It is, isn't it? But actually, this time, it appears to be beetles.
Hold on, isn’t all fruit vegan? Don’t be a plum. Of course it isn’t. Have you not heard of the female lac bug, who thrives in the forests of India and south-east Asia?
I rarely think of anything else. What’s she got to do with the story? She secretes a resin that is used to make shellac, which helps make lemons shiny.
But surely the lemon juice inside is still wholesomely vegan? Possibly, but lemon rind – which, as you know, is essential for perking up vegan risotto and other cruelty-free meals – isn’t, when it contains shellac.
So...eat something else? Or wash the lemons?
What does Guardian food writer and anti-poverty campaigner Jack Monroe have to say about this? She noticed that a Pizza Express menu said a glass of Coke would only be vegan if served without lemon. “Wtf,” she tweeted, understandably. The restaurant replied that the wax on its lemons might contain shellac.
So vegans, you bleated about getting any 'contaminants' fully documented on menus and now you see all the things you can't eat, are you satisfied?
Reader, you know they aren't, don't you?
Just 'up in arms'? No 'Outrage!'. I'm disappointed...
ReplyDeleteI know I am
ReplyDeleteI've found a good way to wind up veggies & vegans: inform them about tomatoes, one of their staple foods. Tomato plant stems have sticky hairs on them, which trap insects. These insects fall to the earth and are eventually absorbed through the plant's roots. This is deliberate evolution - the plant obtains better nutrients from the animal protein than it could get from just the soil.
ReplyDeleteThen for vegans, point out how we all rely on wasps & bees to pollinate plants - the horror!