Are artificial meat flavorings vegan?

by Samantha
(Manassas, VA)

Question:

I love eating ramen, it's one of my favorite things to eat. And a lot of ramen has beef flavoring in it and I stay away from those. But I also see some that say ARTIFICIAL beef flavoring. So what I was wondering was, even though it says artificial does artificial beef still have beef or some form of meat in it?

Answer:

This is an interesting question that I never stopped to think about... are artificial meat flavorings vegan?

I did a little research and unfortunately, it seems you are out of luck. Those artificial meat flavorings do have meat in them, or at least a meat by-product. Also, sometimes those noodles are actually egg noodles. Additionally, they're packed with synthetic flavorings, colors, and chemicals.

There is some hope for you to be able to have that food you love and do better on health though. If you love those ramen noodles, I'd definitely recommend checking out an international food market. They often have tons of different types of rice and bean noodles that I love. You can sometimes even find vegan meat flavorings, and they will be labeled as such. With those flavorings and the noodles, it's pretty easy to put together your own ramen noodles.

You might also like to try adding those noodles to some miso broth, which can be super healthy for you if you use a brand that is made of just miso paste.

Hope that helps! Good luck!