on the same belts as anchovies, I let slide b/c I figure the nature of the store is still mostly eco-and organic-friendly compared to most, and I'm less likely to have the truly terrible stuff in my food like what's in processed ground beef from major manufacturers.  

If you get too crazy about it, without doing deep research into every company's contributors and sources and processes, everything not home-made from scratch becomes suspect.  Some casein could still come from animal stomach enzymes, some gelatin could still have bone matter in it, and lots of unspecified "natural flavorings" could have meat-origins.  Generally you don't find this anymore, but these three things alone rule out everything from cheese to yogurt to altoids to jeliles and jams, spices and extracts, and even red wine!  

So, basically, you have to take personal stock and decide how extremist you're going to be.  I decided that people no longer need to kill to survive, and that my little effort of not eating meat would cause that much less suffering to occur on my behalf.  I figure that what little meat gets into my diet are from secondary scources (aka, no one killed that fish just so it's trace reminents could be on the belt my noodles passed down on a differnt run several days later).  No animal was killed or harmed *just* to make my dinner.  If the carnage from someone else's dinner was still there due to improper cleaning or scraping or scrubbing, as long as it's not acutal chunks of flesh or boiled blood (aka broth), I suppose that's just the price I have to turn my head & pay to not eat veggies grown only in my own non-animal-scourced fertilizer in my backyard.

All this being said, I have tremendous respect for strict vegans, but in my mind, that sometimes becomes so isolationist that you miss opportunities to make a difference.  Every time I eat out w/ someone who didn't know I was a vegetarian and I impress them for how "normal" I seem (being expertly able to tiptoe around menu items until I find a veggie option w/o pouting or making a scene) half the time they end up impressed and order veggie w/ me b/c my food looks better than theirs!  If you become too food-isolationist, you somehow seem to end up only "preaching to the choir" if you know what I mean...

Good luck to you!  Hope my personal experience helps, but even if it doesn't, remember there are no "wrong" options - whatever you choose, even people who only eat grass-fed, free-range meat are still making a more positive impact than those who give up on being veggie entirely b/c of the "difficulty" of fitting in their goals w/ daily living and eating in our modern, conveinience-based  society.

Answer 21

Yes.

Answer 22

Vegetarianism is all in your head. You get to make up the rules, so you decide what you are willing to eat.

Answer 23

of course its okay