Never was vegan
You know when you think something is vegan because the company has told you it is vegan, so you have been drinking it for years and then you find out it probably never was vegan to begin with because it contains gelatine?
Yeah, that.
Vegans are angry. It has transpired via social media that Rekorderlig cider uses gelatine during the production process but told people it was vegan. These claims of the drink being vegan-friendly were made to consumers via Twitter and email over a period of time stretching back a few years.
It was only recently that the person in charge of the company’s social media presence has been answering the vegan question by telling people it isn’t animal product free as gelatine is used to produce it.
Understandably, vegans are furious.
This drink has long been a firm favourite of compassionate drinkers and to be told it has never been vegan is upsetting for people who go out of their way to avoid contributing to the exploitation of animals.
Following are some tweets showing confirmation from the company that the drink is not vegan and the standard response they are now giving to concerned consumers.
The company isn’t very clear when explaining how this error occurred, but I would imagine it has something to do with Rekorderlig staff not understanding how the product is made and then giving incorrect advice to consumers without checking.
Did you ever buy this brand? What is your reaction to the news?
Oh bum I love that cider and it’s not even veggie? Gross 🙁
Ive never bought this brand as Im really fussy about things being vegan & Ive never seen in labeled as vegan.
Sadly this sort of thing seems to happen alot. I know new products are often pushed to firms and the reps & staff have very little idea what vegan really means.
Also many firms are unaware of the processes and ingredients as things move from firm to firm.
I am soooooooooooooooooo upset!!!!!!
I have emailed them twice to make sure their products are vegan-friendly in the past 3 years.
How is it even possible that the staff doesn’t know?! Or, even worse – were they doing it on purpose so not to lose out on revenue????
I’ve probably drunk over a hundred bottles in the last year and found this news disgusting. I wonder how much their sales will drop now?
Incredibly scary when a company gives false information to customers regarding its own products. There should be more company awareness of the ingredients and manufacturing process of all the products created for the sake of conscientious customers.
Hi FGV…would you be willing to try some of my delicious vegan chocs? super foods plus cacao x
Unfortunately, I’ve had this product quite a few times in recent years. What is frustrating is that I (and I assume many other vegans) were convinced it was vegan. There didn’t seem to be a lack of information, instead there was a plethora of sources stating its veganicity. I worry that there will be further products that are actually non-vegan despite claims otherwise…
That’s really shitty. When I emailed them about 2/3 years ago they said that there was gelatine used in the process. I’ve never heard of them claiming to be veg until now. Maybe it’s a US thing?
I retract my “maybe it’ a US thing” comment. I’ve just realised that this blogger is from the UK.
Thankfully I’m straight edge so I don’t drink. But the fact that this occurred at all is disgusting. Why put people working on social media and not tell them every detail of the manufacturing process so they can answer truthfully? Now all the poor vegans who did drink this will feel really crappy about themselves because of this. Disgusting.
PS: I love your blog! It’s helped me a few times since I went vegan a few months ago.
I was really upset when I heard this as it was my regular tipple. Oh well Aspalls it is then
This is why we need products labeled as vegan, it then makes firms legally responsible.
I’m not a big fan of alcoholic drinks, and this one was the one that got me on the sweet tooth for the alcoholic drinks. It was my best drink for the past 2 years and I would not drink other than this one (1 bottle every 2 months maybe). I’m so disappointed and frustrated and I got so angry when I found out this news, all I want now is for them to go bankrupt!
I wish we could do some kind of group court case against this company because not only me other customers will feel duped by this company and they can’t get out of this lie without prejudice. Also, people with allergies were (or are) under danger for not having their process right as now they are not trustworthy company we can’t even say what is on the ingredients are really what they’ve got inside the bottle. Any way we could make them pay for this disgrace more than just apologies could take them to retract the error? Its been several years, its not something from day to night.
[…] week Robb posted about Rekorderlig cider not being vegan which led to this post. Wayne is always sharing with me news of vegan food, including the glorious sandwich market stall […]
they have committed a criminal offence under the mood mislabelling act, so yes, you can take them to court. or at least report them to trading standards. it is a really serious offence, supermarkets have been fined tens of thousands before under the same legislation.
in a nutshell – they are not required to say whether something is vegan. but if they do, they are legally required to provide you with exactly what they describe.
Just stuck fingers down my throat! 17 years meat free and 19 years pork free! I’m f*cking outraged!!!!!!
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I’m livid. They have told us countless times it was. Did a staff member ever check before responding to our queries? Ridiculous!
[…] are all slowly recovering from the shock news that Rekorderlig cider is not, and has probably never been, vegan. The silver lining is the […]
I stopped drinking it years ago because of the gelatine. I have no idea how I found that out, as they’ve been lying about it!
Good news though for fans of fruity ciders – the Aldi ciders (alska) are vegan, or at least were last time I checked!
http://www.barnivore.com/search?keyword=Rekorderlig+%C3%84pple
Barnivore has been rectified a couple of years ago when we found out the lie, it used to say it was suitable for vegans before as the company replied to several tweets saying the drink was suitable for vegans.