Stephen’s wife is trying to be a good vegan, one who doesn’t eat dairy, so naturally she was surprised that her “Dairy Free” Soyatoo Soy Whip warned that it might “contain traces of dairy.”

Stephen writes:

My wife recently made the leap to a vegan (animal-product-free) lifestyle. Its been an interesting two months so far, and I’ve been surprised at the variety of “regular” foods available in vegan form. She sent me to the store to grab some vegan whipped cream, which I figured was an impossible task.

Ceres Organics (under the label Soyatoo!) does offer Soy Whip, a whippable soy topping that serves as a substitute for whipped cream. The front of the package proudly labels it as “vegan” and “dairy-free”. I grabbed two and headed home. But when I looked at the package closely, I noticed a warning: “MAY CONTAIN TRACES OF MILK OR NUTS”. Um, what? Dairy-free … but “MAY CONTAIN MILK”? How can that be?

Sure, I understand the meaning of “traces”. But does Ceres understand the meaning of “vegan” or “dairy-free”?

The label is clearly an allergen warning, but you would think it would potentially contradict their dairy free claim.

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