Comments on: Australia: A tough country for vegetarians

By: Matt

Matt — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 10:27:50 +0000

@Lilandra: Oh dear! I guess “veggie” is a relative term to many people unfortunately…

By: Lilandra

Lilandra — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 02:54:15 +0000

my friends in jamaica once told me they ordered a veggie patty/burger
it had surprise! surprise! some meat derivative in it (i can’t remember if it was minced meat or stock or what)
they complained to the place and they said, “we didn’t say it was 100% veggie”

*sigh*

By: Paul Crinis

Paul Crinis — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 02:06:21 +0000

Hi please contact me on +65 90265680 I am in Singapore and would love to purchase Chicken salt in large quantities for my food chain. I am originally for NSW Australia and miss chicken salt I am sure people of Singapore would love it too. Chance to import here too would be interested in taking over Singapore supplying to other consumers and wholesalers supermarkets etc.

Look forward to hearing from you asap

By: Matt

Matt — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 23:15:06 +0000

I guess in a country as big as the U.S. you’re always going to have a decent choice, whatever your type of diet.

By: Rita Jones

Rita Jones — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 13:56:12 +0000

Wow, I’m glad I’m a vegetarian in the U.S. I just made the switch last month and it’s been fantastic so far.

By: Kelly

Kelly — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 19:33:12 +0000

yes, The Toronto Vegetarian Society is my closest one.
There’s one (or more) in BC for sure , lots of vegetarians out there and lots of great vegetarian restaurants too. I’m not sure about the rest of Canada.

Most things have GMO’s in them too. The newest thing is Irridation, they want to start doing that to just about everything. Kind of scary.

By: Matt

Matt — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 10:13:37 +0000

Wow, I’m surprised to hear that. Somehow I assumed Canada would be good for veggies. Is there an active Vegetarian Society over there?

By: Veggie

Veggie — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 00:36:13 +0000

It’s even worse in Canada, it’s quite difficult sometimes to figure out which products contain animal products.

We even have some margarines with gelatin in them and the new trend here is Omega-3’s (from fish oil) it’s in just about everything from soymilk to margarine.

“So shopping trips frequently involve tedious scanning of lengthy ingredient lists, trying to work out if they’ve used gelatin or vegetable gum, or what type of rennet has been used in a cheese component. It’s like stepping back in time to the UK in the seventies.”

I can totally relate to this.

By: S A Brown

S A Brown — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 02:22:06 +0000

Firstly, I don’t trust them just saying “suitable for vegetarians” as there is often a lot of confusion of loop hole advantage - unless it’s co-op brand, waitrose brand or vegetarian society approved - but I normally check the ingredients anyway.

Secondly, (I am a vegetarian by the way) I will still not eat mars bars as they contain battery eggs and even worse - GM RENNET - and if there is one thing I will not eat it’s GM!

By: Matt

Matt — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 00:06:18 +0000

Thanks for your comment!

Chicken salt in Aus/NZ usually contains chicken:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_salt

“Chicken salt, as sold in Australia and New Zealand, generally contains chicken extracts, which are listed as the second ingredient after salt. It is therefore not suitable for strict vegetarians.”

Sydney and Melbourne restaurants do offer a wide variety of choice for vegetarians, but this isn’t always the case in smaller towns and cities.

Aus is certainly a lot better for vegetarians now than it used to be; however it’s still way behind the UK in my opinion.