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Vegan foods used to be hard to come by. Now they are easily identifiable with the word vegan, the circle v, or with common sense. Is an item in the produce section vegan?
Current developments are mostly at the molecular level and include soil examination, cell structure, and manufacturing processes. While the last item may seem to be at the macro level, its often taking samples to a lab, for molecular analysis.
The most recent developments are the following:
Yeast was the product that was in question because it turns out, it is a fungi.
Baking powder and baking soda appear to be a chemical and should be o.k. for most vegans. Some vegans prefer non synthesized foods, they will likely need to make compromises or have very restrictive diets.
Vinegar is a yes. Most liquids that do not contain animal cells will be safe for vegans.
Vegetarians are safe to eat traces of milk, a few other products, but will want to make their own pizza dough and pretzels. Look for yeast on the ingredients list and pick something else that is similar. Share your comments in an appropriate website.
I found several products that have "marshmallow" that are vegetarian safe at first impression. This included the oatmeal stuffed cookies, cakester, and the individual serving of marshmallow oat cereal. They are all made with sugar and milk, plus other ingredients but don't have the same texture. For many people this is good enough, and helpful and transitioning to the newer human health diets.
Talk to your doctor about the ingredients and ask if they seem to be plant based. Some doctors will allow up to 3 labels to be brought in to a health appointment to ask about health concerns.
Vegetarians are allowed to eat milk, eggs, and cheese. Everything else is more or less the same as a vegan diet. Differences will include water intake, levels of exercise, and amounts of salt, sugars, condiments, or garnishes.
Vegan proteins or plant based "meats" are made up mostly of wheat, corn, beans, and soy. The combination will vary but more or less, this is whats in it. Some of the flavors might come from tree bark, or seaweed and there are different oils in some of the foods that all come from plants.
Most teas are vegan, the main concern is caffeine in black tea or green tea. Coffee has a similar concern with the amounts of caffeine. Sweetners are mostly vegetarian unless they are corn syrup based and without milk or eggs.