How We Decide
Three verdicts, three confidence levels, and a list of things we leave alone. Read this once and every entry on the site becomes easier to weigh.
The three verdicts
Vegan
No animal material in any commercial form we could verify. Plant, mineral, synthetic, or microbial.
This covers the substance. It says nothing about the other things in the product beside it.
Not Vegan
Animal-derived in every commercial form we could verify. Insects count.
Some of these clear a vegetarian bar. Dairy, egg, wool grease, and beeswax come from animals that keep living.
Depends on Source
The same name and the same E-number cover both a plant version and an animal one. E471 is the standard example.
We treat this as unresolved and say so. Guessing here would be worse than admitting it. On a product page this verdict also appears against a single decision rule, meaning that one rule leaves it open even where another resolves it.
How sure we are
A verdict tells you the answer. Confidence tells you how much weight it carries. We keep them separate so a thin entry can be published honestly instead of dressed up.
Verified
Checked against the documents cited at the foot of that page, plus our own entries.
Manufacturer stated
Rests on what a producer told us or published. Producers change formulas without announcing it.
Inferred
Reasoned from how the thing is normally made. No single document to point at. We label these honestly.
What we leave out
Barnivore publishes what it does not cover, and we think that is the right habit. These are ours.
Specific brands and products
Formulas differ by country and change without notice, so a brand list goes stale faster than we could maintain it. For drinks, Barnivore holds tens of thousands of brewery and winery replies collected over years. Use them for that.
Shared production lines
A may contain milk warning reflects the factory, not the recipe. Whether that rules a product out is a personal line, and we would rather give you the recipe facts and let you draw it.
Allergy and medical safety
A vegan label is not a free-from claim, and the UK Food Standards Agency says so plainly. If you have a dairy or egg allergy, read the allergen declaration. Do not use our verdicts as a safety check.
Glues, inks, and adhesives
Footwear and packaging adhesives have a history of animal collagen, and almost nobody publishes what they use. We flag it where it matters and stop short of guessing.
Where the answers come from
Most entries rest on regulation and on how a substance is manufactured. EU and UK labeling law decides what a pack has to tell you, and production method decides what is in the thing regardless of the pack. Those two together answer most questions on this site.
Isinglass in beer, bone char in sugar, and rennet in cheese all act during production and never count as ingredients of the finished food, which keeps them off the list. Some of the rennet stays in the curd and ripens the cheese; the exemption turns on its legal status, not on removal. Every barcode scanner reads ingredient lists. None of them can see these. They have their own section here.
Where a producer has published a statement, we use it and say so. Where nobody has, we say that too.
Common questions
Why do so many answers say it depends?
Because the label does not say. EU and UK rules require an additive to be named by function and code, and origin only reaches the label when the additive is also a listed allergen. That covers milk and egg. It leaves tallow, lanolin, and fish-derived enhancers undeclared. Where the honest answer is unresolved, we name what would resolve it.
What counts as a source?
Regulations, standards documents, government guidance, and published statements from the producer. Where we cite one, it appears at the foot of the page with a link. Where we have none, the page says Inferred and you should weigh it accordingly.
Do you accept payment for a listing?
No. Nothing on the reference is paid, sponsored, or affiliate-linked, and no brand can buy a verdict or a placement.
How do I report something wrong?
Send it to [email protected] or use the submit form. Point at the specific claim and, if you have one, the document that contradicts it. Corrections that change a verdict get made the same week.
How current is this?
Every entry carries the date it was last checked, beside the verdict. Recipes and suppliers change, so an old date is a reason to verify with the brand before it matters.
Found something wrong
Corrections are the whole point of a reference. Point at the claim and the document that contradicts it.