Wine and vegetarians. vegans. They are the strictest vegetarians, that is, those who do not ingest animal meat or its products.

Wine and vegetarians. The “vegans”

But, what does wine have to do with “vegans”?
Wine is a product that comes from the grape, and therefore is a vegetable product.
However, in their manufacture, some producers can add additives perfectly authorized by the current legislation, whose origin can be animal, posing a conflict in these groups.
These additives that can create conflict, are usually the clarifiers, whose objective is to clean the wine and give it stability.

The clarifiers

The most used and known are:
-Gelatin. It comes from the cooking of the egg and animal tissues.
-Casein. Derived from whey.
-Egg-colored.” Very used to clarify high quality wines.
-The Ichthyocola. It is the fish tail, coming from the swim bladder of the fish.

Normative

In recent years Community legislation (EEC) on health matters requires the labeling of wines to indicate the possible presence of any of the additives. These are:
Sulfites
-casein
Egg white
The fundamental reason for this specification is to warn consumers that they may have some kind of allergy to these substances.

The solutions

In recent years, researchers have been working on animal additives and their possible substitution. Wine and vegetarians. vegans
Thus, we can find that today we are working with protein clarifiers of plant origin, and more specifically in the derivatives of crops of wheat, peas, and especially potato.
We also have organic wines, as a very advisable solution.

CONCLUSIONS

The introduction of plant-based clarifiers as a substitute for those of animal origin, without appreciably altering their production system, may give wine producers the possibility of bringing “vegans” closer to wine consumption.
It is estimated that in the world at the moment there are more than 35 million people who belong to the collective of vegetarians.
For this reason, we must try to give solutions to this group that is very probably waiting for solutions to the issue of additives in wine.

Wine and vegetarians