Jainism and Animal Issues 1997

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

Page 51

Jainism and Animal Issues
DICTIONARY OF INGREDIENTS AND MATERIALS:
Animal, Insect, Vegetable, or Mineral?
American Vegan Society - 56 Dinshah Drive - P.O. Box H - Malaga, NJ 08328 (609) 694-2887 Some of The Difficulties
spotlighted not only the ethical shortcomings of milk and eggs, but animal source clothing, etc.
Vegans and many vegetarians want to avoid even tiny amounts of objectionable animal-material, not wishing to be a party to promoting animal suffering and slaughter (among other reasons). So a completely definitive list of such items would seem helpful in this regard.
Unfortunately, many additives and ingredients can be produced from either an animal or vegetable source; this is true of the bewildering variety of chemical fractions obtained from fats and oils, for instance. Furthermore, many products or ingredients can be synthesized from petrochemicals or a variety of other raw materials.
They often disguise animal source products with ingenious euphemisms; what entrepreneur would be so candid as to promote "glandular secretion spit up by an insect" if they can market it as "royal jelly?"
The food, supplement, and cosmetic industries have been as creative in selling the most repulsive commodities under mystifyingly innocent and attractive sounding names.
Food Ingredients and Additives
Food additives are substances used in the processing of food, to retain or "enhance" certain characteristics, such as flavor, color, texture, or shelf-life. They are often employed to make something appear to be what it is not, such as fresh, flavorful, colorful. Additives can make otherwise unpalatable foods attractive for sale. Thus, in many cases at least, they represent a ploy to trick the consumer into accepting an inferior item in place of a naturally wholesome one.
In the U.S.A. most foods sold in interstate commerce (thus subject to federal regulations) have to list their ingredients on the label, but the wording is often permitted to be vague, such as "natural flavorings" or "certified color" (the ultimate source of which may be a carrot, a bug, or a coal mine).
While AVS doesn't recommend most food additives, there are various degrees of harmfulness or relative "safety" in terms of human health. For the most part, the listings in this article do not address this issue, but are concerned with the basic source (such as animal, vegetable, or mineral) of each item.
Many of the terms used for common ingredients (let alone "additives") in packaged foods tell little of their ultimate origin. We have thus included in the list many common food items (notably those of animal origin) which are of particular concern.
Cosmetics, and Other NonFood Items
The nonvegans often assume veganism is only total vegetarianism, confined to the field of diet alone. However, almost from the very beginning in the 1940's, the vegan movement
This may seem a formidable list but it only goes to show to what great extent we have grown to rely on animal-based substances and the wholesale exploitation of every poor creature from whom man can extract a profit. However, for all the above there are humane alternatives. Even very fine artist-brushes are now being available of synthetic materials.
It is therefore proper that we include ingredients of soaps and household cleansers, cosmetics and grooming aids, references to common clothing materials, and at least some animal materials of jewelry and adornment in widespread use.
This list is published for educational purposes only, regarding the source of each respective item. We must emphasize that merely listing a specific item does not necessarily imply approval (or disapproval, for that matter) of its use.
For emphasis and convenience in reference, sources are usually indicated by the following codes:
A- Animal origin (flesh, muscle, glands, hooves, hair, etc.)
I = Insect origin (bees, bugs, etc.)
L = Lacto: dairy/milk origin
O Ovo: egg origin
=
M = Mineral, or Manufactured (synthetic) origin V = Vegan, plant origin
With the first four categories, none of the products would be acceptable for vegans, though certain items would be used by some vegetarians, depending on their degree of awareness and ethical progress. No effort has been made to differentiate among animal parts and substances (A) where the animal is killed before, during, or (a minute, a week, a year?) after the taking of the specific product. Exceptions are in milk (L) and egg (O) items, listed separately as a courtesy to those vegetarian readers who still wish to partake of them.
Insect products (1) are those taken from exploited and in many cases killed little ones, whether it is a part of their bodies, a secretion, or something else that they simply collect and we steal from them.
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The last two categories are the only ones ethically acceptable for vegan use. M means a simple mineral, or "Manufactured" (synthesized). In the latter case, the basic materials are nonanimal, insofar as we are able to ascertain. Obviously, the more complex a manufacturing process is, the more chance that there might be some fractional ingredient, additive, lubricant, etc. of objectionable matter involved somewhere in the process, none of which will ever appear on the label of the finished product.