MyPE

Community Business Directory, Event Listings, News and Views from Gqeberha, Nelson Mandela Bay

Careful – that beer or wine could contain animal products

By

Are you a Vegetarian or Vegan?

Do you drink beer and wine?

Then you COULD not be a vegetarian or vegan.

Check if your beverage of choice contains a substance called ISINGLASS which is a substance obtained from the dried swim bladders of fish. It is a form of collagen used mainly for the clarification or fining of some beer and wine. It can also be cooked into a paste for specialised gluing purposes.

The English word origin is from the obsolete Dutch huizenblaas – huizen is a kind of sturgeon, and blaas is a bladder, or German hausenblase, meaning essentially the same.

Although originally made exclusively from sturgeon, especially beluga, in 1795 an invention by William Murdoch facilitated a cheap substitute using cod. This was extensively used in Britain in place of Russian isinglass. The bladders, once removed from the fish, processed, and dried, are formed into various shapes for use.

According to Peta, popular animal-derived fining agents used in the production of wine include blood and bone marrow, casein (milk protein), chitin (fiber from crustacean shells), egg albumen (derived from egg whites), fish oil, gelatin (protein from boiling animal parts), and isinglass (gelatin from fish bladder membranes).

When choosing your tipple be sure to check for some common fining agents that are animal-friendly and used to make vegan wine such as: Carbon, bentonite clay, limestone, kaolin clay, plant casein, silica gel, and vegetable plaques.

References:

  1. Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isinglass
  2. Peta: https://www.peta.org/about-peta/faq/is-wine-vegan/
The following two tabs change content below.
My Twitter profileMy Facebook profileMy Google+ profileMy LinkedIn profileMy Flickr profileMy Pinterest profile

Alan Straton

Chief Cook, Bottle Washer and Broom Mechanic at MyPE
Passionate about Port Elizabeth and definitely NOT packing for Perth. Alan's ethos is epitomised in the words of Nelson Mandela; "I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the idea of a democratic and free society. If need be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die." See more articles by Alan.