Jain Digest 1990 07 Vol 17 No 03

Author(s): Federation of JAINA
Publisher: USA Federation of JAINA

Page 19

JAIN DIGEST
16 Vegetarian IQ
This peanut butter is truly vegetarian. So is Laura
Scudder's Old Fashioned, because it lists only peanuts By Narendra Sheth
and salt.
Many people tell me that it is OK to eat eggs, because
you do not kill the hen for getting an egg. They also tell As followers of Mahavir Bhagwan, you know the
me that here in America, the hens lay eggs without importance of non-violence, of not even hurting any
mating a chicken, so there is no life in their eggs. But do living being. That is why you do not eat meat, because
you know of the pains that these birds have to go thru in meat involves killing. So whenever you buy groceries,
order to lay those eggs for us? I would recommend you read the ingredients list. You do watch out for the
seeing documentaries "We are all Noah", and "The animal ingredients such as lard, beef, animal fat, etc. But,
Creatures of God." These two excellent 30 minute how much do you know about some other strange or
movies can be borrowed from Beauty Without Cruelty, innocent-looking chemical names? And, do you con
phone no. (212) 989-8073. If you let an egg burn in your sider it necessary to read labels on items such as yogurt,
skillet, it will smell just like meat. Besides, you do not peanut butter, cheese etc.?
need to eat eggs for protein, because superior quality of Let us take an example. When you want to buy yogurt,
proteins are available from many other vegetarian foods. you may not see any reasons for reading the ingredients
You may develop a habit of reading labels, and looking list. But you should. Below is a list of the ingredients seen
up in the dictionary for their meanings. But how about on Jerseymaid Plain Lowfat Yogurt:
this label on a cheddar cheese by Alta Dena? CULTURED MILK, SKIM MILK, KOSHER GELATIN.
RAW MILK. NO COLORS OR PRESERVATIVES
ADDED. NO ANIMAL COAGULATION. Did any item look unacceptable? Not until you know the meaning of the word "gelatin." In The American
What does the word "coagulation" mean? It means, Heritage Dictionary, it is defined as "a colorless or slightly yellow, transparent, brittle protein formed by
"to cause transformation of (azliquid or sol) into a soft,
semisolid, or solid mass." White particles of milk need to boiling the specially prepared skins, bones, and connective tissues of animals, and used in foods, drugs, and
be coagulated to make cheese. This process of coagulaphotographic film." Gelatin is used in many yogurts (but
tion is done most usually with rennet. Rennet is "inner
lining of the fourth stomach of calves and other young not all) to give the yogurt better appearance. Gelatin is also found in many candies, cereals, donuts, ice creams,
ruminants." Thus, you will see that most cheeses are byjel-lo, marshmallow, etc. And then, what is "kosher"?
products of slaughter. However, the above cheese was,
as noted on the label, manufactured without animal Kosher is "confirming to or prepared or slaughtered in accordance with Jewish dietary ritual laws." Obviously,
coagulation. The Cheddar Cheese by Dairy Fresh also is Kosher may be ok for the Jews, but not for the Jains!
very specific that no animal rennet is added.
I would urge you now to go in your kitchen and check Now let us take an another example. Here is a listing read on Jif's Creamy Peanut Butter:
the ingredients lists on many items. You will find that
there are many more ingredients listed there, and many FRESH ROASTED PEANUTS, SUGAR, HYDROGEN
need further scrutiny. Most of the products list a toll free ATED VEGETABLE OIL, SALT, MOLASSES, MONO
number where you can call for more information. You AND DIGLYCERIDES.
should use it to call the Customer Relations department
and let them know how much you care about pure What are the glycerides in this peanut butter? The
vegetarianism. Only then you can claim that you are dictionary refers the glycerides, glycols, glycerines, etc.
truly vegetarian! And, please do share your newly being derived from glycerols. The glycerols are obtained
acquired knowledge with all of us. from fats and oils as a by-product of the manufacture of soaps and fatty acids. The soaps are made from tallows. The tallow is "a hard fat obtained from parts of the bodies Nitin Mehta, in his newsletter Ahimsa, the newsletter of of cattle, sheep, or horses." Does the above peanut butter The Young Indian Vegetarians, gives some interesting taste sweet any more? But you don't need to panic. All statistics about the consumption of meat and what it is glycerols are not derived from animals. The vegetarian
costing in monetary figures. For example, Mr. Mehta says, ones are derived from soybeans. Smucker's Goober
"90% of all agricultural land in Europe and America is
used to grow crops which are fed to animals." He further Peanut Butter and Grape Jelly lists its ingredients as
states that the animal uses 90% of the protein itself, leaving below:
only 10% for the consumer. And further more, a 10%
reduction in meat production would result in enough PEANUTS, GRAPE JUICE, CORN SYRUP, VEGE
grain to feed 10 million people! TABLE MONOGLYCERIDES. Jain Education International 2010 02 For Private & Personal Use Only