Most standards diets rely heavily on both animal and plant products to create a balanced diet. For those that are considering a vegetarian diet, it’s common to initially eliminate meats. The next step is usually doing away with things like eggs, cheese and milk products. While this seems like a simple task, the fact is that byproducts that cannot be considered vegetarian are in many unrelated products, including chocolate. Vegan and vegetarian chocolate has specific properties that make it suitable for a strict vegetarian diet. Enjoying the experience of eating chocolate should not be something that anyone has to give up.

What Makes it Vegan or Vegetarian?

Standard chocolate is made using whey that is a byproduct of cheese making. Cheese is most-often made with rennet derived from calves’ stomachs, making it objectionable to strict vegetarians and prohibited in a vegan diet. Whey can also, however, be made from a plant source and this type is used in making vegan and vegetarian chocolate.

What’s In It?

Whey can still be used to make vegetarian and vegan chocolate. However, if the chocolate isn’t listed as vegetarian or vegan-friendly, most buyers with a strict diet should pass it over. Chocolate that does not have any whey in the ingredient list should be suitable for vegetarians.

Milk may or may not be an ingredient in vegetarian chocolates, as many vegetarians still use animal products such as eggs and milk. Of course, vegans do not consume anything that has an animal source, so vegan chocolate will have a high concentration of cocoa solids- what many customer recognize as dark chocolate.

Carob?

Carob is a good substitute for chocolate that is enjoyed by many vegan and vegetarian eaters. Carob appeals to many healthy eaters, including vegetarians. It is high in vitamins, needs less sugar to be palatable and has none of the addictive components that make chocolate sometimes controversial. Carob is a substitute for chocolate that may appeal to vegetarians. However, the flavor is discernible, especially to serious aficionados.

What Sort of Vegan Chocolate Can You Get?

There are plenty of options for vegan chocolate. Because the chocolate-making process is unadulterated, a rich flavor is usually present. There are also plenty of fun additions made to vegan chocolate, including full-bodied flavor combinations such as chili and ginger. Of course, most vegan chocolate lines offer nuts as the perfect combination for a rich dark chocolate. Vegan chocolate can be purchased as syrup, poured into shapes and even infused into oil in a whole-bean form.

Booja Booja

Booja Booja is a brand of chocolate preferred by many vegan and vegetarian shoppers. The chocolate is made to a strict standard with no milk or wheat products in the manufacturing environment. There are many interesting flavors available, with the company most-known for its vegan truffles.

Moo Free

Even though true milk chocolate isn’t an option for vegans, that doesn’t mean that shoppers have to give up the taste. Companies like Moo Free Chocolates make an almost indiscernible substitute. The company doesn’t publish its specific recipe, but these chocolates are guaranteed to be vegan, so might be just the ticket for a strict dairy-free chocolate lover.