Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Why do we need this label?

Unlike shopping, the customer in a restaurant does not receive a list of ingredients for every meal that he orders.

It is therefore not possible for him to find out whether a dish is really vegetarian or not.

In general staff in restaurants are also not particularly sensitive to vegetarian/vegan demands and seldom know very much about the difficulties. Up till now for a vegetarian in a restaurant, eating has been therefore, more a question of trust. Even today, where very good meat alternatives exist it is ever more difficult to separate meat dishes from non-meat. That is why a reliable, unambiguous statement is necessary.

More reasons for this label are listed below: Why this label?

Why are menus and verbal information not enough?

In the case of pre-prepared meals such as soups and sauces, it is usually not immediately obvious if it contains meat stock or animal fat. In order to read a list of ingredients correctly, quite a bit of practice is needed. In addition there are even ingredients where it is not clear whether they can be classified as vegetarian or not.

The untrained staff in non-certified restaurants are usually overwhelmed. It is not always obvious if food, served as vegetarian, actually contains fish or bacon. Through having specialist advice, which will be given to the restaurant when getting the label, the customer can be secure in the knowledge that he has been given correct information on the menu or that it has been correctly stated.

What lies behind the label?

The European Vegetarian Label has been registered European-wide by the European Vegetarian Union, which is co-ordinating the introduction of products and services labelling at the moment.
In individual countries the label will be represented by their respective national organisations.

What do Vegans get from this label?

Although it is a vegetarian label, Vegans also profit from it. In licensed restaurants all the meals classified by the label will be noted in the vegetarian section, so it will be obvious which are suitable for Vegans and which are not. Where this is not possible, the staff will at least have been thoroughly trained, so that Vegans will also be served properly.

What do the Vegetarian categories mean?

• Ovo-lacto-vegetarian (with milk and eggs)
• Ovo-vegetarian (with eggs, no milk)
• Lacto-vegetarian (with milk, no eggs)
• Vegan (without any animal products)

Naturally strict conditions will apply to every category with regard to slaughter products. Of course under milk and eggs every ingredient will be understood (whey, egg white, egg-lecithin, milk sugar etc.) Moreover, honey is only forbidden in the vegan category. The classification into these four categories is internationally uniform. In Switzerland it is even legally laid down in the new food regulations.

Which groups of persons can be reached with the different vegetarian category? Groups-table.