Hi Emily,

I was just wondering if you might be able to help me? I’m vegan but we just got some cookies at work and I’m not sure if they are vegan due to these two ingredients:
- polyglycerides of fatty acids
- diglycerides of fatty acids
Do you know whether they are vegan? Any help would be much appreciated.
Thanks,

Hi!

I’m not sure about those cookies — if I remember correctly from my science classes, polyglycerides and diglycerides of fatty acids are very general terms — they are names of giant classes of molecules.  They could be from animal sources, they could not.  It’s a little suspicious that the cookies say that — it’s not very specific.  I looked at veggieglobal.com and they don’t list those as suspicious ingredients, so you’re probably safe eating them, though if you want to be completely sure you could avoid them.

Veggieglobal is a great resource for this kind of information — I have to admit I don’t use it much, I just stay away from gelatin and carmine additives for the most part, since I know those are animal-derived (and I’m lazy!), but I really SHOULD use it more often.  Veggieglobal actually suggests supporting a beautiful labeling system called the NOVA key which I wholeheartedly approve of — the only drawback to the NOVA key is that it has a really obnoxious “cast your vote” page which I was excited about and all set to do until I realized the “vote” does not appear to be to send any sort of petition — I think it’s just data-mining.  Which I’m not opposed to, per se, I’m opposed to it being framed as some kind of campaign.  Plus I HATE giving out my demographic information.  (Am I wrong about this?  I’m unable to figure this out on the NOVA key website.)

Anyway, I’m so sorry I couldn’t be of much help!  I hope some kind internet people will clear up the polyglyceride/diglycerides of fatty acids question for you!  Knowledgeable vegans? Please illuminate the diglyceride/polyglyceride of fatty acids question!

Regards,

Have a question for me?  Email me at emilycrueltyfree at gmail dot com.

Categories : dear emily, vegan