Vegan food scanner: catch the animal ingredients hiding in plain sight
A vegan food scanner checks an ingredient list for animal-derived items that are easy to miss: carmine (E120), shellac (E904), beeswax (E901), gelatin (E441), bone phosphate (E542), lysozyme (E1105) and source-ambiguous additives like E471. FoodCheckr flags these from a barcode or a photo of the label.
The problem is not obvious ingredients
Nobody accidentally eats a steak. The animal ingredients that catch vegans out are the ones with industrial names, and they are concentrated in products that look entirely plant-based: sweets, glazed fruit, soft drinks, bread, wine, sugar.
Here are the ones that come up over and over.
| Ingredient | Source | Where it hides | Vegan alternative |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carmine (E120) | Cochineal scale insects | Red sweets, yoghurts, juices, cured meats, lipstick | Beetroot red (E162), anthocyanins (E163) |
| Shellac (E904) | Lac bug resin | Glazed sweets, coated chocolate, apples, coated pills | Carnauba wax (E903) |
| Beeswax (E901) | Honeybees | Glazing agent on confectionery and fruit | Carnauba wax (E903) |
| Gelatin (E441) | Cattle/pig hide and bone | Sweets, marshmallows, mousse, capsules, juice clarification | Agar, pectin, carrageenan |
| Bone phosphate (E542) | Animal bone | Anti-caking agent | Plant-derived phosphates |
| Lysozyme (E1105) | Egg white | Cheese, some wines | Various |
| L-cysteine (E920) | Feathers, hair, or synthetic | Bread and baked goods | Synthetic or plant-derived |
| Isinglass | Fish swim bladders | Fining agent in beer and wine | Bentonite, pea protein |
| E471 | Plant oil or animal fat | Bread, ice cream, margarine, cake | Certified plant-source versions |
The alias problem
Carmine alone appears on labels as cochineal, cochineal extract, carminic acid, Crimson Lake, Natural Red 4, C.I. 75470 and E120. Shellac appears as confectioner's glaze, resinous glaze, candy glaze, pure food glaze and natural glaze.
"Natural glaze" is the one that stings. It reads as a reassurance and it means lac-bug resin.
This is a matching problem, and matching is what software does better than a tired human in aisle nine. You do not need to memorise seven names for one dye if something else is doing the memorising.
A vegetarian mark permits dairy and egg derivatives and, depending on the scheme, sometimes says nothing about insect-derived colourings. If a product carries a vegetarian label but no vegan certification, the ingredient list still needs checking.
Where scanning helps most
Sweets and confectionery. The single highest-risk category. Gelatin, carmine, shellac and beeswax all cluster here, and glazed sweets often carry two or three at once.
Drinks. Carmine in red soft drinks and some alcoholic drinks. Isinglass in cask beer and unfiltered wine, and it is a processing aid, so it may not appear on the label at all.
Bread and baked goods. E471 and L-cysteine, both source-ambiguous, both extremely common.
Products marketed as plant-based. This is counter-intuitive: a product can be marketed as plant-based on the strength of its headline ingredients while still carrying an animal-derived colour or glaze. The marketing claim and the ingredient list are governed by different rules.
Certification versus scanning
A trusted vegan certification mark, such as the Vegan Society trademark, V-Label or Certified Vegan, is the strongest signal available, because it covers processing aids and cross-contamination that never appear on an ingredient list.
Scanning is what you do for the enormous majority of products that carry no mark at all. It will not tell you whether the wine was fined with isinglass. It will tell you, in about three seconds, that the "natural glaze" on those sweets is shellac.
Use certification where it exists, scanning everywhere else.
How to check this in FoodCheckr- Open FoodCheckr and scan the product barcode.
- Check the flagged pills for insect and animal-derived additives.
- Read the full ingredient list. Aliases like "confectioner’s glaze" appear there spelled out.
- For unlisted products, use ingredient scan to photograph the label.
- Tap Analyze with AI when an ingredient is ambiguous and you want it explained.
Frequently asked
Is carmine vegan?
No. Carmine (E120) is made from crushed cochineal scale insects, roughly 70,000 of them per pound of dye. It is not vegan or vegetarian by any mainstream definition, and it appears in products that look entirely plant-based, including red soft drinks and fruit yoghurts.
Everything about E120 and carmineIs shellac vegan?
No. Shellac (E904) is a resin secreted by the female lac bug. Insects are killed during harvesting and processing. Watch for the aliases: confectioner’s glaze, resinous glaze, candy glaze and "natural glaze" are all shellac.
Read the full E904 shellac guideIs beeswax vegan?
Beeswax (E901) is an animal product and is not considered vegan by the Vegan Society or by most vegans. Some people who avoid meat and dairy still accept it. That is a personal line, but it is not the mainstream definition. Carnauba wax (E903) is the plant-derived alternative and does the same job.
Read the beeswax guideCan a scanner replace vegan certification?
No, and it is important to be clear about that. Certification covers processing aids and cross-contamination that never appear on an ingredient list. Isinglass fining in beer is the classic example. A scanner reads what is declared. Use certification where it exists; scan everything else.
See the hidden animal ingredients list