Photograph the ingredient panel and get a verdict in seconds. Every animal-derived ingredient is named, every ambiguous additive — E471, lecithin, natural flavourings — is flagged for a second look. The photo is read once and never stored.
Drop a photo of the ingredient list here, or use the button below.
Tip: fill the frame with the ingredient panel, keep it flat and in focus, and include any allergen line printed underneath.
The usual suspects: whey, casein and lactose in crisps and breads; gelatine in sweets and capsules; carmine (E120) in reds; shellac (E904) as a glaze; isinglass in some beers; L-cysteine (E920) in bakery products; and vitamin D3 that is often lanolin-derived.
The maybes: E471 mono- and diglycerides, lecithin, glycerine, stearates, natural flavourings and “sugar” refined over bone char in some countries.
You photograph the ingredient panel, the image is read once by a vision model, and every ingredient is checked against the standard list of animal-derived and ambiguous additives. The photo is used for that single request and is not stored.
Mono- and diglycerides (E471), natural flavourings, lecithin, glycerine (E422), stearic acid, vitamin D3 and some sugars can come from either plants or animals. The scanner flags them as 'check' rather than calling the product non-vegan.
No. That is a precautionary allergen statement about shared equipment, not an ingredient. Most vegans accept such products; if you avoid them, treat the warning as a personal line rather than a labelling fact.
Treat it as a fast first pass. Blurry photos, cropped panels and regional additive codes can all mislead it. When the verdict is 'check', read the panel yourself or contact the manufacturer.
Reading labels
Most non-vegan ingredients hide behind technical names, E-numbers or the phrase 'natural flavourings'. This reference covers what the scanner looks for and why some verdicts have to remain uncertain.
Some ingredients are always animal-derived: gelatine, carmine (E120), shellac (E904), lard and tallow, isinglass, whey, casein, lactose, honey and beeswax (E901). If any of these appear on a panel, the verdict needs no further investigation. Anchovy in Worcestershire sauce and fish sauce in Southeast Asian pastes belong to the same category and are missed constantly because they sit inside a compound ingredient.
A large group of additives can come from either plants or animals, and the label rarely says which. Mono- and diglycerides (E471), stearic acid and magnesium stearate (E470b), glycerol (E422), lactic acid (E270, usually plant-fermented but not always), and lecithin (E322, generally soy but occasionally egg) all fall here. Vitamin D3 is typically from lanolin unless the label specifies a lichen source; omega-3 additions may be fish oil or algal. In these cases the honest answer is 'check with the manufacturer', which is what the scanner returns.
Some animal inputs are used during production but are legally exempt from the ingredient list. Isinglass and gelatine in wine and beer fining, bone char in some cane-sugar refining, and animal-derived enzymes in cheese and baking are the common examples. This is why certification marks matter: they cover processing aids that the panel cannot tell you about.
Allergen advisory statements describe cross-contamination risk in a shared facility, not a deliberate ingredient. By most definitions of veganism — including the Vegan Society's 'as far as is possible and practicable' — a trace warning does not make a product non-vegan. Whether you buy it anyway is a personal call about allergen policy, not a factual question about the recipe.
Common codes that trigger a check on the ingredient panel.
| Code | Name | Source | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| E120 | Carmine / cochineal | Insects | Not vegan |
| E441 | Gelatine | Animal collagen | Not vegan |
| E901 | Beeswax | Bees | Not vegan |
| E904 | Shellac | Lac insects | Not vegan |
| E471 | Mono- & diglycerides | Plant or animal fat | Uncertain |
| E322 | Lecithin | Usually soy; sometimes egg | Usually vegan |
| E422 | Glycerol | Plant or animal fat | Uncertain |
| E160a | Carotene | Plant or synthetic | Vegan |
| E635 | Disodium ribonucleotides | Often yeast; can be fish | Uncertain |
EU additive register; Vegan Society ingredient guidance.
Include the allergen line and the 'contains' statement. Cropped photos are the main cause of a wrong verdict.
The scanner sorts by certainty. Anything marked definite settles the question; anything marked uncertain needs a second source.
A registered vegan trademark covers processing aids the panel omits, which no photograph can reveal.
For a product you buy weekly, one email resolves the ambiguity permanently. Most companies answer within a fortnight.
In most of the world, yes. Some cane sugar refined in the United States uses bone char as a decolourising filter; beet sugar and organic cane sugar never do. Nothing on the label indicates which, so certification is the only reliable route.
Often not. Isinglass, gelatine, casein and egg albumen are used as fining agents and are exempt from labelling. Barnivore-style directories and vegan certification marks are the practical answer.
D2 is always plant or fungal. D3 is usually lanolin from sheep's wool unless the label states 'vegan D3' or 'lichen-derived'.
It is as accurate as the ingredient panel allows, which means highly reliable for named animal ingredients and deliberately uncertain for dual-source additives and undeclared processing aids.
The image is sent for analysis and the verdict returned; it is not retained as part of a public dataset or attached to a profile.