Marks and Spencers - Vegan Food
Large Vegetable Samosa
I'm not Vegan, I just love a lot of Vegan food. Using the Label also means I do not need to get into a long conversation explaining that I have IBS and several food Intolerances, one of which is lactose/Dairy.
Vegan food blogs and sites have been a great inspiration the last few years. Proving to me that you don't need dairy or animal products like meat and poultry to have an interesting and varied diet.
I can still eat seafood, eggs and honey all food that are not part of the vegan diet. Out of respect for vegans I wanted to make the distinction clear. It was when I became lactose intolerant that I discovered how hard it is to find dairy free food in many supermarkets, restaurant and Cafes.
There's plenty of alternatives for Gluten free Products, while there are
hardly any for Dairy free, which really annoys me
Considering there has been a bit of a trend in people switching to a vegan diet for there health you would think Vegan food would be more mainstream and not limited to health food stores and web sites!!!
Marks and Spencer's
Food Review
Okay rambling over, back to the point. What does this have to do with Vegetable samosa.
It's my attempt to explain why I get so excited when I discover a new food product I can eat. It's probably similar to a chocoholic finding a new chocolate bar.
I was wondering the aisles of my local store looking for something for lunch, I usually end up buying one of the salads. It depends on how depressed I get of reading food labels to work out what I can eat.
I'm also yeast intolerant, which makes finding
something to eat even harder.
Especially since a lot of vegan food has yeast extract added for flavour
I was preparing my self for being disappointed again, when I started reading the ingredients on the samosa. I'm Scottish and like the rest of our population love Indian food, so I had to give it a try. It cost a reasonable £1.30 and contains 230 calories, making it an ideal light lunch.
Taste wise, It was a lovely mix of both soft and crunchy vegetables. I ate mine cold but the packaging does give instructions for heating it. The spice just gave a slight kick, which I loved. It was good cold, however next time I plan to heat it as I think it will taste even better.
Trying to find out which food products are vegan from most chain stores, restaurants and cafes is pretty much like looking for a needle in a hay stack. So it was great to find this: M&S Vegan Food List.
M&S also have there own brand of Dairy free milk, which is also reasonably priced. I am so used to thinking of M&S as a expensive brand, that I don't usually think of going there for basic food products.
There Own brand Dairy Free Coconut milk was only £1.40, making it competitive with most supermarket Own brands.
Earlier this year I was also lucky to get a Free from Dairy Easter egg. They also have a Gelatine free Percy pig bag of sweets.
Gelatine is derived from the collagen which is a by product from boiling either pig or cow feet. Check out the labelling on the packaging of your favourite sweets. Free from products use pectin and other natural gelling agents
Something to think about the next time you reach
for the Haribo or Bassetts Jelly babies.
Verdict
Good points
I may not be doing my regular grocery shopping at M&S, however I will be popping in for the odd mid week top up. Their own brand products are certainly a lot cheaper than Health food stores like Holland and Barrett.
Another major plus for me is that they stock locally sourced vegetables and soft fruit Cutting down on their and mine own carbon foot print.
Room to Improve
They don't have any dairy free yogurts or cheese yet, however that might just be because my local store is one of there smaller branches.
There smooth guacamole also has cream added, which is not in a traditional recipe. Supermarkets are guilty of adding dairy to a wide spectrum of food you would not expect just for the mouth feel.
Most bizarre product Iv found containing milk..... Sushi.
I'm pretty certain you won't find it in any authentic Japanese restaurants!!!!
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