Three categories, because they need different approaches. The first you can catch by reading. The second you can’t resolve from the label. The third never appears on a label at all.
1. Always animal-derived
If you see these, the answer is settled.
Albumin / albumen — Usually egg white. Also used as a wine fining agent.
Ambergris — From sperm whales. Rare, high-end fragrance.
Carmine / cochineal / carminic acid / Natural Red 4 / C.I. 75470 / E120 — Red colouring from scale insects. Food and cosmetics.
Casein / caseinate / sodium caseinate — Milk protein. Appears in some products marketed as dairy-free, and in some plant-based cheeses.
Castoreum — From beaver glands. Rare, occasionally in fragrance or flavouring.
Chitin / chitosan — From shellfish shells. Supplements and beverage clarification.
Cochineal extract — See carmine.
Collagen — Animal connective tissue. Supplements, skincare.
Elastin — Animal connective tissue. Skincare.
Gelatin / gelatine — Collagen from cattle, pigs or horses. Confectionery, capsules, clarified beverages.
Guanine / pearl essence — From fish scales. Cosmetics, nail polish.
Isinglass — Fish swim bladders. Beer and wine clarification.
Keratin — Hair, horn, hooves. Haircare.
Lactose / lactalbumin / lactoglobulin — Milk-derived. Common as a carrier in seasoning blends.
Lanolin — From wool. Skincare, and the source of most vitamin D3.
Lard — Pork fat.
Lysozyme — From egg white. Preservative in some hard cheeses.
Propolis / royal jelly / bee pollen / honey / beeswax — Bee products.
Rennet (animal) — Calf stomach lining. Cheese.
Shellac / confectioner’s glaze / resinous glaze — Insect secretion. Candy coatings, tablet coatings, fruit glazes.
Squalene — Historically shark liver. (Squalane is often plant-derived — one letter apart.)
Suet / tallow — Rendered beef or mutton fat.
Whey — Milk-derived.
2. Could be either — the label won’t say
These have identical names whether plant- or animal-derived.
Cetyl alcohol / cetearyl alcohol — Plant or animal. Cosmetics.
Cysteine / L-cysteine — Dough conditioner. Several possible sources.
DATEM, SSL, CSL — Emulsifier systems built on stearic or lactic acid.
Enzymes — Amylase, lipase, pepsin, protease. Microbial versions are standard but not universal. Usually undeclared.
Glycerin / glycerine / glycerol / E422 — Animal fat, vegetable oil, or petroleum.
Lactic acid — Usually fermentation-derived now.
Mono- and diglycerides — Plant oil or animal fat.
Natural flavour — A legal category, not a sourcing statement.
Oleic acid — Plant or animal.
Omega-3 / DHA / EPA — Fish oil or algal.
Stearic acid / magnesium stearate / calcium stearate / glyceryl stearate — Plant or animal.
Vitamin A, D3, and some B vitamins — D3 is most commonly lanolin-derived. Lichen-derived D3 is the vegan alternative.
For all of these, only a supplier declaration or a certification mark resolves the question.
3. Never on the label
Processing aids aren’t required to be declared when they’re not present in the finished product in a functional amount. No amount of careful reading will find them.
Fining and clarifying agents — isinglass, gelatin, casein, egg albumin, chitosan. Beer, wine, cider, juice, vinegar.
Filtration media — activated carbon, which can be bone-derived. Bone char in refining some cane sugar.
Enzymes used in production and then inactivated.
Release agents and pan greases — lard, tallow, stearate sprays.
Anti-foaming agents — some are animal-fat based.
Carriers and diluents — the glycerine behind a flavour, the lactose fixing a seasoning. The declared ingredient is “natural flavour”; the carrier is invisible.
A note on what this list can and can’t do
Categories 1 and 2 are label-reading tools. Category 3 isn’t — it exists precisely because the information isn’t on the package.
That’s the gap a certification mark closes. It means someone independent traced the sub-ingredients and processing aids against a published standard, which is work you cannot replicate at the shelf.
VegeCert is a non-profit certification program for vegan and vegetarian food, supplement and personal care products. Our full prohibited ingredients list sets out exactly what each mark permits, including where the vegetarian designation differs from the vegan one.
COR, the Kashruth Council of Canada, is one of the world’s largest kosher certification agencies, certifying thousands of products, restaurants, and facilities. Learn more at cor.ca, or read about our certification services at corkosher.com.
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