Vegan is easier to define say UK FSA

The UK Food Standards Agency ( FSA ) has issued new draft guidance on the use of the terms vegetarian and vegan in food labelling.

The move is designed to address the problem of growing consumer distrust of the way the terms are used by food manufacturers. The FSA believes that the main reason for this distrust is the lack of a universally accepted definition of what constitutes a food that is suitable for a vegetarian or vegan diet.

The FSA says that it was relatively easy to reach agreement from stakeholders ( manufacturers, vegetarian and vegan organisations, and religious groups ) on use of the term vegan broadly, the exclusion of any foods made from, or with, animals or animal products.

The term vegetarian was more difficult to define.

Tony Bishop Weston Author of Vegan ( ISBN 0600611906 ) says 'Vegetarianism's bottom line depends on the theory of avoiding the responsibility of having to directly kill something in order to obtain the product - it's not really about cruelty'