You don't see cream, milk, or eggs on the packaging, so you have a vegan product in your hands - right? Unfortunately, that's often not the case. We explain why vegan logos are important and what they mean.
Vegan Logos - What is truly vegan?
You're in the supermarket and you're holding margarine. Margarine can be vegetarian, vegan, i.e. purely plant-based, or neither - if, for example, it contains fish oil. However, the ingredient list only states: Margarine. What now? How do you know whether it's an animal, vegetarian or vegan product?
The underlying issue here is that the term vegan is not precisely defined or protected in Germany or at the European level. The same applies to the term vegetarian.
Therefore, it is not sufficient for manufacturers to label their products only with the word vegan. In this case, it is not clear what the manufacturer understands by vegan and what they include in this area: Is only the end product purely plant-based, or are the products or aids necessary for production also purely plant-based?
Vegan logos and seals are intended to make it clear to consumers at a glance: This product is vegan and therefore contains exclusively and 100% plant-based ingredients. Conversely, it contains no animal ingredients, processing aids, or processing substances.
The logos for labeling vegan products thus offer buyers guidance and security without having to struggle through long ingredient lists.
For these reasons, CLAV has also decided to have all its products certified with a vegan label.
Are there differences between the Vegan Labels?
In Germany, there are currently about three established seals that aim to reliably show customers whether a product is vegan. These differ partly in the strictness of their criteria and the requirements for production and the production process.
The two best-known logos are the trustworthy and independent quality seals of the Vegan Flower and the V-Label.
CLAV has deliberately chosen to be certified by the well-known V-Label vegan.
1. Label: The Vegan Flower
The Vegan Flower is issued by the British Vegan Society. It is awarded and used worldwide. More than 40,000 products from the food and cosmetics sectors as well as other vegan products such as clothing are now labeled with it.
In German-speaking countries, the Austrian Vegan Society is responsible for awarding the vegan flower.
The Vegan Flower guarantees you:
- The product contains no animal ingredients or auxiliary materials.
- No use of animal (by-)products in the manufacturing process.
- No animal testing, nor commissioning of such by third parties.
Manufacturers are allowed to produce non-vegan products, but must ensure that machines and equipment are cleaned before vegan products are manufactured again. A clear separation between vegan and conventional products must therefore be ensured.
What the Vegan Flower does not include:
- Genetic engineering is permitted with a reference on the label, but not with animal genes.
Regarding its own controls for compliance with the label's regulations, the Vegan Flower is somewhat opaque. The criteria of the following quality seal are generally considered stricter.
2. Label: V-Label vegan & V-Label vegetarian
If nothing else is written below the yellow circle, it is only a vegetarian product.
Both logos, however, prohibit meat, slaughter, or fish components, and in the vegan version, all flavorings of animal origin. No eggs or animal colorants, carriers, or auxiliary materials may be included here either. Royal jelly (a honey component) or animal rennet (a clotting enzyme) are also not permitted.
The V-Label vegan guarantees you:
- The product is 100% plant-based
- No genetic engineering, no genetically modified organisms, not even with labeling
- No auxiliary and additives of animal origin - no carriers, flavorings, or enzymes either
- Manufacturer's commitment to quality control, annual product and production controls, including laboratory tests
- No animal testing, neither on the final product nor on individual components of the product
As a bearer of the "V-Label vegan", CLAV thus guarantees a dietary supplement that is 100% plant-based. We do not use genetic engineering, and nothing of animal origin is used by us. In addition, we commit ourselves to an annual quality control and thus to securing and maintaining this.
3. Label: EcoVeg
Here, the food products are not only certified as being purely plant-based and thus vegan, but also organic. The inspection takes place annually and is carried out by VegOrganic e.V.
Before food can receive the EcoVeg label, organic certification is a prerequisite. Here too, a clear separation between conventional, animal, and vegan products is mandatory.
Conclusion: Vegan Seals
The term "vegan" is not yet protected under German law. Therefore, there are no official criteria that define a vegan and animal-free product.
This means that the interpretation of the term vegan lies with the manufacturer.
To ensure that you, as a CLAV customer, can be sure about what is contained in our dietary supplements and that our production process is guaranteed to be animal-free, we have chosen the V-Label vegan.
To be on the safe side when shopping, it is generally advisable to look for the mentioned and established seals such as the Vegan Flower and the V-Label vegan.
Especially people who live a (strictly) vegan lifestyle can orient themselves by these trustworthy logos and thus rely on the control of independent institutions.
All our articles are written by nutritionists and checked for content quality by expert reviewers.
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