After seeing a lot of "pseudo veg" alerts on FB about the so called
veg products I decided to check myself, I picked 5 star (due to easy
availability, thanks to my kiddo) to analyze and here is the result -
Product: 5 star (Cadbury)
It has a green symbol (aka a veg product) printed on it and some ingredient codes are -
Emulsifiers
471 - Mono- and Diglycerides of fatty acids aka E471 is derived from Glycerine (Glycerol / E422)
422 - Glycerol aka E422 (Humectant, Solvent, Sweet Glycerin) is derived
through various industrial reselling practices, a majority of glycerine
originates as a by-product of soap manufacturing. Many soaps are
manufactured using animal fats. This indicates that even though
glycerine occurs naturally in plants, what ends up in food and soap
products mostly originates from animals.
476 - Polyglycerol Polyricinoleate aka E476 is produced from glycol
esters the glycerol can be sourced from a by-product of animal fats in
the manufacturing of soap.
Stabilisers
412 - Guar Gum, used as thickener
Acidity Regulator
526 - Calcium Hydroxide, which is a mineral salt
So the final story is that if 422 is sourced from plants, only then it can be called a VEG product but if source of above said emulsifier is animal fat then definitely it is a NON VEG product. Only the manufacturing company can tell us about the source of the emulsifiers, Without this information no one can claim that it's a VEG product.
On the other hand I wonder why Indians specially Hindus are so crazy about being VEG, it's ok, it's a choice, I am just wondering because if we see our history, we were never stuck to VEG food. There is an incident when Vasishtha (who along with Pulatsya narrated the Vishnu PuraN) was offered the dish made of human flesh disguised as some other flesh, but he discovered it and cursed the King. Although this incident was result of a trick, but it only shows that in ancient times having non veg food was a common practice in all the Varnas of Vedic Culture. Another major incident is related to a legend Shakyamuni Buddha, he had literally pig's food or pork as his last meal and declared that he would die in the third watch of the night. He sent word that Cunda (the smith who prepared food for him) was not to feel remorse but consider this giving of alms of the greatest merit.
On the other hand I wonder why Indians specially Hindus are so crazy about being VEG, it's ok, it's a choice, I am just wondering because if we see our history, we were never stuck to VEG food. There is an incident when Vasishtha (who along with Pulatsya narrated the Vishnu PuraN) was offered the dish made of human flesh disguised as some other flesh, but he discovered it and cursed the King. Although this incident was result of a trick, but it only shows that in ancient times having non veg food was a common practice in all the Varnas of Vedic Culture. Another major incident is related to a legend Shakyamuni Buddha, he had literally pig's food or pork as his last meal and declared that he would die in the third watch of the night. He sent word that Cunda (the smith who prepared food for him) was not to feel remorse but consider this giving of alms of the greatest merit.
Any way it depends on you, your mindset and your beliefs, what to eat and what not to. Have fun.
Sources: wikipedia, veggieglobal.com & other sources from net.