Is Cross-Contamination Anti-Vegan?

May 18, 2020

"I have no doubt that it is a part of the destiny of the human race, in its gradual improvements, to leave off eating animals."
–Henry David Thoreau

What is Cross-Contamination?

In the vegan world, cross-contamination is the term we use for when a plant-based food product is in some way tainted with animal products, generally through being prepared in a nonvegan eating establishment. The most common example is of vegan burgers being cooked on the same grill as animal burgers. To explore the idea of cross-contamination being against vegan values, let's take a look at the definition of veganism and then explore the case for and against consuming products that could potentially be cross-contaminated.

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.
The Vegan Society

How It Isn't Vegan

The way veganism is enacted in daily life is to abstain from consuming any kind of animal product, so in the very literal sense of the word, cross-contamination is not vegan, as food tainted with anything from an animal does not align with our values. Additionally, we shouldn't have to simply accept that everything will be contaminated with animal remains. The whole point of veganism is to disrupt the status quo and make carnism seem like the wrong choice. But if we just lie down and say that it's ok for plant-based foods to be prepared in an unethical manner because "that's just how it is," we're passively accepting that some forms of animal exploitation are more acceptable than others, especially if that animal exploitation is linked to foods we want to eat. Just because vegans are a minority doesn't mean we should be subjected to foods and practices that violate our values.

Similar to how there are methods of preparing foods halal and kosher, it seems fair for there to be an option like that for vegans. In fact, the majority of vegan foods, even outside of restaurants, could potentially be contaminated with animal products. It's nearly impossible to buy anything ranging from a jar of tomato sauce to a package of cookies that doesn't say in little bold letters on the back: "May contain traces of milk." Should we have to compromise our ethics every time we buy some food, or could we be strong enough to say we don't agree with that and want vegan food preparation systems available to us?

The most important point I can make in this section is: What if we were talking about dog contamination? What if we went to a nonvegan restaurant and were served a burger that was cooked in the bloody juices from a dog flesh burger? Certainly, I would never support an establishment like that. Even vegans are speciesist, as much as we don't want to believe it, because while the majority of us will consume products contaminated with cow flesh, we wouldn't dare do the same with dog flesh. Maybe that's because most of us ate cows at some point in our lives, while we have never even dreamed of eating dogs. But if we really want a vegan world and want all animals to be treated with the same kind of respect, shouldn't we at least be able to treat them equally?

How It Is Vegan

The thing about the definition of veganism is that it proves cross-contamination is acceptable to remain a vegan. Veganism is about preventing exploitation of and cruelty to animals, but when a vegan product is contaminated with animal products, that vegan product in no way encouraged or funded the exploitation of the animal killed for the other product. Sure, we could get into the philosophy of supporting businesses that abuse animals, but as we'll see later on, that is basically impossible.

Intent

Dairy was one of those things that was hardest for me to "give up" after going vegan, but now when I see advertisements for something like triple-cheese stuffed crust pizza, the thought of actually consuming that makes me sick to my stomach. And it's not because of the animal exploitation or thinking of the baby cows being murdered or the mothers' cries as their babies are dragged away. That just makes me sad and angry, and even if I still had cravings for nonvegan cheese or ice cream, those feelings alone would be enough to make me refrain from consuming those foods. But the part that's genuinely sickening is thinking of the pus, blood, urine, and feces contaminating dairy products. I think of the cholesterol and saturated and trans fats and how consuming just a little bit of dairy harms my own health. There's nothing about dairy products that seems palatable anymore, so I certainly want to avoid them as much as possible. The same goes for all other animal products, and I generally avoid restaurants where cross-contamination -- or, even worse, accidentally being served animal products -- is possible.

Veganism, as stated above, is about not consuming products that intentionally harm animals, not about personal purity or perfection. I understand that most vegans against cross-contamination are absolutely disgusted at the thought of ingesting any kind of animal product, no matter how small, and are not anti-cross-contamination for selfish reasons. If anything, what I said above about how I don't want to consume dairy-contaminated products is a "selfish" reason because it's about my own health. (However, as I've said before and will say again, I believe that caring about yourself and your health should be integral to veganism, and writing it off as selfishness or personal purity is somewhat ignorant.)

Future Plants

However, I do believe in the future, when the majority of the population is vegan or follows a plant-based diet, then we can start to consider cross-contamination as a serious issue. Because when there are enough of us demanding products free of animal contamination, that could create a substantial economic impact on any business that continues to profit from animal exploitation. The thing is that right now, there aren't enough of us, and we sure as heck aren't unified on this issue and would fail miserably if we tried to push it. We aren't the ones buying the majority of vegan products; it's vegetarians, flexitarians, the health-conscious, and curious carnists interested in seeing what the fuss is about. And they certainly aren't going to get up in arms over this issue.

Let me be clear: I don't want to make it sound like I'm completely pro-cross-contamination. In fact, I actually agree with all the points I brought up in the "How It Isn't Vegan" section; I don't want to have to compromise my values each time I want to eat, whether that be at a nonvegan restaurant or even just making something at home with foods that were produced in a facility alongside animal-based products. I recognize my own speciesism when I have a mayo-free Impossible Whopper, and I wish I could change the world and make cows and dogs morally equal to all people. But I can't. At least, not yet.

Line in the Sand

My biggest problem with this anti-cross-contamination argument is where do we draw the line? Many packaged plant-based foods are produced in factories where they can be cross-contaminated with all sorts of animal products: dairy, eggs, shellfish, crustaceans, fish, and land animal meat. Fresh produce is handled by nonvegan workers that could contaminate it. Most plants are grown with animal manure. And the vast majority of vegan food brands are owned by animal agriculture megacorporations. (Good Karma, for instance, is a subsidiary of Dean Foods, the largest dairy producer in the US. Silk, So Delicious, and Vega are all owned by Danone, a multinational food corporation.) There comes a point, unless you are completely self-sustainable, where there's only so much you can do without eliminating all your viable food options.

And that's not even to mention all the non-food products virtually every vegan has to use that intentionally contain animal ingredients: tires on cars and bikes, asphalt on the road, life-saving medications. Animal agriculture feeds into nearly every other economic sector in the world, and it's impossible to completely avoid every single animal product. So, let's remember the definition of veganism, that it's about doing as much as is "possible and practicable" to avoid animal exploitation.

Impossible Whopper

It seems that this issue most often comes to light when a major animal-product retailer reveals a new plant-based product. Most noticeably, when Burger King released the Impossible Whopper. I absolutely understand the desire to not support a company like Burger King that makes the majority of its profits off the (literal) backs of animals or Impossible Foods that created the burger through animal testing, and I am no way saying that it makes you any more or less vegan to not buy the Impossible Whopper. But we also need to look at the bigger picture. If we want a vegan world and want more carnists to have a positive perception of vegan food, we need businesses like Burger King to make it more accessible to people. We're still a niche market, and we must branch out and grab nonvegans' attention.

Encourage Change

The way I see it, cross-contamination is like a movie in which they wear animal skins or furs, eat animals, ride horses, or use animals in other ways. Even if there were absolutely no animals or animal products used, most of the cast and crew probably aren't vegan, ate animal-based food on set, or wore non-cruelty-free makeup. I don't like it, and I'll fight to change it, but I'm not going to completely forego ever watching movies until something changes. In the meantime, I'll raise awareness of the ethical issues inherent to animal use and support businesses that do what they can to eliminate animal exploitation.

be conscious, be kind, be vegan