Do vegans wear wool?

Just a thought that occurred to me in the middle of the night - do Vegans have vaccines, such as flu vaccines, which are usually grown in eggs?

That thought occurred to me too when I read a post on here (was it yours, Oldmeg)

Doubt it Jalima but there again, I’m always being told by my children that I’ve akready told them something.

Sorry - someone said it somewhere ....

It could have been me

It could have been on the thread about flu

I read about this the other day when I was posting about live and inactive vaccines. When it comes vaccines vegans weigh up the risk against the benefit just like anybody else. The Vegan Society defines veganism as

Veganism is a way of living which seeks to exclude, as far as is possible and practicable, all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose.

It's the bit in bold that matters because most, if not all will have been tested on animals and humans at some point and some will have been propagated on chick embryos.

Plenty of vegan mothers allow their children to have the basic vaccinations because they know how terrible the diseases in question can be. A lot of vegans don't like the anti-vaccination reputation vegans have because it paints the whole vegan community as unreasonable or sensible. I think this is an example of the perception that vegans are all very much all or nothing. They probably do more research on subjects than the rest of us before making a decision on something we just go ahead and do.

There was a court case last year in the UK where a vegan mother refused to allow her children to have the regular vaccinations. The children's father disagreed and the court found in the father's favour and the children were vaccinated.

I am surprised nobody's mentioned £5 and £10 notes yet as well.

Not everybody knows that flu vaccines are grown in eggs.
Not everybody knows that wine is cleared using egg white, or sturgeons swim bladders.
Not everybody knows that some cheeses are still coagulated with rennet from a calf's stomach.

Vegans try to educate themselves on these things, but sometimes, animal products can't be avoided.

I am told that the best thyroid gland product to use is from dead animals. I'd rather not use it, thanks.
I do not use gelatine capsules either, surprisingly enough.

I am surprised nobody's mentioned £5 and £10 notes yet as well.
Can you avoid them though djen?
Awful things, bouncing around - I try to get rid of them as fast as possible.

The door isn't closed on the bank notes jen. The Vegan Society did say it believed the Bank of England is committed to solving the problem and it will continue to work with it to find a solution. It's unfortunate, but at least the BofE didn't know about the problem before contracts were signed.

Related, but not on topic, when we were in Scotland at Christmas we noticed the Scottish bank notes were not nearly as slippery as the BofE notes. It would be good if the BofE notes could be made more like Scottish notes.

I don't understand why people feel the need to find ways in which vegans are likely to fail. I find it hard enough eating no meat (and sometimes lapse) so I greatly admire anyone who has the tenacity and willpower to be a vegan. Of course, there are likely to be areas where they fail because it is very difficult to avoid animal products but at least they are doing their best to live by their beliefs.

I couldn't agree more Eloethan.

Why do people think that asking a perfectly reasonable question for information is finding ways in which vegans fail? I understand that vegans can get a lot of hassle from self righteous members of the Carnivore Club, but best to do as Wilma did and simply answer the question?

Thank you for answering that fully and fairly Wilma

In fact I am not a fan of egg-cell culture. There are better ways and ones that carry less risk of an adverse reaction.

I wonder if there's a board game, Eloethan.

Yes, Wilma, why could they not make them like Scottish bank notes?
It's like making chocolates shiny by adding shellac, not realising it's an animal product.
We noticed some chocolate coated ginger with shellac in a well-known store, so told them, as it was labellled suitable for vegans. It doesn't have shellac any more.

I have just read this about B12.

"B12 is made by bacteria in soil and water. Traditionally, farmed animals got their B12 from eating food from the ground, which was taken up into their body cells and is how B12 ends up in meat and dairy products. Modern factory farming methods have changed the nature of farmed animal food and cattle and sheep now need B12 supplements too!

The B12 used in fortified foods and supplements (cyanocobalamin) is produced commercially by growing bacterial cultures in large vats. Some 80 per cent of global production is in France and over a half of it is used to supplement animal feed. This makes the recommendation to eat animal products to obtain B12 somewhat invalid. Cut out the middleman and get it straight from the source. "
www.vivahealth.org.uk/healthfeatures/be-sure-about-b12