What do you eat?

[RedPepper]

Semi vegetarian
These 'vegetarians' eat all types of foods in their diet - including meat. However these individuals limit the amount of animal products they consume.

Lacto Ovo Vegetarian
A lacto ovo vegetarian does not eat meat, fish or poultry, but eats eggs and milk. They eat eggs and products made with eggs in them, yogurt, cheese, milk and ice creams.

Lacto Vegetarian
A lacto vegetarian does not eat meat, fish, poultry or eggs, but includes dairy products in their diet. They will eat milk, ice cream (that does not include eggs), yogurt and cheese. They would avoid ice creams, baked goods, pancakes and veggie burgers that contain eggs.

Vegan
A vegan does not eat any fish, meat, poultry, eggs, dairy products or foods that contain any of these products. They also do not use any non-food items that contain products from animals, including wool from sheep, leather and silk. Vegans often do not eat honey, because bees may be killed while harvesting it.

[kritica]

Hi red pepper,
interesting poll.. was wondering the reason behind it... i am happy to c many ppl like me i., lacto veggie.. but in canada its so hard to live being lacto veggie.... anyways...
can u let me know if mozarella cheese or feta cheese have any meat them... wat are the products that are generally mistaken to be veggie but r not.... let me know

hey i dont eat french fries.. as they are made of beef oil... how about u guys.. i know most of u live in USA so u dont have that problem for any of u in canada french fries are made of beef oil.. so are many chips...

some of the yogurt contain beef extract... well if u make yogurt at home that fine but if u buy astro yogurt...i guess there is some animal( beef) by product in it....

well didnot mean to scare u or something.. if u guys have anything like this for me plz let me know...
kritica

[Badri]

Hi kritica: I am not sure about Mozarella, but Feta and Ricotta cheeses generally do not contain animal rennet, which is the enzyme that is extracted from the lining of calf stomachs.

For most Hindus, cows are sacred, but I dont know how many of us are aware that the Pizzas we eat so often may contain cheeses made using animal rennet!

these days, I have taken to baking my own pizza at home using vegetarian cheeses!

[Badri]

I found some information here...not good! not good at all!!

Check out this site for more information.

http://www.vegsoc.org/info/cheese.html

I am giving below an excerpt from the site:

Introduction
Cheese is made by coagulating milk to give curds which are then separated from the liquid, whey, after which they can be processed and matured to produce a wide variety of cheeses. Milk is coagulated by the addition of rennet. The active ingredient of rennet is the enzyme, chymosin (also known as rennin). The usual source of rennet is the stomach of slaughtered newly-born calves. Vegetarian cheeses are manufactured using rennet from either fungal or bacterial sources. Advances in genetic engineering processes means they may now also be made using chymosin produced by genetically altered micro-organisms.

Vegetarian Cheeses
Vegetarian cheeses are made with rennets of non-animal origin. In the past, fig leaves, melon, wild thistle and safflower have all supplied plant rennets for cheese making. However, most widely available vegetarian cheeses are made using rennet produced by fermentation of the fungus Mucor miehei. Vegetarian cheese may also be made using a rennet from the bacteria Bacillus subtilis or Bacillus prodigiosum.

Advances in genetic engineering techniques mean that some vegetarian cheeses may now be made using chymosin produced by genetically engineered micro-organisms. The genetic material (DNA) which encodes for chymosin is introduced into a micro-organism which can then be cultured to produce commercial quantities of chymosin. This is done by extracting genetic material from calf stomach cells which acts as a template for producing the chymosin encoding DNA. This can then be introduced into the micro-organism. Once the genetic material is introduced there is no further need for calf cells. Alternatively, the chymosin encoding DNA can be bio-synthesised in the laboratory without the use of calf cells.

The chymosin produced is identical to that produced by calf stomach cells. The development of genetically engineered chymosin has been encouraged by shortages and fluctuations in cost of rennet from calves. It's manufacturers claim that genetically engineered chymosin will end the cheese making industry's reliance on the slaughter of calves.

Chymosin encoding DNA has been introduced into three different micro-organisms. These are the yeast Kluyveromyces lactis, the fungus Aspergillus niger var awamori, and a strain of the bacteria Escherichia coli. All of these have now been approved and cleared for use by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries & Food. There is no legal requirement for manufacturers to state whether a genetically engineered rennet has been used in the cheese making process.

Vegetarian cheeses are widely available in supermarkets and health food stores. A wide variety of cheeses are now made with non-animal rennet and labelled as suitable for vegetarians. No particular type of cheese is exclusively vegetarian. Soft cheeses are as likely to be non-vegetarian as hard cheese.

[kritica]

THANKS
UR POST WAS VERY INFORMATIVE.....