
As someone who has been a vegan for over 30 years and is known the world over as a raw food coach and nutritionist, I can tell you that while going vegan may seem overwhelmingly daunting, it is much easier than you might think.
With the increased awareness of the benefits of a vegan lifestyle and the wide availability of plant-based, cruelty-free products available nowadays, removing animal-based products from your life is easier than ever.
According to Vegan News, a new study reveals that between 2004 and 2019, “the number of Americans following plant-based diets is up nearly 9.6 million,” nearly 3% of the population.
In light of this data, manufacturers are aware of the demand for vegan items and more and more companies have developed vegan alternatives to many everyday items that go beyond food.
Let’s explore the surprising non-vegan items you may not know about found in your everyday life and their vegan alternatives.
Veganism is More Than Just a Diet
When people hear about veganism, they assume it is a rigid diet regime and nothing more.
However, I’m here to tell you that by adopting a conscious living mindset where ‘do no harm’ is the centre of our values, understanding and embracing the reasoning behind veganism becomes much easier.
With empathy and compassion at its core, a vegan lifestyle impacts more than our health through food.
By implementing a vegan lifestyle, we are not just choosing a plant-based diet, but animal-free and cruelty-free personal care items, textiles, accessories, and other household items.
As we strive to avoid harming sentient beings, we also aim to reduce the harm caused to people involved in the manufacture of animal-based products.
Furthermore, by relying less on animal-based products, we reduce the negative effects of the animal industry on deforestation, water pollution, and greenhouse gases.
Therefore, the far-reaching effects of living the values of a plant-based lifestyle not only
impact our health but the environment and humanity as a whole.
Surprising Non-Vegan Items You May Not Be Aware of In Your Daily Life
In the Kitchen

Many popular food items like bacon, butter, chicken, cheese, eggs, and fish have vegan alternatives. These substitutes are not only convenient, but they’re tasty as well!
However, there may be some food items you may think are vegan that surprisingly are not. Let’s take a look at a few.
Chocolate
Yes, cocoa, which comes from cocoa beans, is vegan. However, chocolate, even dark chocolate, can have milk or milk products added during manufacturing.
To ensure the chocolate you are enjoying is truly vegan, check the ingredient list! Chocolate containing dairy, including whey and casein is not vegan.
Beer and Wine
Who would have thought beer and wine were not vegan, right?
Unfortunately, many animal-based ingredients often used in beer and wine aren’t listed on their labels. Ingredients such as isinglass, a gelatin-based substance that comes from fish, is often used as a clarifying agent in both beer and wine.
Casein, derived from milk, and egg whites are other non-vegan ingredients used in the manufacture of the products.
To ensure the alcohol you are about to purchase is truly vegan, ask a store employee or contact the brand directly.
Candy and Sugar
How can sugar and candy not be vegan? After all, the main ingredient in candy is sugar, which is typically made from sugarcane or sugar beets.
The truth is, many of your favourite gummies, sour candies, and even the marshmallows you so enjoy with your hot cocoa may have gelatin, which is made from animal collagen.
Furthermore, bone char is used in the production of sugar as part of the refining process that helps whiten sugar.
This may lead you to believe brown sugar is safe since it must not have gone through the whitening process. Not so! Even brown sugar is processed using bone char to first whiten it, and then it’s made brown with molasses.
Fortunately, many vegan candy alternatives use agar-agar as a thickening agent instead of gelatin. And bone char is not allowed as part of the process in certified USDA organic sugar, making it easier for consumers to identify truly vegan sugar.
Red Foods
Many red-dyed foods and drinks you so often enjoy contain carmine (or cochineal or carminic acid), an ingredient that comes from the insect, Cochineal Scale.
When consuming a red food product, always check the ingredient list for this non-vegan component.
Soy-based Yogurts and Cheeses
The ‘soy-based’ in the name implies it is vegan, right? Nope! Soy-based products are not always vegan as some often contain casein, which is a milk-based protein.
The lesson? Always check the label!
In Your Home
You might be surprised to learn that many of your everyday household items have animal-based components and aren’t always cruelty-free.
Let’s take a look at a few.
Glue and Adhesives
Believe it or not, many glues are made from animal products.
Known as Fish, Glutin, Bone, Hide, or Rabbit Glue, these animal-based glues are made by boiling animal skin and bones. They’re often used in restoration projects in bookbinding, box making, wood instruments, and furniture repair.
Strong, durable, and water-resistant, Casein glue is also widely used in paper and bookbinding, woodworking, and stone masonry, such as cemetery headstones. Unfortunately, as the name implies, it is made of casein, a protein found in cow’s milk.
Thankfully, there are many vegan-friendly glues available for personal use.
Household Cleaning Products
Surfactants are an important component of cleaning agents as they easily dissolve grime and dirt. However, many surfactants are made from animal fats, rendering them non-vegan.
Additionally, many traditional cleaning products and their ingredients are animal-tested.
The great news is that surfactants can be made from vegetable fat sources. Before selecting a cleaning agent for your home, be sure to take a closer look at the ingredients on their label and select cruelty-free products.
Medications
Before being released to the general public, many medications are rigorously tested on animals, which definitely doesn’t qualify them as cruelty-free.
Additionally, many medications include beeswax to add consistency. Some include several sugars made from pig intestinal mucosa to prevent blood clotting. And gelatine is often used as a coating element, while lactose from cow’s milk is used as a bulking agent.
Take a look at your medications’ ingredients and talk to your pharmacist about potential animal-free alternatives to learn more about your prescriptions.
LCD Screens
This one is quite surprising!
Many TVs, computer screens, smartphones, cameras, and tablets are made from liquid crystals, hence the name, Liquid Crystal Display, or LCDs. However, these liquid crystals consist of animal cholesterol.
As a vegan alternative, OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) screens only contain man made molecules and no animal or plant materials.
In Your Personal Care
We’ve all heard of vegan, cruelty-free make-up, but you may be surprised to learn many of your everyday personal care items also have animal-based ingredients.
Here are some that may astonish you.
Nail Polish and Makeup
While you may have heard that many make-up companies are cruelty-free, meaning they do not test the products on animals, many of your favourite nail polish or eyeshadow shades contain animal-based ingredients.
Many colourful, sparkly beauty products contain guanine, an ingredient made by scraping the scales off from dead fish. Guanine is often used to make nail polish, eyeshadow, highlighters, bronzers, and blushes sparkle.
Fortunately, vegan nail polishes and makeup products use mineral mica instead of guanine, which produces a similar effect without the impact on sea life.
Tampons
Although there are many vegan tampon brands in the market now, many more are not.
While many tampon brands are made with certified organic cotton, the issue lies mainly in the brutal animal testing being done on Guinea pigs, baboons, and rabbits.
Search for vegan, cruelty-free brands to stop the tampon industry’s horrible animal abuse.
Toothpaste
Who would think of toothpaste as non-vegan?
Shockingly, toothpaste contains many animal-based ingredients, including the protein, lactoferrin, found in cow’s and breast milk, beeswax and pollen, or animal bone meal. Toothpaste also contains animal fats, such as glycerin, which keep it from drying out and reduce bacterial growth.
Play it safe by selecting products that have the vegan seal and are labelled ‘animal-free.’
Deodorant
So many items on this list may come as a surprise as non-vegan, including deodorant which can include various animal-based ingredients.
Beeswax, squalene, derived from shark liver, and stearic acid, taken from pig, sheep, and pig stomachs, are common deodorant ingredients. Who would have known?
Luckily, many vegan deodorant alternatives on the market don’t sacrifice sentient beings for their manufacture.
Razors and Shaving Products
Did you know that even razors can be animal-based? Yes, indeed. While the majority of razors are made of either metal or plastic, some of the more expensive razors have a ‘moisture strip’ for a smoother, gentler shave.
However, these strips are more often than not made out of glycerin, which comes from animal fat!
Additionally, many razors, shaving creams, and other hair-removing products are tested on animals “leaving them in agony before they’re eventually killed,” just so companies can make marketing claims.
Instead, opt for plant-based, cruelty-free razors and shaving products. Luckily, there are many options available in the market.
In What You Wear

Many of us know about the animal-based origins of many textiles and clothing items. However, beyond wool, leather, and animal fur, there are many animal-based components in your favourite everyday garments and accessories you may not be aware of.
Let’s take a look at a few examples.
Shoes
Footwear is not necessarily known as the most vegan-friendly.
Although strides have been made in creating mostly vegan footwear, particularly with athletic shoes, there is ample room for further improvement.
While some components such as leather, suede, and lambskin, used for the inner lining, are clearly not vegan, other non-vegan components are not as obvious.
As mentioned before, many adhesives and glues are often animal-based. Other non-vegan components often used in shoes include carmine, gelatine, glycerin, and retinol.
According to Peta, “look inside the show toward the heal or under the tongue” for these common vegan materials and terms in your footwear:
Faux leather
All synthetic materials
Human-made materials
Polyurethane
Microfiber
Pineapple leather
Biofabrication leather
Cork
Paper leather
Mushroom leather
Waxed canvas
“Mock croc”
“Fake snake”
Ultrasuede
Microsuede
Faux suede
Silk
Silk scarves, dresses, and even pillowcases are often raved about and highly sought after. However, silk production is anything but cruelty-free or vegan.
Silk is animal fibre, extracted from the caterpillar cocoons of the Silkworm Moth by cruelly scalding them alive with boiling water or killing them with gas. According to Peta, 3,000 metamorphosing worms “are killed for each pound of silk.”
Instead of silk, opt for agave or soy fibres as animal-friendly, vegan alternatives.
Jeans
This may come as a surprise because denim is vegan. However, some brands include animal-based components, such as the patches on the back of jeans which are made from cow’s skin.
Keep a close eye on all components of your garments to ensure they are vegan through and through.
Cashmere
Yes, cashmere is not vegan because it is made from goat’s wool. This may not be news to you.
However, since goats naturally shed their coats, there are products in the market that can be cruelty-free. If you’re ever in the market for a cashmere textile, consider their manufacture and other factors, such as the goats’ living conditions. Only purchase cashmere from a trusted cruelty-free, vegan brand that uses ‘shed’ wool ONLY.
Final Thoughts
Adopting a vegan lifestyle is not as challenging as it once was due to the widespread awareness of the benefits of plant-based, cruelty-free products.
While the increasing demand for vegan items has led more and more manufacturers to develop vegan alternatives to many everyday items, the number of non-vegan items you may not know about that are found around your home may surprise you.
Knowledge is power. Always check the product’s ingredient or materials list and learn the common as well as the lesser-known non-vegan components to avoid any surprises.
Comments