Are these refried beans vegetarian?

October 7, 2005 6:19 AM

The debate around the house this week is: Do cans of refried beans labeled "fat-free" count as vegetarian refried beans? Or does it have to SAY vegetarian on the label? One side says that if it's fat-free, the beans weren't cooked with lard and it's therefore vegetarian; the other side is not so sure.
posted by JanetLand to Food & Drink (15 answers total)

sometimes "natural flavors" are derived from animals
posted by leapingsheep at 6:20 AM on October 7, 2005

USDA regulations provide that you are allowed to call something fat free if it has less than 0.5 g fat per serving. 21 C.F.R. § 101.62(b)(i).

Other side wins.
posted by Saucy Intruder at 6:24 AM on October 7, 2005

I would err on the side of caution. If the fat-free beans were vegetarian, wouldn't they say so? Maybe you could compare the ingredients on the fat free can to a vegetarian can. Dollars to donuts there's an animal product in there somewhere, even in trace amounts.
posted by iconomy at 6:26 AM on October 7, 2005

What Saucy said. Why don't you just read the ingredients?
posted by rxrfrx at 6:33 AM on October 7, 2005

Response by poster: The list of ingredients on the "fat-free" can just says, "cooked beans," but not how they're cooked. That's what's causing the confusion. Sorry I didn't mention that before and led you to believe I hadn't read the ingredients.
posted by JanetLand at 6:40 AM on October 7, 2005

There's no way to tell easily then. As a vegetarian, I probably wouldn't eat 'em until I sent an email to the company or gave 'em a phone call to ask what they're cooked in.
posted by klangklangston at 6:43 AM on October 7, 2005

If I were a betting man, I'd bet that it's merely the case that they use the same production line for fat-free beans as they do for lardy beans, so they can't guarantee that you won't get a single animal-derived molecule in your can of beans.

Assuming you're looking at the Bush fat-free refried beans, they're very tasty, if that makes any difference. Those beans at least have 0g fat/serving.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 7:02 AM on October 7, 2005

I think the ones that say vegetarian are the same as the fat free, but with different packaging. Looking at the ingredients, there's usually no difference. According to this list, some brands are even vegan!
posted by acridrabbit at 7:10 AM on October 7, 2005

Do either of them have a small P for Parve stamped on front?
posted by nobody at 7:54 AM on October 7, 2005

Response by poster: No, they do not.
posted by JanetLand at 8:15 AM on October 7, 2005

Best answer: A link, with scanned-in reply from Rosarita, explaining that their no-fat refried beans, unlike their vegetarian refried beans, are not vegetarian.
posted by nobody at 8:21 AM on October 7, 2005

(Clarification: The product is branded "Rosarita." The company is called "Con Agra.")
posted by nobody at 8:22 AM on October 7, 2005

Just a note: once I contacted the FDA to ask if there were any requirements on the use of the word "vegetarian" on food packaging. I did this because Knorr Vegetarian Vegetable Bouillon cubes contain gelatin, and that PISSED me off. Gelatin is not vegetarian. The woman from the FDA who responded to my question said there is no regulation of the word. So don't rely on that either. "Parve" and "Pareve" on the labels are helpful but not always present.
posted by peep at 9:13 AM on October 7, 2005

most canned refried beans are "rendered" by some crazy vacuum or steam process (it's just much cheaper on large-scale), but as many have mentioned above: that does not preclude animal substances in the final product.
posted by dorian at 3:41 PM on October 7, 2005

I don't get it. It's legal to omit from the ingredients list an ingredient you've used "in a cooking process" as long as you aren't "adding it directly" to the product? If the beans were cooked with lard, the ingredients would say "Beans, lard." No?

The ingredients are "cooked beans." There's your answer.
posted by rxrfrx at 4:54 PM on October 8, 2005