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Labels that say things like: ”may contain milk”

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cause a lot of confusion for new Vegans

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Just to give some context to the concept of ”may contain”,

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until the 1980s products could contain allergens like nuts

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but as long as they were made of less than 5% of the product,

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the company could hide them without stating it on the packaging

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By the 1990s regular has made food companies declare the presence of peanuts and then all other allergens

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Following this ”may contain” labeling was introduced for products that are at risk of cross contamination

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As an example, a processing line might produce both chocolate coated peanuts and

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chocolate coated raisins

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While it will be cleaned between making the different ones,

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there is a possibility of traces of peanut material being present in the packs of chocolate covered raisins

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Due to situations when people have had severe allergic reactions to traces of certain allergens,

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there have been companies getting sued

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The ”may contain” label has become vague and overused

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The reason why most processed products have a number of many ”may contain” ingredients

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is because manufacturers are just covering themselves legally

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In most cases this ”may contain” means:

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”Produced in a facility also handling or

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produced on equipment also handling

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something like milk or eggs or fish

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For a lot of Vegans the idea of their food touching dead flesh,

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salmonella in eggs and pus filled cow secretions is disgusting

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and we discourage them from eating it

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But the machinery is usually thoroughly washed before making the Vegan products

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And these products are very unlikely to contain any milk, eggs or fish at all

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But when you put it into perspective, these products are still Vegan

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When you see it from the animal's point of view, being fussy doesn't help end the injustice

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You're not supporting the dairy industry when you buy something that ”may contain” milk

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So there should never be an ethical objection

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If you have a severe allergy to ingredients like dairy and eggs, be mindful of the cross contamination,

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but for majority of Vegans,

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”may” is ok