Vegetarians beware! November 26, 2011
Posted by ourfriendben in wit and wisdom.Tags: fish oil, hidden fish oil, omega-3s, products with omega-3s, vegetarians
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Silence Dogood here, with a warning to all vegetarians: beware omega-3s. Now that the powerful health benefits of omega-3s have been recognized, food manufacturers are putting them in everything. And for most people, that’s a good thing. But not for us.
Just today, I was in my local grocery and saw that there was a sale on Otria dips, which are made with Greek yogurt and are thus a far healthier choice for the dip-addicted our friend Ben than other fatty, calorie-laden options. I was enthusiastically adding them to my shopping bag when I caught sight of the ominous words “With Omega-3s.”
As always, this set off alarms, so I quickly flipped the container and read the ingredients list. Sure enough, the omega-3s came from menhaden fish oil. They almost always do. To add insult to injury, the container had a bold warning: “Contains eggs and milk.” Uh, how about “Contains fish oil”?! Sigh. Guess I’ll be making my own Greek yogurt dips for OFB.
I’ve even found omega-3s from fish oil in milk. It’s amazing what the food industry will add them to. And I’ve yet to see any ingredients list that includes omega-3s from plant sources.
So fellow vegetarians, look sharp: If the label says “omega-3s,” put that package down and walk away. Somewhere, a fish will thank you.
‘Til next time,
Silence
Silence,
Happy Thanksgiving. Probably a silly question but are you a hard core vega? Didn’t know fish oil was on the no-fly list.
Hi William! Thanks for checking in, and a very happy Thanksgiving to you as well! I wouldn’t call myself a hard-core vegetarian, since I do eat dairy products and unfertilized eggs (from our own happy, healthy chickens). I have no problem with animal husbandry. But I don’t eat fish, meat, seafood, gelatin, or other animal products that can only be obtained through the death of the animal. If you’re what I call a piscatarian, who eschews red meat but eats fish, of course fish oil would be okay.
Touche. Solid arguments. Keep up the amazing spirit.