Meat in My Cereal?! Hidden Animal-Derived Ingredients in Food

In recent years, there has been an uptick in coverage of a new tick-borne disease – alpha-gal syndrome – that causes severe, sometimes deadly, allergic reaction to meat. While it is possible to avoid eating a hamburger, did you know there is no guaranteed safe way to completely avoid meat in your diet? From pig enzymes in instant cereal to duck feathers in bagels, from sheep’s wool grease in orange juice to animal skin and bones in roasted peanuts; animal-derived ingredients are everywhere.

Some of these animal ingredients may be discernible to those who read the ingredients list carefully, like gelatin or whey powder. But even these “easier” to understand ingredients can appear in all manner of products that consumers would never think to double-check for animal-based allergens. Why is there milk in minced garlic paste, for example?

For many other ingredients, no amount of scouring the packaging or even searching the internet will tell consumers the source of a vague ingredient. Consider ingredient terms like “monoglycerides,” “pepsin,” or “Vitamin D3,” all of which can be sourced from either animal or plant sources. A study by researchers at the University of Oklahoma found that Americans, through no fault of our own, are worse than a coinflip at correctly identifying the presence of animal-derived ingredients, even after reviewing a product’s front labeling and ingredients list.

This inability to tell what is in our food is not only upsetting to a public who cares deeply about knowing what is in their food, but it has serious implications for consumers. Hindus, Muslims, Jews, and the tens of millions of other Americans who follow some form of religious diet cannot truly avoid certain animals without drastic restrictions in what they eat. The same is true for the millions of vegetarians and vegans who, for moral reasons, seek to abstain from animal products. Then there’s the growing number of people with alpha-gal or other potentially life-threatening allergies that can be triggered by even trace amounts of animal-derived ingredients. And they’re all out of luck. Current labeling does not require companies to disclose if their added Vitamin D3 comes from sheep or algae.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not require companies to disclose whether they source their ingredients from animals or not, nor does it require any notice to consumers that animal-derived ingredients may be surprisingly found in unexpected products.

Not only can FDA do something to solve this problem—but failing to address the confusion around animal-derived ingredients might even be violating the agency’s own directives.

The Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act (FDCA) prohibits false and misleading labeling. Foods are misbranded under the law if they “fail to reveal facts . . . material with respect to consequences which may result” from their consumption. What could be more material than ingredients which trigger potentially life-threatening allergic reactions? FDA has also specified that “consumer education” is a key element of the agency’s nutrition initiative.

FDA has the authority to address this lack of transparency. The law allows for the agency to require disclosure of “information relating to [an] additional nutrient” and to “promulgate regulations for the efficient enforcement of” the FDCA. FDA has required similar disclosures in the past—such as for foods treated with radiation—when omissions may mislead consumers. Likewise, the agency requires bioengineered foods be identified and disclosed as such on packaging labels.

ALDF submitted a petition to FDA urging the agency to do the same for animal-derived ingredients; require disclosure to protect the health and safety of consumers who want or need to avoid animal products. Take action and submit a comment here.