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Operation Pancake: Undercover investigation of LA vegan restaurants
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June 28th, 2009mr meanergreen leaves (NOT VEGAN), LA restaurants, news

Is your vegan food really vegan? We pull out all the stops to test 17 LA area vegan restaurants for non-vegan ingredients, and to find out why seven of them failed miserably.

NOTE: Please see update regarding Green Leaves Vegan here

UPDATE: Please check out the follow-up post from today when you’ve read this. THANKS.

From Pure Luck to Green Leaves, Vegan House to Vegan Plate and Rosemead to Taipei we pull back the covers on the seedy world of vegan restaurants, and an international supply chain that pumps eggs and milk into our supposedly vegan food on a daily basis.

Vegan Quesadilla from Green Leaves Vegan tested “Overload” for casein, a milk protein.

Surely, a vegan restaurant is safe to eat at if I’m a vegan?

Really? Regular readers of quarrygirl.com will recall us publishing an email and photos from “Mr. Wishbone” detailing the contents of a dumpster at LA Vegan Thai with non-vegan ingredients plainly visible, and presumably used as ingredients in the food (pancakes in this case).

After we published Mr. Wishbone’s findings, several people wrote in with stories about potentially non-vegan ingredients being sighted in vegan restaurants, and one particular thread on the quarrums “Vegan Dirt” began to get rather busy, with accusations flying here and there about shrimp paste being spotted in some restaurants, and “vegan cheese” that looked and tasted exactly like dairy-based cheese being served in others.

While this blog hasn’t hesitated to call out non-vegan “vegan donuts” and non-vegan “vegan cheese pizzas” in the past, we can only make information public that can be empirically proven. Accusations and reports of non-vegan ingredients and suspect food handling (of which we get many) have to stay smoldering in our Deleted Items folder laying in a morass of uncertainty. Or so we thought until a couple of weeks ago, when Mr. Wishbone emailed again, and requested a meeting: “I have some knowledge of the food industry, and I think we can prove whether or not a food item contains certain non-vegan ingredients. I can tell you, though, it’s not going to be easy or cheap. If we meet I’ll share my ideas”. Intrigued, and under the strictest secrecy, we met up for lunch.

The Plan

During the meeting, Mr. Wishbone outlined an ambitious plan that would enable us to test for common non-vegan ingredients (eggs, casein [a component of milk], and shellfish) in a multitude of menu items from local vegan restaurants. The plan would be a logistical, financial and time-sucking nightmare but, if done properly, and to scientific testing standards, it would be a ground-breaking and highly reliable indicator of just how “pure” food from vegan restaurants really is. Here’s an outline of the plan:
- Locate a facility that has no traces of egg, casein or shellfish in which to perform the advanced tests
- Purchase anti-contamination equipment including industrial sterilization supplies, lab coats, uncontaminated bags, swabs, razor blades, gloves and floor coverings
- Obtain highly restricted industrial food testing “kits” only available to the food manufacturing industry
- Develop a regimented process to test each food item with the highest standards of inter-test cleanliness, ensuring that absolutely no food particles from one food item contaminate another
- Select a diverse set of menu items from 100% vegan-only restaurants throughout LA (with one exception, see later)
- Order the food for carry-out, and seal it in an airtight bag in its original packaging either inside, or very close to the point of purchase
- Transport the food items to the testing facility intact and sealed, and perform the tests within 48 hours of purchase, keeping them refrigerated until immediately before the test
- Develop a strict bracketing control, with a thorough analysis of the testing facility and equipment before testing: A negative control to ensure no pre-existing contamination, and a positive control test on a known-positive food product (containing all three target non-vegan items) to ensure that the tests do indicate positive results
- Conduct the test in absolute secrecy to ensure that no restaurant would know they were providing samples, and pose as regular customers ordering take-out food in a normal way, with no disclosure that the items would be used for a test
So, we divided up the work between us, and dedicated a Friday evening, Saturday and Sunday as well as over $1,000 of our collective money to pulling off the most extensive scientific test that we know of to find out, once and for all, if samples of restaurant food are vegan or not.

The Story

Here’s the story of what we did, how we did it and the surprising results….

The first task was to establish sources for everything we needed (laboratory supply stores, and a secret “insider” who would provide the actual tests, direct from the manufacturer, to Mr. Wishbone under strict orders of anonymity – we don’t even know who he or she is). We decided to use our house as a testing facility as it was built from the ground up with entirely vegan products and has never had any non-vegan food items inside it. Despite that, extensive preparation was conducted with a floor to ceiling deep clean using industrial solvents and an oxygen-based cleaner on all surfaces.

So, this is a food blog, right? What about the FOOD? And the RESTAURANTS?

Well, a key requirement of this operation was that all the selected and tested restaurants should offer only an all-vegan menu, so there could be no question about cross-contamination from cooking implements (kitchen dishes, pans, knives etc.). So, we set about choosing a variety of restaurants in the LA area. Initially, we targeted 20, and were able to obtain food from 17 — only because Taste of Life was temporarily closed during the time window we had allotted, and we eliminated one other restaurant (Madeline Bistro) due to location and the uncertainty of being able to remove a “safe” sample from the facility incognito. We also decided against testing food from Seed, due to it’s opening hours and location.

Using assumed names and decoy telephone numbers, we systematically called up each restaurant and ordered the food for take-out. Upon arriving to pick up the food, one of us went inside to collect, while the other prepared an airtight bag to receive the food. It was critically important to ensure that no foreign particles contaminated the items, so a new pair of surgical gloves were used each time to insert the food item into its bag, which was then sealed and labeled.

The food was then kept in a medical ice chest (the same type they use to carry donor organs between hospitals), before being transferred into a clean refrigerator in the testing facility, still in its sealed bag.

Samples from 17 different Los Angeles Vegan Restaurants

This process was repeated at 17 restaurants, and for 21 individual food items within a 24-hour period. We cannot stress enough how many precautions were taken to ensure that the food was tested under the most stringent conditions. Indeed, our testing standards met or exceeded the standards of the California Retail Food Code, sections 113982, 113984 and 113986.

The testing kits that Mr. Wishbone was to obtain could positively identify three common non-vegan allergens (hen’s egg, milk protein (casein), shell-fish), and were highly sensitive (down to parts per million, which explains our intense focus on process and hygiene), so we targeted food items that contained vegan “cheese”, vegan “fish” (including shellfish and non-shellfish), creamy sauces, breads and stuff that had an expanded, sweet, crispy or bubbly texture (often created using eggs as binders in the cooking process).

The Restaurants

Here is a list of the restaurants and menu items we were able to successfully order, store and test under our stringent conditions. We did consider other restaurants, and when we re-test all this food (as we undoubtedly will) we’ll certainly expand the reach of this project to many other establishments.

We also reserved two complete testing sets for swabbing/testing the facility and samples of all clean equipment before any food was present, and another for a final test, conducted under the exact same conditions on a “Healthy Choice” frozen Shrimp Dinner, with creamy sauce (which the ingredient label states contained shellfish, eggs and cream).

The All-important Testing Kits

OK, so we’ve talked about the logistics of hygiene, food sourcing and all the cloak and dagger stuff, but what about the actual test kits themselves? After all, they would be the ultimate determinant of what we found.

Testing kits for traces of Egg, Casein and Shellfish

Are there testing kits for vegan food? Not exactly. You see, a food manufacturing plant usually spends a day or two processing one food item, a day or two on another and so on, but all using the same equipment. This equipment has to be thoroughly cleaned (usually during a night shift) in between each production run. A combination of solvents, disinfectants, abrasives, steam cleaning and scraping are usually deployed on the equipment, in order to remove caked-on food particles, debris and carbonized (burned) cooked-on residue. It’s like cleaning a stove the size of your apartment three times over, once every other day. We’re talking industrial scale here, and most of the cleaning is performed by humans, so is therefore subject to errors.

A typical food manufacturing facility might be using its production line to mince seafood, whisk eggs and boil milk on Monday (for the shrimp dinner, for example), but on Tuesday will switch to making hummus using the exact same equipment. Yes, those stainless steel chutes and pipes which carried shellfish and cream one day will be used the next to carry garbanzo beans and olive oil into the same mixers which will make hummus.

The cleaning process is thorough, but the food industry in America lives in fear of lawsuits stemming from people who have allergies. As we know, a list of ingredients is not enough to protect against traces of potentially allergy inducing contaminants, especially in the eyes of the law. That’s why most processed foods one buys today have a message on the container stating something like: “Manufactured in a facility that also processes peanuts, shellfish, milk and eggs.”. We’re not sure of the legal implications of this disclaimer (if any), but it’s basically telling a purchaser that what they’re buying might have traces of those things in it, or even a whole peanut, shrimp or egg (or maybe all three at the same time!).

The testing kits that Mr. Wishbone obtained are normally used by operators between production runs in order to test that the equipment has been sufficiently cleaned, and before the next food items are loaded up for manufacture. The testing process is complex – swabs are obtained, then mixed with an agent that separates the target molecules from the carriers (example: to separate the casein from whole milk or cheese), and then mixed with buffering agents, specifically tailored to the test at hand before being soaked into a testing reagent that will indicate, through color change, presence of the items being tested within five minutes.

The whole process works in a similar fashion to a pregnancy test, where certain organic compounds work with a reagent to change its color, and thus provide a visual indication of their presence.

Of course, using these tests directly on the food items themselves, with a proper matrix and under stringent test conditions provides an ideal testing ground for highly accurate results. Swabbing a 15 foot stainless steel pipe in a factory is terribly unreliable – there could be residue of a contaminant in many places – not just the small areas you’re testing. Cutting up a “Cowgirl Pancake with Chicken” from your local vegan Thai and putting pieces of it directly into the extraction solution (per the instructions of the test) will give a much more reliable result.

The Process

The process of testing each food item was as follows:
- Thoroughly clean all work surfaces with isopropyl alcohol wipes
- Testing technicians place clean gloves on each hand and prepare testing surface with new foil sheet, razor blade and one or more testing kits for each contaminant being tested
- Open air-tight container of food item to be tested (for the first time since it was sealed in the restaurant), and carefully slice multiple small parts from the dish using the razor blade (ensure that all food items in the dish are selected for sampling, so in the case of a burger, for example, small samples are taken of the burger itself, the bun, lettuce, sauce, garnish and any side dishes)
- Finely pulverize the samples into one integrated mass using the razor blade or disposable laboratory spoon
- Follow the instructions on the test (see later) then observe and document the results
- Photograph results that show anything other than a negative reading for the compounds being tested for
- Upon completion of testing, re-seal the food sample in the original bags and discard well away from the testing area
- Remove and discard all items from previous test (foil sheet, gloves, razor blade and testing fluids, devices and clean-up materials)
This process was repeated 21 times (once before testing, then for 19 food items, and again at the end on the shrimp dinner).

After many hours of testing, several hundred photographs and pages of notes, spreadsheets and statistics, we observed that the test results were highly consistent and somewhat objective in their presentation (as you’d expect from a test — after all, one is either pregnant or not as well as one either contains eggs or not).

While it would be nice if each testing device had a “YES” or “NO” indicator, the reality is that the process was a little more complicated. There were actually FIVE possible results from the test, as follows:
- INVALID: The test was unable to function. This is due to either a manufacturing defect, or major misuse (for example, dipping the test directly into food without proper preparation). We only had one test that exhibited this result, but it was actually a good thing as it proved that the tests were self-monitoring to a degree.
- NEGATIVE: The test did not detect any of the target items in the sample provided. Of course, this isn’t a totally clean bill of health: the parts of the food we chose to test might have been “pure” but other parts we didn’t sample may not have been. Of course, a test that is designed to detect parts per million showing negative on a chunk of Pad Thai with Soy Shrimp is accurate enough for us!
- POSITIVE: This is the result we dreaded the most, in that it is open to some interpretation, given our testing criteria. A positive test for, say, casein in “vegan cheese” might mean that the cheese was handled by somebody that had touched regular cheese, or that one of its ingredients might have trace amounts of casein in it. The positive result was particularly troubling for egg products, as albumen (egg white) is used in pretty much every processed food item to some degree or another, and vegan items have to use expensive alternatives.
- HIGH: This means that the sample certainly contained some ingredients that themselves had the contaminant in them, or had become contaminated in some other way. For example, the “Orange Chicken” we tested from California Vegan registered “HIGH” for eggs. This could mean that the sauce had some egg residue in it, or that the vegan “meat” (or its crispy batter coating) contained egg ingredients. What’s sure, though, is that a HIGH reading pretty much states that eggs are present in some measure.
- OVERLOAD: Open and shut case. The food has the contaminant as a major ingredient. Somebody is using dairy cheese, egg whites (or yolks) or shellfish.
Fortunately, the test results polarized between NEGATIVE and HIGH, with only a few POSITIVE results, one OVERLOAD and one INVALID.

Not every food item was checked for every potential contaminant. For example, the M Cafe Tiramisu dessert was checked for egg and casein, but not shellfish. Talking of M Cafe, we included two menu items from that restaurant mainly to test for contamination within the kitchen. M Cafe is not a vegan restaurant, but it is macrobiotic, meaning that its food offerings are entirely plant based, except for some fish options.

The M Cafe Garden Sushi Roll (one of our favorites) is probably prepared in the exact same space that the fish sushi rolls are prepared in, so we thought it valid to test for shellfish contamination through kitchen implements and work surfaces. The Tiramisu was tested, honestly, because we didn’t believe that something could taste THAT creamy and be vegan!

The Winners

As with any “sudden death” testing scenario, we’ll first eliminate those restaurants and food items that tested negative for all three contaminants. Of the 17 restaurants, 10 had a completely negative score for shellfish, casein and egg: Flore, Vinh Loi Tofu, Truly Vegan, Vegan Glory, Vegan Express, Vegan Plate, Real Food Daily, M Cafe, Native Foods and Leaf Raw Cuisine. Congratulations to those restaurants, but vegans should note that we were unable to test for whey ingredients with these tests, and just because they passed our tests doesn’t mean they will be vegan for you. Also, the results here are not to be relied upon for critical applications or decision-making such as allergen avoidance, medical conditions, religious practice etc.

The Suspect

One restaurant, Pure Luck, was singled out as suspect because it had a POSITIVE reading on one test for one menu item, the Baja Fish Taco, which consists of two corn tortillas with a creamy sauce, soy fish steak, lettuce and salsa. This is a popular dish at Pure Luck which we’ve eaten many times.

While testing a clear negative for shellfish and egg content, the taco did register as positive for casein. The sample solids were from all food ingredients in the taco as listed above, homogenized into a mush which was then tested, so it’s not possible to determine the actual ingredient within the taco that registered for casein. Was it the soy fish steak itself (Pure Luck confirmed they buy these from a supplier called “Healthy Times”, and they may have less stringent quality control or not be disclosing all ingredients)? Or perhaps the creamy sauce which has milk-based products as one of its ingredients? Could perhaps even be the corn tortilla.

After the initial positive test, we sanitized the testing area, unpackaged the food item again and removed samples from a different part of the taco. Again, the test showed a clear positive result.

Pure Luck: Baja Taco tested POSITIVE for Casein

We’re unable to determine why the test showed a positive, but please read the explanations and disclaimers section at the end of the post which do provide some general insights and potential reasons. We will continue to eat at Pure Luck, but will be avoiding the Baja Taco.

The Losers

The next group of restaurants had food items that tested HIGH for one or more contaminants. A HIGH reading indicates that the food item has a derivative ingredient that contains the contaminant. For example, the crispy coating around Orange Chicken might have a binder that’s egg based used as an ingredient. Five restaurants were in this category: Vegan House, Lotus Vegan, California Vegan, LA Vegan Thai and Vegan Joint. These restaurants are all Vegan Thai in style, and have many common food items between their menus.

Vegan House: Crispy Chicken tested HIGH for egg

Lotus Vegan: Cowgirl Pancake tested HIGH for Egg

California Vegan: Orange Chicken tested HIGH for Egg

In all cases, the HIGH readings were for egg content, and with two restaurants (LA Vegan Thai and Vegan Joint) both also testing POSITIVE for casein. The HIGH readings on egg were for four distinct food items: Pancakes, Chicken, Bacon and Fish. From this, we can imagine that pancake mix containing egg was used to make the pancakes (remember: Operation Pancake got its name from that very first non-vegan pancake dumpster dive), and there’s a disturbing trend that crispy soy chicken (of the type usually sliced into quesadillas and fried into orange chicken) contains egg.

It’s highly likely that these restaurants use the same food supplier for meat substitutes, so the egg may be an undisclosed ingredient (again, see the end of the post for some explanations), although the pancake issue is somewhat suspicious as pancakes have to be made from scratch or a mix on the premises.

Vegan Joint: Grilled Fish Sandwich w/ Cheese tested HIGH for Egg and POSITVE for Casein

One thing that did stand out was that the Soy Fish Sandwich from Vegan Joint, which tested POSITIVE for casein – had exactly the same result as Pure Luck. Could it be that these were purchased from the same place, or that a common ingredient in Soy Fish is milk-based? We would love to know. The soy fish steaks themselves did bear an uncanny similarity between each restaurant.

LA Vegan Thai: Cowgirl Pancake tested HIGH for Egg and POSITVE for Casein

Another item of note was a POSITIVE result for casein in LA Vegan Thai’s Cowgirl Pancake. This was the only dish we tested that had “vegan ham” in it, and it could be that an ingredient in that was registering positive.

CONCLUSION: Following such consistent results, it is perhaps wise for vegans to avoid meat substitutes in vegan Thai establishments, sticking instead to tofu and seitan derived ingredients. Soft tofu is much more likely to be vegan, and is usually a lower calorie and lower sodium alternative to a meat substitute.

The Big Time Loser

The last restaurant on our list, Green Leaves Vegan, stands out as being the only one tested where a food item registered OVERLOAD. Before we get to that, though, Green Leaves, in common with the other restaurants above also registered HIGH for egg content in both its chicken and fish dishes that we tested. We are assuming that is because of an egg-based ingredient that’s used in the meat substitutes.

We tested the item described on their menu as “Quesadilla: Vegan Cheese – Casein-free (non-dairy) melted vegan cheese on Flat bread (Flour Tortilla)”. This has been a menu item of some debate historically, where vegans have questioned the management in Green Leaves about the cheese they use, as it tastes thick and fatty and also stretches like casein-based cheese (in fact, it’s the casein that makes cheese stretch). As soon as we began to extract samples from the quesadilla, we noticed something different. The “vegan cheese” had solidified into the flatbread and did not appear starchy like vegan cheeses usually do. Also, there was a greasy and smelly residue underneath the food item. Upon extraction and testing, an OVERLOAD reading was obtained immediately from the cheese. We re-tested using sample cheese from a different part of the quesadilla, and obtained the exact same result.

Green Leaves Vegan: Quesadilla tested OVERLOADED with Casein

It is clear that this menu item had casein-based cheese. Not only did the test confirm an overloaded presence of casein, but the consequential evidence of stretchy cheese and even the smell (real cheese has a noticeable smell not present in current vegan cheeses), grease residue and general texture of the food item indicated that this was not vegan.

There has been much debate about Green Leaves Vegan in the vegan community, and it appears that they are clearly misleading vegans on this, and other menu items. We recommend avoiding this restaurant, and telling your friends about our findings.

Our tests show different information than the menu on Green Leaves' website

Conclusion on Test Results

While these tests show some very specific results, and were conducted under laboratory conditions, they are really a snapshot of the moment in time and may not be completely representative. If we were to do the tests again today, would the results be the same? Could conditions at the exact time we bought the food have a bearing on the outcome?

Let’s use an analogy of a speeding ticket. Say you’ve never gone above the speed limit in your entire life, until the ONE time you do a cop pulls you over – fact is you were still speeding. Conversely, if you speed constantly, and the ONE time a cop has his laser trained on you, you happen to be going at the speed limit you will escape a ticket.

It could be that some terrible kitchen accident at Green Leaves meant that on the day we tested them somebody bought the wrong cheese. It might be that the person who cleaned the kitchen at Pure Luck brought a slice of pizza in from home, and ate it in the kitchen without proper cleanliness. Conversely, another restaurant might routinely use meat substitutes with egg derived ingredients, but for some reason didn’t on the day we tested them. Who knows? We certainly don’t, and the tests clearly can’t be held accountable for false results under such circumstances.

What the test results seem to confirm, though, is that the meat substitutes available at vegan Thai restaurants are suspect, as are the ingredients used in some specific food options (pancakes, quesadillas and more).

We can also confirm, sadly, that some restaurant owners are intentionally misleading their customers with knowingly non-vegan ingredients. Just like the lying staff at Lucifer’s Pizza, Green Leaves Vegan also either intentionally misleads vegans every day, or is seriously mistaken when it describes its menu items to its customers.

Here is a chart of the full results from all the food we tested:

The Positive Control

Our positive control was a delicious-sounding “Creamy garlic shrimp dinner”, kindly donated to the project by an omnivorous co-worker. This test was completed at the very end, in order to ensure no contamination of other food items. The test registered OVERLOAD on both casein and shellfish, and POSITIVE for egg. Although we would have expected OVERLOAD for egg, the ingredients show that egg whites were used only in the pasta so there would have been trace amounts in the food.

"Healthy" Choice Frozen Dinner containing Shrimp, Eggs and Milk

Getting to the Root of the Problem

Feeling that we were on to something here, we decided to go “up the chain” beyond the restaurants to their suppliers, as many restaurants purchase their supplies (especially fake meats, many of which which cannot be manufactured in a typical restaurant kitchen) from a local bulk supplier. Just as a restaurant owner might visit Costco once a week to purchase toilet paper, they will also visit places like “Bodhi Vegetarian Supply” in Rosemead, CA to get their “veggie meats” and other ingredients. Bodhi Supply has stacks of freezers FULL of fake “veggie meats”, including all the variants you would typically find as ingredients in dishes from the restaurants that tested positive for egg and/or casein.

Posing as owners of a new LA area vegetarian restaurant, we arrived at Bodhi and asked to speak with a customer service manager. We were quickly introduced to a helpful lady who was ready to advise us on what products to buy. She was either the manager or the owner, and most definitely the senior person on-premise at that time.

She showed us to a freezer of “veggie chicken”, and we checked the ingredients on the label (all vegan). We asked her why some products have a better mouth texture than others, even though they have no eggs listed as ingredients, and after a long conversation and questions, she said the following:

“We buy most of this veggie meat from a manufacturer in Taiwan. It’s produced for the Taiwanese and Chinese vegetarian market then re-labeled for export, often to the USA. I do know of times when things have been labelled incorrectly, but I do my best to make sure that what they send me is what they say it is.”

Upon further questioning, she kindly gave us the email address of her contact in Taiwan. She specifically asked that we didn’t mention Bodhi Vegetarian Supply when we contacted them, and so we’re not disclosing the name of the manufacturer here.

From Rosemead to Taiwan

Posing as a potential US importer of allergen-free veggie meats, we emailed the Taiwanese manufacturer and asked whether their products could contain casein, whey, egg or milk without being listed on the label. We engaged in a an email exchange and we were also able to speak with somebody in the US who worked in the restaurant business in Taiwan for many years. The results of these interactions are paraphrased below, with with our emphasis in [square brackets]:
- In the Taiwanese and Chinese market [where most of these products are made and sold] vegetarian customers are only concerned with meat ingredients and not bothered at all if egg or milk ingredients are included [this is due to religious reasons in many cases, typically to accommodate Buddhists, who are often not vegan]
- Sometimes the ingredient listings are not 100% inclusive of what’s in the product [we asked what things are usually added but not labeled]
- Sometimes eggs, fish flakes and milk might be added but not on the label, and we never include ingredients of all the additives – there would be too many
- The veggie meats are re-labeled for the western market, usually by a non-English speaker who is translating the bulk ingredients list manifest, so there are many occasions where the translations were not correct. Also, the labels are small in size, and rarely have enough room for all ingredients.
- If the ingredients change due to cost or availability the list manifest isn’t always updated, and we only revise our translated labels when we introduce new products
- Most of the time, the “veggie meat” products contain egg albumen because the isolated soy protein base we purchase comes that way from the manufacturer
- There are few labeling regulations in Taiwan and they are rarely, if ever, enforced. We usually list the ingredients we put into food directly, but if if we’re using something from a third party we don’t always list the ingredients in that. It’s just not important in Taiwan.
So, we had just been told in no uncertain terms that egg-containing isolated soy protein COULD be used as an ingredient in veggie meats that were labelled appropriately for the Taiwanese market (ignoring the fact that eggs, in this case, were present in them). We can also assume that the egg ingredients were not written onto the label, as the original ingredients of the soy protein were not available at the time of labeling, and even if they were they would have been ignored as being irrelevant for the local market.

While none of this proves that non-vegan ingredients found their way from Taiwan to our local vegan Thai restaurant, it does show a suspicious chain of events, half-way around the world and well away from US FDA labeling requirements.

So, we decided to do some research into the matter and began with the Taiwanese media. Google led us to this recent story right away: “Over 50% of processed foods for vegetarians contain meat”, which we found to be absolutely shocking. After all, if vegetarian foods contain MEAT (in this case pork and beef), who knows what else they could really contain. So, we thought it would be worthwhile confronting the Taiwanese government directly on the issue.

We placed a call to the “Department of Health, Executive Yuan, R.O.C., Taiwan” (www.doh.gov.tw) and were directed to the “Bureau of Food Safety” and specifically a Dr. Yi-Pin Kao who could answer our questions in English. While we could not get an “on the record” conversation with a Taiwanese official, we were informed that new legislation is about to be enacted in order to deal with what is apparently a known issue. We were referred to the Taiwanese media for details.

Unfortunately, little of the information we sought is in English but we did manage to find two highly reputable news sources (the Taipei Times and China Post), each of which a published a corroborating story about this new legislation, which (purely coincidentally) will be enacted on Wednesday July 1st, 2009 – THIS very Wednesday! The Times post (Labeling rules tightened) explains the introduction of new legislation to fine food producers who don’t accurately label their products. The China Post article (All vegetarian products must have detailed labels starting from July 1) pretty much speaks for itself.

The esteemed “Earth times” also has similar coverage (Taiwan to enact world’s strictest law on veggie food labeling), which again emphasizes the new legislation.

It seems that at the moment we were conducting our research, one of the results of which would be to expose a major flaw in food labeling requirements in Taiwan, the government was about to introduce legislation that would hopefully help to reduce the problem significantly.

Remember: MOST, if not all, of the fake meats you buy come from Taiwan.

The Bottom Line

If you want to eat an entirely vegan diet where there’s no chance whatsoever of any non-vegan contamination, the only way is to grow your own raw materials, and prepare them at home, “seed to plate”. That’s not practical for most people these days, so we place our trust in establishments to prepare food for us, hopefully to reasonable standards of non-contamination.

For most people in LA, though, vegan dining is one of several food options on any given evening. I’ve heard non-vegan people say things like “Shall we have sushi or vegan tonight?”. Walk past any of the restaurants we’ve mentioned in this post, look in the window and we bet that a tiny minority of the people inside are actual vegans, committed to the lifestyle of eschewing any animal products. The rest won’t care much about some egg or milk in their food, and that majority are the ones being catered to in the LA vegan dining scene.

Sadly, there are people out there ready to take advantage of any minority, particularly the operators of vegan Thai establishments who have a long and dubious record of serving non-vegan food items.

Green Leaves Vegan, though, stands out and is most deserving of shame.

REMINDER: Please check out the follow-up post from today when you’ve read this. THANKS.

Operation Pancake: Team Quarrygirl + Mr. Wishbone
Tags: operation pancake

402 responses to “Operation Pancake: Undercover investigation of LA vegan restaurants”

erin July 5th, 2009 at 15:39

Despite running a vegan retreat center here in Florida I am only vegetarian. I stopped being vegan after I realized it was nearly impossible as I travel and eat out a lot. Most vegan restaurants aren’t REALLY 100% vegan. I now just call myself a vegetarian and while I don’t eat meat I realize I’m going to have some egg/dairy products on occasion.

Erin
Yishai July 5th, 2009 at 17:54

Hello To everyone out there concerned about this matter. We at A Taste of Life welcome this testing on any and all of our products. We take pride in creating our meats and cheeses from scratch, TVP or Tofu, not purchasing the others. As a consumer we do appreciate Quarry Girl doing this because it has always been a concern of ours. Please feel free to ask us any questions regarding the content of our food and join us joining you in helping to create peaceful vegan environments. Thanks to everyone who supports us and who supports the growth and development of the vegan lifestyle. Our website is http://www.atasteoflifellc.com.
Logan July 6th, 2009 at 07:39

Wow, great job on all the effort put into this and exposing such a pervasive problem. I only wish we had 17 vegan restaurants here in Austin – even if some of them were “fake vegan”.
Ellen July 6th, 2009 at 13:30

As a former TV investigative reporter, it makes me sad that investigative journalism is so dead. But congrats on doing the work that the mainstream doesn’t any more. Go get ‘em! And those who are so inclined, do this in every city.

Because I’m the only healthy/alive person in my family by a long shot, I’ve been eating vegan 20+ years, placing in local 5K’s for my age group, and teach cooking classes for the national non-profit, The Cancer Project in my free time. Trying to avoid the genes and bad lifestyle choices that destroyed my family has been the investigative reporting job of my life.

While The Cancer Project docs and dieticians suggest seitan and other analogues as a transition food, the cheapest and cleanest way to know you’re eating veggies to eat veggies.

There are 90 fruits and veggies out there, so if you don’t like one, we say, try some others. You certainly don’t find that variety in meats. I can make a mean seitan that looks like beef stroganoff. But seitan just doesn’t call to me the way a rainbow salad or bean dish does. Where I live in Florida between 2 fishing piers, it isn’t easy to seek out vegan dishes. But I can do it in every local restaurant, with items beyond salads. Carry on and keep asking for veggies!
TERENCE July 6th, 2009 at 18:33

PEOPLE GET REAL, HUMANS ARE SUPPOSED TO BE INTELLIGENT BEINGS!
It’s sad that I’m the only person to post an objection to quarrygirl’s “tests.” It’s a complete falsity: read the entire article again.
There are 9 bullets for their outline of testing and none of them are legitimate, especially the testing facility, which is apparently a vegan house built of vegan materials from the ground up. I would love to see photos of this ground-breaking architectural facility.
There is nothing scientific about these tests or their results, even the guys at
quarrygirl admit not everything is completely accurate. Just look at their reason for Pure Luck testing positive for casein, “can’t determine why.”
I don’t mean to rain on the praise parade but there has to be a limit in believing what you read, especially in this day and age where all forms of media are distorting the truth and reality of our existence.
- Andy M. July 7th, 2009 at 01:18
  
  Should you do it with the same kind of food for every restaurant? Maybe you should test all the foods also if you really want to judge them like this!! This may ruin the reputaions to the restaurants and we don’t even know how accurate the test is!!!
  
  Unbelievable!!! Some of the restaurants in the list use a lot of ingredient brands in common for their foods but the test got the different results…Can this really be accuate?
  
  I agree with Terence’s post above. Get real!! try it and decide by yourself!!
Joy July 6th, 2009 at 21:17

Thank you so much for all the effort and expense you put into doing this research! I would be very grateful if you would test faux meats from the Wheel of Life in Irvine, one of my favorite restaurants. And it would be reassuring to have negative test results for other items at the “good” restaurants, especially their faux meats.

I wish someone would organize a class action lawsuit on behalf of all of us upset vegans who have eaten these non-vegan products! This is so depressing… I’ve always loved Thai and Chinese food and now am too paranoid to eat it.

If you need anyone to help with testing restaurants in San Diego, I would love to be of assistance!

Thank you!
alex July 6th, 2009 at 21:34

i’m convinced that every moron who has something negative to say about your research never tried the cheese at greenleaves
James July 6th, 2009 at 23:37

I’m a complete foodie and I call it as I see it and this report should be interpreted by the readers as they see it, not to just simply imply or judge not having eaten there that all vegan establishments are not on the straight and narrow when it comes to strict guidelines regarding vegan foods. Call it “as” this investigative report found. someplace (Truly Vegan,Vegan Glory came out “Negative” from this report. Would you still say, no I won’t eat there because…what? You have something against an Asian establishment or something else?? You may eat wherever you want, just dont impose your thoughts on where “I” should or shouldn’t eat at!
Al July 7th, 2009 at 01:10

First world problems.
J. July 7th, 2009 at 11:10

Incredibly thorough investigative journalism. Well done.
Mary July 7th, 2009 at 11:38

Excellent investigation. I rarely go to restaurants, or purchase prepared foods, sticking to homemade (made from scratch) foods.
Toon (Owner of California Vegan) July 7th, 2009 at 12:41

To all of California Vegan Customers and Quarrygirl:

My name is Toon Fuhtrakoon. I am the owner of California Vegan. By October 2009, California Vegan will be in Business for 6 years.

Let me tell you a little history of myself and experiences. I’ve been in restaurant business for over 12 years. I have BA in Performing Arts in Bangkok University. When I came to the United States and stayed with my aunts and asked me to help as a cook for her catering business. They inspired me about Veganism. And I came to the conclusion that the best way to promote veganism was to show people that they could make tasty meals that didn’t have any meat by cooking for them. The most gratifying thing about owning my own restaurant is when I have customers come in and tell me, “my friend and my family became a vegan because he ate here.” That’s what it’s all about for me.

After I opened up California Vegan in October 2003 I told myself i have to do busin with honesty, integrity, commitment, and loyalty to customers.

It is very interesting that the Querrygirls accused California Vegan for using egg in Orange chicken because we use the same type of soy chicken and chicken batter like other Thai Vegan restaurants that you don’t find any egg or casein. We make our own batter mix ourself. Before i purchased the soy products i have to make sure that the all the ingredients are absolutely vegan. Also our distributors wouldn’t lied to us because the products came from Taiwan and they have to go through FDA. I agreed with Torence that there is nothing scientific about these tests or their results, even the guys at quarrygirl admit not everything is completely accurate. Just look at their reason for Pure Luck testing positive for casein, “can’t determine why.” Sorry to say this but The testing kits look like pregnancy test.

In conclusion I would like to urge any customers or the Quarrygirl who has doubts or concerns about our orange chicken, batter mix, chicken nuggets, etc.. to come to our store on Sunset location. I would be more than happy to show you the ingredients.

Thank you for my supporting customers and i appreciate Quarrygirl who concern about vegan community.

By the way, here is the ingredient for the batter mix flour we use for orange chicken.

Ingredients:
- Kamut flour
- Water
- Egg Replacer (not real egg)
- baking soda
- garlic powder
- black pepper

Sincerly,
Toon Fuhtrakoon
- Roxee September 16th, 2011 at 05:06
  
  So the Egg Replacer can possibly mimic real egg, I wonder if Quarry Girl thought of testing the egg replacer to verify? Gotta be thorough!!
audrey July 7th, 2009 at 14:39

Why do they call themselves vegan restaurants if they don’t really serve vegan foods. Some people are serious with what they eat, they can’t just say they serve vegan foods when they don’t.
carlo July 7th, 2009 at 18:35

I think the most important point made from this investigation is the problem with the source. In this case the manufacturer who produce fake meats and other company’s who produce faux cheese. One should be so inspired now to rely on home cooking than some food establishment that is in the business to make a profit and not so much interested in your health and ethics. It is a shame that some ‘vegan’ restaurants failed to research deeper into their food supply to insure clean, vegan ingredients. Besides I believe fake meats are such a transitional food anyways. Why are so many vegans still eating that stuff?
Rahel Vegan Cuisine July 8th, 2009 at 08:26

This is Rahel the owner of Rahel Vegan Cuisine at 1047 S. Fairfax in Los Angeles.
I am sorry to read about the problems with some of the foods at some of the other “vegan” restaurants in Los Angeles.
Please know that you can count on everything at my restaurant to be 100% vegan.
I do not use any of the fake meats.
My foods are authentic Ethiopian foods.
I only use legumes, vegetables, and grains.
Vegans should easily be able to feel comfortable dining here.
- Stefany September 6th, 2011 at 07:38
  
  I love Rahel Vegan Cuisine!
claudia July 8th, 2009 at 13:53

I am baffled by all the vegetarians that are fascinated by “fake meats.” But that is just me because I never liked meat yet alone have a desire to eat something made to resemble or taste like it. ” I would never eat a cute, pink pig but one that smells like it and looks like it but no heartbeat- oh yes! Sign me up! That way I can fantasize that I’m indulging in that cute, pink pig…but not really”
Bizzarro…

Anyway- back to the argument @ hand: We live in a country where you can’t rely on anything being what it claims to be… 100%. Always be aware that the only control you have is what you cook in your kitchen. Considering the quality control and food safety issues we have in the US and the negligence in what we import and the polluted water we have available in our taps and contaminated bottled water… It should not be that alarming that manufacturing companies cheat, at times and misrepresent their products.

I am lactose intolerant and allergic to wheat, gluten and oh too many items to list. So misreprentation is a problem. I’ve learned to deal with it and be xtra observant and ask tons of questions… I take full responsibility for what I put in my mouth. If I’m too tired to go through all the questions, smelling, poking and probing then I deal with the consequences…

With all that being said, I thank QuarryGirl for calling restaurants out along with manufacturing companies. This is what will truly motivate companies to walk the talk and stop mis-presenting and faciliate the shedding of ignorance. On the flipside: if you are testing make sure your testing tools are 100% accurate or you could be slandering and unfairly hurting an honest business.
- Roxee September 16th, 2011 at 05:13
  
  Reply to California Vegan as to his recipe containing Egg Replacer:
  
  “So the Egg Replacer can possibly mimic real egg, I wonder if Quarry Girl thought of testing the egg replacer to verify? Gotta be thorough!!”
  
  Yes, I would consider that hurtful and slanderous if the Egg Replacer wasn’t tested with the egg testing kit. And the other “foods” too, like shellfish, find out what could cause a food to test positive or overload…. They could just be MIMICS!!
Anon July 9th, 2009 at 11:41

*gasp* The Healthy Choice Shrimp Dinner tested “Overload” for shellfish! The horror.

Anyone who says humans were made to be vegans needs to take a look in the mirror, smile and explain what those canines are for.
jd July 10th, 2009 at 11:45

You are out of your fucking mind with this testing
Anonymous July 10th, 2009 at 12:23

Uhm…I have to agree with Anon, above…just precisely WHAT are our teeth for? So that we can not-use them? That’s like saying that not-collecting stamps is a hobby! I’ll say what teeth were for, since nobody else probably will: RIPPING INTO MEAT!!

I mean, you all live how you want and all, that’s fine, but if you think about it…”natural selection” means “letting animals eat each other”. Or we can eat them ourselves. Either way, they’re gonna get eaten. And which way involves less waste? That’s right my friend, there’s less waste if we eat them ourselves.

And uhhhh…yea, if you’ve “never even thought of eating casein” or are “horrified” at the prospect…just exactly what do you think is in all-natural mother’s breast milk? Orange juice? Tofu? Whiskey? Gasoline? HELLO! It’s MILK!

Get it through your skulls please my friends, we need to go back to the all natural way. I am not a hippie but we need to get back to the all natural way.

Oh and next time you’re any of you in SC, tell me. I’ll make you a bacon egg and cheese English muffin with whole milk to wash it down. And you’ll know what’s in it because I’ll make it in my own kitchen! A deal?
- Katie February 14th, 2011 at 07:49
  
  I won’t debate that humans are naturally omnivores, nor will I debate that the food chain is made up heavily of predator and prey relationships. I’m not a vegan. In fact, I hunt and I raise chickens. But I eat a lot of vegan food, because factory farming is NOT the food chain. Eating animals and animal products isn’t necessarily wrong (in my eyes), but raising animals the way we do isn’t good for us, isn’t good for our planet, and certainly isn’t natural the way you’re implying.
  If you want to use those canines like they were really intended, go out in the woods with a spear instead of going to the grocery store.
- Roxee September 16th, 2011 at 05:17
  
  1. Teeth… Have you tried to eat an apple or a hard fresh carrot without them?
  2. Mother’s milk…. Do YOU drink your mother;s milk now, it’s for BABIES, not adults!
Annie July 10th, 2009 at 12:29

I stumbled onto this thread this afternoon (work is boring today )and I have a question. Please know, I’m not being snarky, this is an honest question as someone who loves animals but eats meat. It may even be a stupid question and for that I apologize.

How is eating eggs and drinking milk cruel? Is it because chickens are in chicken coops? If this is why, aren’t there free-range places where they don’t coop them up?
Splendid One July 10th, 2009 at 12:30

For those of you who seem to have trouble understanding the term “carnivore” – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnivore – note that it is not someone or something who happens to eat some meat. Humans are omnivores – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omnivore.

I think the intent, shown above in a number of places, is to use the word “carnivore” to disparage those who eat meat – but, reallys does cut into your credibility by showing ignorance.
Elizabeth July 10th, 2009 at 12:51

Thank you for this excellent info. It is well written, easy to read, and has interesting facts. Job well done!
smoove July 10th, 2009 at 13:00

May these be the biggest problems you encounter in your life.
Irina July 10th, 2009 at 13:01

Dear Anonymous,

Your argument is so bad, it has its own name: The Appeal to Nature Fallacy.

Here’s a Wikipedia article on it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appeal_to_nature

To everyone else, I’m sorry, but even the trolls have to eat!

Best,
Irina
nice strategy July 10th, 2009 at 13:27

I’m not vegan, but I think restaurants that advertise themselves as such have an obligation to make sure that their products be in fact vegan.

That being said, what could have been an excellent article falls apart at the end. (The follow up post helps considerably, however). Failing to contact the restaurants and let them speak for themselves was unacceptable from a journalism point of view and does expose you to lawsuits. Your methodology is terrible, testing a small number of menu items one time each. You could destroy someone’s business and throw their family into turmoil over an outlier supply issue or employee error. You rushed this story out, including speculation in your analysis of the results instead of following up and ascertaining whether the problem is one of restaurant laziness or greed or something whether 100% purity is logistically nearly impossible. It seems that Green Leaves has more than this one data point against it, but if I had been your editor I would have insisted on follow-up visits to corroborate your initial findings.

I appreciate that people with sensitive allergies have a reason for their purity trip, but there is no evidence that anyone has ever gotten sick from eating at these establishments. You didn’t have the financial resources to run the study you wanted to, alas. That doesn’t make it acceptable to perform a one time test and then accuse them of lying. Most of the article includes qualifications and a lot of transparency, but you fumbled it at the end and exposed yourselves to litigation even though you are probably correct about Green Leaves based on the additional context provided in the follow-up post. There is no reason to accuse them of a blatant lie. If your study had to be small-scale for budget reasons, then publish the results and let your readers come to their own conclusions. I seriously hope you do not face a libel action.
miss anthrope July 10th, 2009 at 14:05

nice strategy: green leaves has been lying about their cheese for years, and it’s been a major topic in the LA vegan community. people have seen non-vegan ingredients in their dumpster and kitchen. all we did was put their “soy” cheese to a scientific test. it failed.

vegans deserve to know what they are eating…and at a lot of these places, what they are eating is animal products.
Annie July 10th, 2009 at 14:10

P.S. I just had one of those “hit myself on the head” moments regarding the whole egg issue… Obviously the eggs would someday turn into chickens! Sometimes I’m a little dense. HOWEVER, this led me to wondering whether all vegans were also pro-life vs. pro-choice. Of course, the chickens don’t have a choice… boy, this could go on and on.

Still, it doesn’t explain milk. So here I sit – waiting.
Steve Schauer July 10th, 2009 at 14:12

People are starving around the globe and we indulge in this kind of obsession. Have we lost all sense of perspective?
miss anthrope July 10th, 2009 at 14:17

annie: here is some literature that can explain it much better than i can!
open the page, and click on “what’s wrong with dairy and eggs?”

let me know what you think.

http://www.afa-online.org/literature.html
nice strategy July 10th, 2009 at 14:24

On a different topic,

I’m embarrassed by some of the mean-spirited and ignorant things stated here by my fellow omnivores, but I also think that some vegans in the comment thread have lost perspective as to what is realistic and how they sometimes come across to a wider audience. Making the perfect the enemy of the good is one thing, but it is also clear that some vegans see the world through a “you are either with us or against us” mentality.

Part of me thinks, well, if 99.9% isn’t good enough for you, that’s your business. Yet what that amounts to is putting that .1% ahead of so many other concerns, be they animal rights or otherwise. As with everything, there are diminishing returns in play here. It costs nothing (and in fact saves resources) to go vegetarian. It is relatively cheap and easy to enforce a vegetarian code on one’s self and hold vegetarian businesses accountable. Generally being vegan is a bigger commitment but I respect the effort since you are the ones making it. But as you approach 100% perfect veganism the cost and trouble of doing so gets progressively more expensive for increasingly miniscule effects on animals. Eventually one has to wonder if this is really about the animals or more about the social/psychological needs of the humans.

The insistence on absolute purity creates the perception that many vegans are not just making an ethical choice for themselves on behalf of animals but also are people that have contempt for people who don’t make the same choice. Getting upset over restaurants who are sloppy and disrespecting their clientele is different from getting upset over the possibility of ingesting a few grams of animal products on occasion as if it were unnatural. Working with restaurants and making them accountable is not my issue. It is with the attitude of disgust towards the possibility of accidental ingestion of the slightest bit of anything impure. There is just no way for someone to center their identity so strongly around the .1% and also be respectful of people who don’t make the same choice. I am not talking about people with super sensitive allergies, of course, but those who deride “pescatarians” and such. The last thing the vegan movement needs to project a PETA-like attitude towards non-believers.

PETA is the least effective advocacy group of all time as they turn potentially sympathetic people against them with their tactics and holier than thou bullshit. It is clear to me that some of the PETA folks have psychological issues around needing to be part of a meaningful group, to be part of something they find important, to be part of something bigger than themselves and so get lost in groupthink and self-righteous socially exclusionary sense of superiority.

Focusing on the .1% projects a lack of perspective about what is realistic as well as a lack of perspective about other social problems, you know, like war, disease, corruption, and hate.

Veganism is a symptom of an affluent society. That doesn’t make it right or wrong, but I don’t think it is in your collective interest to come across as spoiled rich Westerners with too much time on your hands, purifying yourself to the Nth degree. Most vegans I’ve known have had a healthy respect for other social justice causes as well as their non-vegan friends. Then again, most vegan’s I’ve known have quit attempting to be 100% vegan or dropped it entirely because they weren’t healthy and because it was enormous trouble. And then there are those true believer types who can barely disguise their contempt. The same dynamic exists within every minority group and I don’t think for a minute that most vegans have such a militant attitude. When I encounter it, however, my emotional reaction is to push back. I suspect some of the above comments are flowing from the same place. I also suspect some of the above comments are made by people who have never questioned anything about themselves and are just plain a-holes.
/ramble
nice strategy July 10th, 2009 at 14:44

“nice strategy: green leaves has been lying about their cheese for years, and it’s been a major topic in the LA vegan community. people have seen non-vegan ingredients in their dumpster and kitchen. all we did was put their “soy” cheese to a scientific test. it failed.”

That might be the word on the vegan street and you have every reason to believe your sources but it is still hearsay as presented in the original post. Had you simply put their cheese to the test and reported it, you’d be fine. Accusing them of using real cheese on purpose — accusing them of lying — is what exposes you to liability. Maybe you should ask a lawyer, or edit your post before you get sued. I teach journalism and this is basic libel law. The owner of a restaurant is not a public figure, so if they have halfway decent records (receipts, purchase orders and such) and you have this one test then you could easily lose. It is complete garbage that people with money can use the mere threat of a lawsuit to extract a settlement, but on the surface they could have an actionable claim that wouldn’t be worth risking in court, and that could cost you — big time. Don’t shoot the messenger. I don’t want you to get sued, so lose the attitude and protect yourself.

Seriously, go ask a lawyer. You have not shown sufficient proof to accuse them of lying. It is a very risky claim that adds nothing to your story. That’s journalism 101. And not getting their comment before publication is weak. I take it investigative journalism isn’t your reason to live, it is an understandable mistake, but leaving the claim of lying on your site without more backup is stupid. If it is that important to you, make some calls to the people who actually saw their garbage and get them to give you an on the record quote. One piece of evidence simply will not do.
mr meaner July 10th, 2009 at 15:00

nice strategy: thanks so much for your constructive comment. the “accusation” against Green Leaves reads as follows in the post: “Green Leaves Vegan also either intentionally misleads vegans every day, or is seriously mistaken when it describes its menu items to its customers.”

I don’t believe that we are accusing them (or any other restaurant) of lying. They are singled out for extra negativity because vegans have been asking about their “cheese” for seemingly years, and getting very different answers.
Jeremy July 10th, 2009 at 15:32

What’s so hard? If you want to cut out meat and cheese from your diet, CUT OUT MEAT AND CHEESE.

Processed foods can’t possibly be good for you – all the aweful chemical-laden denatured proteins.

Eat real food, and you won’t have to worry about where it comes from.
nice strategy July 10th, 2009 at 19:02

Really, this will be my last post. There is a graphic of one menu item with the caption: “Blatant lie from the menu on the Green Leaves website.”

Thus, you are accusing them of lying.

Yes it seems crazy but it only takes one false statement to make a libel claim. “Blatant lie” ascribes venal motivation to the restaurant. If they have a paper trail of purchases of genuinely vegan cheese, they could give you a hard time about it. If you want to prove that they purposefully and systematically lie about their products, you need more than one piece of evidence. The end.
LORD XENU July 10th, 2009 at 19:12

You’re insane.
Skippy Picasso July 10th, 2009 at 21:26

It would have been nice if you had taken your findings to the restaurants in question prior to publicizing their names and your results on the internet, then you could have affected positive change without causing potential harm to businesses that may have been willing to acknowledge and remedy their (quite possibly unintentional) faults in trying to serve a particular population. Now you’ve become the vegan version of Geraldo Rivera. Are all vegans this unethical?
mr meaner July 10th, 2009 at 22:13

nice strategy: thanks for posting no more! I’m glad you teach journalism, because:

a) it’s a dying profession
b) “those who can do, those who can’t teach”
c) you are an American, right? Running to your pathetic legal system to protect you as you did to your “mom” when things were not right as a child.
d) The end.
Donovan July 10th, 2009 at 23:30

Well, lucky me… I’m allergic to soy and tree nuts, and therefore I HAVE to avoid pretty much everything listed as suspect in this article.

I can’t really be vegan, as allergies leave me with not many other sources of protein besides milk and beans. Soy is in so much, everything (and the line that people with soy allergies can eat soybean oil is such a crock) that I can eat at very, very few restaurants.

Anyway, interesting research, and great article!
Mary Jane July 11th, 2009 at 09:52

If, in fact, the “cheese” @ Green Leaves has been a topic of speculation among vegans, why do you all continue eating there? Just asking…

Keep your yuppie $$$ away and they will change the cheese.
jahsa July 11th, 2009 at 16:48

SOYLENT GREEN…IS….PEOPLE!!!!!!!
lapsang souchong July 11th, 2009 at 17:22

wow. you people are just as fanatical as the orthodox jews. this is truly sad–unless you have an allergy, what do you care if your vegan food was processed ON THE SAME EQUIPMENT (OMG) as shellfish and cream? just another holier-than-thou load of crap from the vegetarian version of the taliban. the FDA tolerance levels for insect and animal parts are considerably higher than the sensitivity levels of your tests. if you really want to eat a strictly vegan diet, stop eating out and buying food from the supermarket and grow all of your own food. no one is claiming that this food meets your ridiculously exacting standards, so all you’re really doing here is contributing to the popular perception of vegans/vegetarians as overgrown finicky children pushing away their plates because there’s something other than pasta on them. if you really have this level of beef (no pun intended) with these restaurants, then stop eating food that you haven’t produced or tested, cause the levels of purity you’re demanding are WAY beyond rational limits. if you can afford to eat a healthy vegan diet and patronize these yuppie slop-dispensers, you can afford to grow your own food, so stop demanding that the whole world adhere to your standards of purity and start doing something about the presence of minute traces of casein in your own diet.
OperationCounterstrike July 11th, 2009 at 19:13

All three of the tests you used are immunoassays. That is, the target molecule interacts with an antibody to it which was raised by injecting the target into–yes you guessed it–ANIMALS, and the interaction triggers a visible chemical effect. If the antibody was raised in a bioreactor it may be vegan, but the reaserch that made it was not.

More to the point, the egg-test (chicken ovalbumin) and the milk-test (bovine casein) are most likely species-specific; most immunoassays for proteins are. That means the restaurants could be using goat’s milk and duck eggs and you’d never know. And soon it will be possible to grow transgenic cows which make porcine casein, and transgenic chickens that make duck ovalbumin, and your tests will miss them.
Colleen July 12th, 2009 at 12:46

Dear Quarrygirl & Mr. Wishbone, and the rest who were involved in this undertaking of restaurant testing, thank you from the bottom of my heart. I’ve been a vegetarian for forty years and this truly was an impressive, informative article. It makes me wish I could read Chinese.
leif July 12th, 2009 at 13:07

Nice presentation….are you that mad and retarded?
Seems kind of silly…do you wear leather shoes?
High standards…high IQ and a waste of energy.
mr meaner July 12th, 2009 at 16:42

@leif – no, we don’t wear leather shoes, and my “mad”, “retarded” cousin who has a below-normal IQ but is the sweetest person you’d ever wish to meet would consider your entire existence a waste of energy.
mr meaner July 12th, 2009 at 16:45

OperationCounterstrike: attempting to respond to your comment… decoding now…”immunoassays”, “target molecule”, “bioreactor”, “ovalbumin”…. zzzz…. AH! Something that makes sense! “goat’s milk and duck eggs”. sure thing. As soon as these ingredients become mainstream I’m sure we’ll test for them. You are boring as shit, as it your blog. You remind me why I walked out of university years ago — cuz I was surrounded by boring assholes like you.
NutJob July 12th, 2009 at 19:43

Youre simply fucked

This posting in and of itself is not vegan

Fossil fuel powers them there internets
OperationCounterstrike July 12th, 2009 at 20:03

Mr. Meaner, I’m not at all surprised to learn that you are a dropout. It shows.
OperationCounterstrike July 12th, 2009 at 21:34

Seriously, you have obviously put a lot of time and energy and money into this project. Do you really not care about how the testkits work, and how this might affect the meaning of the results you published?

More generally, how do you feel about the fact that without sacrificing animals for research we would be unable to conduct the tests you used (and probably would not have any tests to measure unvegan-content AT ALL)?

BTW I also am a dropout. I dropped out of med school.
OperationCounterstrike July 13th, 2009 at 10:15

As far as “mainstream” is concerned, there are ostrich farms all over Australia and New Zealand, for meat and skin (ostrich-leather is nice although not long-lasting). Duck farms all over the world, and squab, quail, turkeys, and geese. What do you think happens to the unfertilized eggs? Couldn’t they be used in creamy-sauce mixes and noodles and batter-mixes and everything? You seem awfully sure this is not happening and ending up in your restaurants, even though you say you were driven to do this project because of misgivings about suppliers including some very foreign, questionably-regulated ones.

Oh, almost forgot: “assay” means what’s in the test-kit and how it works, “ovalbumin” is to the egg-test what casein is to the milk-test–the stuff in the milk or egg which the test detects, which more generally is called the “target-molecule”, “analyte”, or, if the assay is an immunoassay like yours, “antigen” or “immunogen”. “Immunoassay” means an assay (see above) which uses an antibody (see below). An “antibody” is stuff made by white cells in the blood of a mammal (or bird) that has been injected with antigen. Each antibody sticks to the antigen but not to other things. Antibodies are part of what makes vaccines work. The antibody is one of the molecules the blood makes to defend itself from the antigen, which the blood thinks is part of an invading organism (infection). This tags the antigen for other killer cells in the blood. Think of the meter maid who tickets the illegal cars and the tow trucks that come tow the ticketed cars away. The antibodies are the tickets. We kill the animal, steal the cells that make the antibody, grow them, harvest the antibody they make, and ruthlessly exploit the now-dead animal’s natural defenses for our own nefarious purposes like making test kits. We use the fact that the antibody sticks to antigen but not to other things to DETECT, specifically, antigen in the zillion-compound mush which is food.

I trust I make myself perfectly obscure. If not, maybe smoking a joint will help.

PS A “bioreactor” is a machine for growing cells in liquid, usually in order to harvest something the cells make. That means the bioreactor liquid must be chemically similar to what the cells naturally live in (usually blood), body temperature, supplied with oxygen and cleared of carbon dioxide. A bioreactor can be anything from a gently-rotating flask in a warm case to a chamber packed with cells with an artificial pump circulating growth-liquid through porus tubes through the chamber, fluid-dynamically designed by teams of engineers in well-tailored suits to maximize chemical exchange with the cells but minimize mechanical stress on them.
Ben July 13th, 2009 at 10:33

THANK YOU SO SO SO SO SO MUCH for this informative post!! I think I recognize those testkits…and I am shocked that Pure LUCK OF ALL PLACES had any casein in their food. THIS SUCKS<<<<<
Jim S. July 13th, 2009 at 18:16

On the positive: I like seeing citizens doing investigative journalism, and taking pains to use scientific methods when they do.

On the negative: you seemed to tackle this in a way I would call “adversarial”. Another approach would have been to engage all these entities directly–instead of posing as someone who’s posing as a blog persona. It sounds like you generally would have found out all the same things and not been out $1 grand!

At worst, these restaurants are offering a few items that are vegetarian (not vegan) and failing to label them correctly. I agree that needs to be fixed. But this plastic-bag cloak-and-dagger isn’t doing a lot for making veganism look like a viable way of living.
And it’s tough to effect change if you go into it with a divisive us-vs-them attitude.

FWIW, I worked the counter at an “all-organic” “raw-food” establishment for a bit. I’m personally all in favor of educating consumers about the nuances of the supply chain, and the esoteric details of why you can’t get organic wasabi. But neither the owner nor the customers appreciated my efforts to get people to understand the details. Sigh.
miss anthrope July 14th, 2009 at 08:14

hey everyone, just want to clarify the exact restaurants and addresses where we obtained the food for testing. it looks like there’s been some confusion, because there are two CA vegan locations as well as two LA vegan locations. here are the places we went:

Flore
3818 W. Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026

Vinh Loi Tofu
18625 Sherman Way
Ste 101
Reseda, CA 91335

Pure Luck
707 N Heliotrope Dr
Los Angeles, CA 90029

Truly Vegan
5907 Hollywood Blvd
Hollywood, CA 90028

Vegan Glory
8393 Beverly Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90048

Vegan Express
3217 Cahuenga Blvd W
Los Angeles, CA 90068

Green Leaves Vegan
1769 Hillhurst Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90027

Vegan Plate
11943 Ventura Blvd
Studio City, CA 91604

Vegan House
1717 N Wilcox Ave
Hollywood, CA 90028

Lotus Vegan
5038 Vineland Ave
North Hollywood, CA 91601

California Vegan
12113 Santa Monica Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90025

LA Vegan Thai
4507 S Centinela Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90066

Vegan Joint
10438 National Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90034

Real Food Daily
414 N La Cienega Blvd
West Hollywood, CA 90048

M Cafe
7119 Melrose Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90036

Leaf
11938 W Washington Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90066
Jeff Mann July 15th, 2009 at 15:04

This office represents Green Leaves Vegan In Los Angeles Ca.Your website quarrygirl.com indicates that my clients food registers “overload” for Casein in my clients cheese dishes.and registers high for egg content in both it’s chicken and fish dishes.Your site continues to allege that my client is misleading it’s customers. The facts are that Green Leaves Vegan is vegan and is verified by the Los Angeles Health Dept. Green Leaves has passed all city inspections regarding it’s vegan menu. The information yoou have provided is false, malicious and defamatory. My clients business has suffered as a direct result of you website.You have 10 days to retract your comments about my clients restaurant on your website in a clear and noticable way. My client is even willing to allow you to retest his food. Failure to perform the above will result in legal action against you.Please be guided accordingly. Jeff Mann Attorney at Law. 3660 Wilshire bl. #522 Los Angeles Ca 90010 213-930-1902.
- Roxee September 16th, 2011 at 05:26
  
  Is this threat an “empty” threat? Once on the internet always on the internet, it cannot be erased….
Io July 15th, 2009 at 15:07

Mr. Meaner wrote:

“nice strategy: thanks for posting no more! I’m glad you teach journalism, because:
a) it’s a dying profession
b) “those who can do, those who can’t teach”
c) you are an American, right? Running to your pathetic legal system to protect you as you did to your “mom” when things were not right as a child.
d) The end.”

a) Journalism is a dying profession because people like you don’t think it’s useful/relevant to actually be informed about the world they live in. They’d rather hang out with and read stuff by people who think exactly like them. Why bother having an open mind when you know it all already. I’m going to guess this also explains your anger, inferiority complex(es?) and resentment of college graduates.

b) An insightful and rarely used quote whose systematic accuracy has certainly NEVER been debunked by experiencing a solid prof/teacher. BTW, aren’t you trying to teach your readers something via this blog as well as this specific post? Guess you can’t “do”…

c) Yeah, you used that same line about Americans wanting their “mom” (why the quote marks?) to protect them a bit higher up in the page. It made no more sense then. Yeah, Americans make you sick, we get it. So move to fucking Nicaragua*. You’ll be missed, but think of all the good you can do there. (Further, if you are American it’s your pathetic legal system too pal. And if you aren’t, what’s your deal?)

d) Now that’s what I call WRITING!

FYI: Let me preempt your comebacks: I dropped out of college, left the US on the day of Bush’s re-election and, though I am omnivorous, agree that products sold as vegan should indeed be vegan. I also think this is actually a fascinating and amazingly thorough piece of… what’s the word? Journalism? So props to you all on that. It’s just that the other people involved in this post seem to be reasonable and articulate people, whereas you just come off as a miserable cunt.

Would any of the other writers mind explaining to me why you put up with this guy?

*Nicaragua chosen at random, no hate mail from Nicaraguans who don’t want this dumbass in their country please.
Shojin Restaurant July 16th, 2009 at 22:22

Thank you for amazing report and as a vegan restaurant, we take it very seriously.

Even we didn’t intend to use non-vagan ingredients, it is not excusable if we provide food with non-vegan ingredients by selecting wrong products.

We contacted vendors or manufactures, and the following “vegan” products. Today, we confirmed all of them are 100% vegan (dairy and casein free).

We will talk and post what and how we create our menu in the blog.
http://gogovegan-shojin.blogspot.com
equanimity July 18th, 2009 at 21:12

Thank you for the investigation. I will definitely keep that in mind the next time I dine in LA.
Blonde Phantom July 19th, 2009 at 01:19

Wow, thanks for this eye opener. As a Vegan, I can always tell if I’ve eaten something accidentally because I break out whether it’s casein or a veggie cheese that says “less than 2% of …”

I do everything I can to ensure I’m eating only Vegan so this is really great work you did. And it’s really wrong of these restaurants to be dishonest. Luckily, I’ve only been to California Vegan and thought the food was terrible so I never went back.
veganbchgirl July 20th, 2009 at 13:09

I agree with those, who like me, think over processed foods either vegan or not is just wrong and damaging to your health. I don’t eat at any of those restaurants (I live and work in the coastal Southbay area) and wouldn’t based on the visuals alone. They just look nasty. I think I will just stick to plant/tofu/rice/rice-yam noodle items at asian vegan restaurants…there are so many.
Rosie July 20th, 2009 at 14:32

Thank you so much. For some people, like my 4 y.o. daughter, eating traces of egg is life-threatening. You have opened my eyes to the dangers of eating out in vegan restaurants, which I assumed would be the first place she would eat out when she is older. For now, i do buy a lot of vegan products from Whole Foods. Do you know if any Vegan certified products manufactured in US have ha problems? Also, there is a new state law here in MA that requires restaurants to list all the ingredients of all their dishes. Wonder if that would help “certain types” take this much more seriously!!
Danny July 22nd, 2009 at 12:13

As I understand it, Vin Loi Tofu in Sherman Oaks and Native Foods make their own tofu and seitan (respectively). So, not all of the “fake meat” comes from Taiwan. Native Foods also makes its own tempeh (simply awesome).
Melissa Bastian July 31st, 2009 at 18:12

You guys are effing nuts. I thought I was “impressive” with the scope and extent of the research that I do, but it’s tinker toys compared to this kind of investigation. I hope you’ve managed to get this published somewhere (other than your own excellent blog, I mean).
Brian August 6th, 2009 at 09:18

OMGOMGOMGOMG NOT REAL CHEESE….FUCK ME THE WORLD IS ENDING =/

Grow up, shit happens, dont “out out for vegan” if your so fucking worried about it, goto the fucking market, but your shit and make it hippyfuck.
The Vegan Korean August 10th, 2009 at 14:46

Hey I’m not sure why my last post points to my blog (I swear I didn’t mean to!), but I just wanted to say I applaud Quarrygirl’s efforts and I am really glad there is someone on the vegan side doing her due diligence in making sure the vegan food we eat is indeed vegan.

BTW, thanks for the flurry of the latest vegan resto recs. I’m so behind the times!
devin de la paz August 11th, 2009 at 02:37

thank you so much for doing this, posting this. i recently in the last year had been getting the feeling that these places were bad news… not only due to high amount of GMO’S used in most vegan restaurants, but also bcuz some of the food was seemingly not vegan. i have had my random moments of a weird taste, vibe, and often wondered where that was coming from. you have just prooved my already intuitive decision. THANK YOU. i will pass/post this around!

much love
Veganbombshell
casey August 13th, 2009 at 14:21

Yeah not the best news, but the biggest problem is getting people to go vegetarian.

Actually the biggest problem is first educating people on factory farms, too bad soooo many shitty vegan activists that fret over the crumbs gets in the way of helping the majority of animals.

myspace.com/vegetarianveganparadise
ashley August 14th, 2009 at 15:53

Question….Forgive me if this is ignorant but if an establishment lables their food “Vegan” isn’t it considered ilegal if they serve you food that wasn’t? Assuming for a moment it is… couldn’t we get people to go in their, and straigten them out..or close them down hopefully with alot of fines for posioning us. im discusted by this persoanlly.

i’ve listed my email..and would appreciate it greatly if you new the answer to email me. thank you so much for exposing this.
tahni August 19th, 2009 at 15:45

i’m a vegan in aust an hav only just read this. i no its in LA but its made me wonder bout the ‘vegan’ places here. i am no the weirdo who takes her own food – at least i no thats vegan!
lab tests September 28th, 2009 at 09:24

It’s good to see the food is being tested.
Christine September 28th, 2009 at 13:15

Wow! This is amazing!! Such great investigative journalism. I love the fact that you looked beyond the restaurants at the distributors and where the food ultimately comes from.

I know this was an expensive process but I’d love to see it done on a wider scale. Maybe get Peta or another organization with decent funding to do the testing.
J.L. October 5th, 2009 at 15:11

Processed “vegan” foods from China have always been suspect. Frankly, meat analogues are a poor substitute for real food. They appeal to vegetarians who don’t really want to be vegetarians, the sort of people who think that the best vegetarian food is that which appeals to omnivores (refined, high-fat, salty, etc.). It should now be obvious why kosher certification of a restaurant requires that all processed ingredients used by the restaurant be certified kosher at their source.
Erin January 3rd, 2010 at 13:07

what a great test! all that work, and what results! thank you for doing this. that’s brilliant.
Paul January 24th, 2010 at 04:38

After reading all this, I’m curious why you went to the Thai buffet in London.
Ken February 9th, 2010 at 09:51

As a vegan Taiwanese American, I’m ashamed by the actions of the Taiwanese manufacturers.
That_Guy February 15th, 2010 at 16:50

I like the mention in a post above suggesting that PETA would actually care about any of this.

A company that endorses a place like KFC just because they gave the chickens an extra 2″ of cage space doesn’t care about things being completely vegan. Just like how they don’t care about bone-char refined sugar (not the hottest button issue to me, but important to many), they’re not strict, nor are they truly concerned with animal rights.

That’s all I’m saying. Off-topic, but the notion that PETA would care about this made me laugh a lot.
Christina Beymer March 24th, 2010 at 22:23

I would stick to eating at home, using Gardein, Tofurky, Artisan and other vegan grain meats made by vegans. The Asian faux meat stuff I’ve know for several years has egg in it as a binder, they just don’t care enough. A restaurant in Santa Rosa stuck real cheese on the vegan pizza. Sucks!
Roger Nygard March 30th, 2010 at 18:57

That is terrible news about some of these restaurants. There are lots of people who are allergic to eggs.
Shee April 25th, 2010 at 11:59

MAN. I am really angry about this. Especially, because I have eaten at Green Leaves Vegan with my son… I feel cheated that they would lie about what is in their food. I mean seriously, here I am with my four year old who is all excited about this place and their “chicken nuggets” and me about the price thinking; wow, we can eat here even once a week, because it’s so inexpensive. And they have all their “ingredients” posted like this is all we use… and I believed them. I can’t even begin to express how angry I am… I feel sick.
dfb May 18th, 2010 at 14:52

Thank you for this and your other posts. My son has allergies to egg and dairy so we eat vegan when out and about. It is sad to see vegan products turn out not to be vegan.

When you do test again, I suggest also testing pre-processed foods you can buy in the market. I think many of them are not actually vegan. For example, we have a feeling some soy milks do in fact contain dairy based on my son’s reactions. If you test soy milks, also test the fresh soy milk companies such as Tan Nam and VK foods (you can buy still warm at many asian markets in Alhambra/Monterey Park). Tan Nam was caught with dairy in its soy milk in about 2005. These fresh soy companies supply many restaurants with soy products.
Natalie August 24th, 2010 at 09:43

I regularly eat at the Vegan House and California Vegan. Or should I say I used to regularly eat there. What a bummer. Thank you for the info. I hope you guys can include Veggie Grill in the future!
Fritz August 24th, 2010 at 13:08

Mmmmm, Vegan House! We finally called them for delivery the other night, and I LOVED their Spicy Eggplant with tofu! Don’t know whose Spicy Eggplant is better: Vegan House’s or Green Leaves’! Both are fantastic! Veggie Grill is great, too; my favorite dishes to order there are the Bali Burger fixed Kale Style and macaroni & cheese.
Ruby August 26th, 2010 at 11:57

I want to say thank you so much for this article. it was so informative and i sent it to all my vegan friends. Great work.
Sam (Laguna Niguel) September 27th, 2010 at 13:52

Thank you for the investigation. If a restaurant masquerades as VEGAN, it needs to have its license revoked–plain and simple. Their willful negligence in serving animal protein endangers the lives of vegans and non-vegans alike.

I have been 100% vegan for over 20 years and after all these years, eating out is still stressful. When we go out, we go to restaurants in which we know the owners, chef and staff. Our favorite restaurant is Native Foods.

Whether one chooses to be vegan for philosophical, religious, health or allergy reasons, the choice needs to be respected. It is not for others to cynically ruin our lives by surreptitiously or negligently serving animal-protein food.
Fritz September 28th, 2010 at 06:46

I’m so glad that Green Leaves—the one in West Hollywood— is near enough for my partner and me to call for delivery! The food is consistently delicious, the staff is very polite, and the delivery time is impressive! And I have no doubt that the soups, salads, and entrees I order are vegan, as I don’t eat faux meats anyway. Green Leaves continues to be my favorite restaurant to call for delivery!
Lisa A October 1st, 2010 at 22:43

Thanks so much for all of the work that you guys did. I will be looking out for East Asian foods.

By the way, I remember having a conversation on an Amtrak train with a guy who works for an FDA lab in LA. He worked with East Asian foods – seafoods and soy products. So he mentioned testing tofu and counting little pieces of rat hair…
Lisa G October 18th, 2010 at 13:48

Thank you sooooo much for taking it upon yourself to perform these tests!
I am so happy to see my 2 favorite restaurants passed the test…Native Foods and Real Food Daily!!!! Wooohoooo!
I went vegan 2 years ago and try to keep to it as best as I can. My real worries are with my daughter who is severly allergic to caesin.

I will for sure stay clear of the restaurants that you tested that use caesin in their products. I feel these eateries should be held accountable for falsely claimng that they are vegan. They should be forced to change their claims to vegetarian!
Thanks!
SaraMils November 4th, 2010 at 11:29

Awesome project! Can you come to NYC and do this at vegetarian joints? I swear some of them use meat in their sauces. How can I test for this on my own?
Fritz December 13th, 2010 at 11:03

I especially love Green Leaves’ Rock & Roll noodles with tofu! We normally call Green Leaves once a week for delivery, and the food is close to perfection even after reheating it in the microwave. So good to be able to get fantastic vegan entrees such as the Rock & Roll Noodles at a reasonable price!
dumvegans April 16th, 2011 at 18:29

All you over-obsessed leaf eaters need to realize that ur stupid eating habbits will kill you sooner than us meat eaters. In fact, most of u leaf could really benefit from a chunk of meat, especially between ur legs. Now go shave ur pits & legs and start looking like women again, ok?
pr0k April 20th, 2011 at 12:12

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAH
Diane May 10th, 2011 at 10:18

Thank you for your dedication. As a vegan, I have made a choice to be compassionate to all beings, to the planet, & finally to myself. So, if there is a vegan retaurant that is serving animal products I need to know, so that I can avoid dining there.

I am saddened by the malice displayed by some posters regarding this topic. All great ideas that require change may illicit a fear reaction. This is normal, but can be overcome. To those who feel it is their duty to harrass vegans, why not read The China Study or watch Earthlings? Then perhaps you can, at the very least, understand that vegans are trying to be kind…to everyone.

Finally, I am pretty poor, and yet I am a vegan & and an environmentalist. We cannot afford to continue eating 10 billion animals a year and expect to survive as a species. The decision is kind & sustainable: Go vegan.
kläder för stora kvinnor June 2nd, 2011 at 13:09

Wow, thats interesting. Has anyone heard of Mr David Wolfe? Hes a notorius vegan that teaches the most effective way to eat and prosper with your nutrition!
bobbob July 10th, 2011 at 12:02

It’s amazing to me that some meat-eaters can be SO insecure and defensive that they actually bother to seek out vegan sites just so they can spew their vitriol here. And they seem unaware how inadvertently funny they are sometimes, when they counter with cliched arguments that have been debunked so many times before. What sad, small-minded people.
power button July 13th, 2011 at 07:41

I actually wanted to compose a comment to thank you for the splendid tactics you are showing on this website. My extended internet look up has at the end been paid with reasonable content to write about with my good friends. I would claim that most of us visitors are quite blessed to dwell in a useful community with very many awesome people with very beneficial methods. I feel really lucky to have come across the web pages and look forward to so many more enjoyable minutes reading here. Thanks a lot again for all the details.
RespuestasVeganas.Org August 23rd, 2011 at 18:15

Animal traces are compatible with a vegan diet.

Human traces are compatible with non-cannibals.

Traces are not compatible with people who are allergic.

Regards,
David.

82 Trackbacks / Pingbacks

Every Los Angeles Vegan needs to read this post. | Sick of Lettuce June 28th, 2009 at 22:57

[...] http://archives.quarrygirl.com/2009/06/28/undercover-investigation-of-la-area-vegan-restaurants/ [...]
A Recipe for Change — horse latitudes June 29th, 2009 at 03:04

[...] Baio links to Quarrygirl’s undercover investigation of the dubious ingredients in LA-based vegan [...]
mike d. » Vegan? June 29th, 2009 at 05:33

[...] Undercover investigation of Vegan restaurants. [...]
Big Problems for LA Vegans | Los Angeles Metblogs June 29th, 2009 at 07:42

[...] LA’s Quarry Girl took things a step further. Actually many many steps further – they actually did laboratory tests on menu items from 17 different eateries that claim to be vegan. Seriously. This is the most in depth trial and investigation on this kind of thing I’ve ever [...]
The Granite Gourmet » Blog Archive » A Vegan Scandal! June 29th, 2009 at 07:52

[...] passed this blog report along detailing some vegan restaurants in the L.A. area that are using non-vegan ingredients in [...]
Random Ruckus » Renegade Vegan Scientist/Reporters! June 29th, 2009 at 10:35

[...] some people get called on this because false advertisement sucks. Basically a team of people from quarrygirl.com decided to buy a bunch of food testing kits (testing for casein, egg and seafood) to test food from [...]
The City E-Zine » Blog Archive » Big Problems for LA Vegans June 29th, 2009 at 10:48

[...] Quarry Girl took things a step further. Actually many many steps further – they actually did laboratory tests on menu items from 17 different eateries that claim to be vegan. Seriously. This is the most in depth trial and investigation on this kind of thing I’ve ever [...]
People for the Ethical Eatment of Animals | The Unvegan » Blog Archive » Trying to be a Vegan? June 29th, 2009 at 11:58

[...] Well then you’re probably failing. No offense. It really isn’t your fault. It’s not because you’re not trying. It’s just that it’s so hard to avoid eating animal products, that even “vegan” restaurants can’t avoid them. Wondering why that vegan taco tasted so good? That was probably because it contained casein, which comes from cows. Curious how chicken made from tofu could actually taste decent? Well, that’s probably because it had a decent amount of egg in it. For more info, check out the full article here. [...]
Los Angeles Vegan Restaurants | LA Snark June 29th, 2009 at 12:04

[...] I’m still on eggs and dairy myself, but if I were a vegan I would be pretty pissed at these results. Read all about it here: Quarrygirl’s Operation Pancake. [...]
To Live and Eat in L.A. - A Vegan Food Photo Blog June 29th, 2009 at 12:31

Non-vegan ingredients at L.A. vegan restaurants exposed….

Before you eat another bite of food at any Los Angeles vegan restaurants, especially of the Thai variety, you MUST read the investigation just posted over at the quarrygirl.com website, “Operation Pancake”. Even if you don’t live in L…
Time to play, “IS IT VEGAN?” « SCVegan.com June 29th, 2009 at 14:22

[...] Armed with lab kits and a contamination-free testing environment, the Quarrygirl team tested some of Los Angeles’ favorite (and sketchy) vegan restaurants to see just how vegan their food really is. The results my shock you. [...]
Katie Drummond - The Extreme Self - Sham vegan restaurants extremely busted - True/Slant June 29th, 2009 at 17:03

[...] blogging team over at QuarryGirl.com launched the ambitious effort: sterile lab conditions, industrial food testing kits and airtight [...]
When “Vegan” isn’t… June 29th, 2009 at 18:40

[...] Read the article for yourself here http://archives.quarrygirl.com/2009/06/28/undercover-investigation-of-la-area-vegan-restaurants/ [...]
Everything News Portal! » Blog Archive » LA’s vegan restaurants are full of egg June 29th, 2009 at 21:58

[...] laboratory tests of vegan restaurants in la [...]
Vegan Restaurants Serving Eggs | reformingjournalism.com June 29th, 2009 at 22:35

[...] Quarrygirl.com has uncovered a major story out of Los Angeles: [...]
LA’s vegan restaurants are full of egg | dv8-designs June 29th, 2009 at 23:39

[...] laboratory tests of vegan restaurants in la [...]
paulbailey.us (beta) » Bookmarks for June 26th through June 29th [del.icio.us] June 30th, 2009 at 06:36

[...] laboratory tests of vegan restaurants in la | vegan food and living in Los Angeles – very interesting blog post that tests a number of LA restaurants to see if their food was really vegan. (fyi: i’m not and my wife is a pescatarian) although there were some meals that were obviously misrepresented as vegan, it seems the biggest culprit might be the mislabeling and mistranslation of food from the taiwan to us markets. [...]
(late) Monday miscellany: tiny readings « resistance is fertile June 30th, 2009 at 06:53

[...] Thanks to the THREE! friends who posted this on FB! So not surprising, and another reason to eat real food, duh. Leave a Comment [...]
Nonvegan Vegan Restaurants | Vegan.com June 30th, 2009 at 10:31

[...] for an outstanding piece, one that deserves a Pulitzer for vegan investigative reporting. Link. Spread the [...]
Lab tests reveil vegan fake meat scandal in Los Angeles | livingfoodslife.com June 30th, 2009 at 13:12

[...] I am still in a state of shock right now so excuse me if this post is a little disorganized. Two days ago quarrygirl.com, a popular Los Angeles vegan blog, posted a story about running a lab test on 17 different vegan restaurants in the LA area to see if they are really vegan as they claim to be. Apparently, it costs them $1000 in lab expenses, so mad props to them for making this sacrifice for the vegan community. You can read the whole article here. [...]
L.A. Vegan Restaurants Aren’t So Vegan | Deceiver.com June 30th, 2009 at 14:08

[...] Quarrygirl.com details their testing of specific dishes from seventeen area restaurants. It turns out that TEN had traces of animal protein (you know — eggs, milk, and shellfish) in their food. [...]
“Faux” Meat from Taiwan? « Before Wisdom June 30th, 2009 at 15:51

[...] Update: Thanks to Dag for sending me this link to an article about meat and dairy turning up in the food at many LA “vegan” restaurants. Quarry Girl [...]
Vegan Nuggets: Made Of Real Vegans? « Know Thank You June 30th, 2009 at 19:47

[...] Labeling laws aren’t as strict in other countries as they are here, and we eat imported foods at our own peril. A Los Angeles area blogger conducted an investigation and discovered that local vegan restaurants were serving items containing meat, egg, or dairy. She also found that there is a great potential that the majority of imported mock meats sold in this country may also contain mea… [...]
A couple of scary links « Nac Mac Vegan: adventures in rabbit food July 1st, 2009 at 00:41

[...] Tags: junk food, Los Angeles, oopsies — Feòrag @ 08:42 A vegan blogger in LA decided to go completely over-the-top and test food from their local allegedly-vegan eateries, and the results were terrifying. 10 of the restaurants came out okay, with no evidence of [...]
Reclaimed Home: Green Low Impact Housing Renovation of New York, Brooklyn, New Jersey July 1st, 2009 at 00:58

[...] What’s in your vegan meal? Quarry Girl [...]
Livin’ Veg » Some Vegan Restaurants in LA Not Actually Vegan July 1st, 2009 at 02:36

[...] vegan world has been buzzing with some upsetting information. Quarrygirl.com did an undercover investigation on 17 vegan restaurants in LA to see if they were as vegan as they [...]
Perogrullo » Blog Archive » Periodismo ciudadano de investigación July 1st, 2009 at 04:04

[...] y una seriedad dignas de emulación y estudio por parte de los medios ‘profesionales’. Los resultados, como es obvio, son escandalosos: buena parte de las comidas contienen huevo, leche o marisco, lo [...]
Food laboratory tests of vegan restaurants in la | vegan food and … | India Restaurants July 1st, 2009 at 04:08

[...] See the rest here: laboratory tests of vegan restaurants in la | vegan food and … [...]
Citizen Journalist Blow Lid Off Fake Vegan Restaurants | mymediamusings July 1st, 2009 at 11:35

[...] Not sure about you, but that sounds like a pretty sound plan. Find out what happened here. [...]
Hoezo burgerjournalistiek bestaat niet? - Sargasso July 1st, 2009 at 12:44

[...] dat zonder de PvdA… Hoezo burgerjournalistiek bestaat niet?01-07-2009 om 22:45 door Grobbo Dit zou volgens de gevestigde kranten niet bestaan: Hardcore amateur onderzoeksjournalistiek naar ho… Burgerjournalist, journalistiek, Los Angeles, Media, veganisme, Waan v/d Dag Terug naar het [...]
Operation Pancake: The plot thickens… | vegan food and living in Los Angeles July 1st, 2009 at 14:03

[...] item from one of our favorite LA-area vegan restaurants, we knew that we were on to something with Operation Pancake. When POSITIVE readings gave way to HIGH and OVERLOAD results we were quite shocked. For us, [...]
When vegan restaurants aren’t vegan. « Musings of a gymrat foodie July 1st, 2009 at 14:53

[...] was reading this interesting article today on how items from vegan restaurants actually tested positive for animal [...]
More Stuff from the Asian Market – “Brown Rice Wafer Backed Nutitious Grains Non Fried Natural Flavor” | resistmuch.com July 1st, 2009 at 14:55

[...] says, I guess they could be some kind of power bar for long rides. However, based on the “bombshell” out of LA regarding animal products in allegedly vegan restaurants and tainted ingr… (fake meats like you get at 99 Ranch), I think I’ll be taking a pass on this [...]
The Four Steps of Nonviolent Campaigns | Vegan.com July 2nd, 2009 at 04:04

[...] years after his death, a quote from Martin Luther King, Jr. would be perfectly applicable to the QuarryGirl.com vegan restaurant investigation? Link. Spread the [...]
Episode 7 notes – The Vegan News July 2nd, 2009 at 07:44

[...] Quarrygirl.com report [...]
Oh Look, Citizen Journalists Can Do Real Investigative Reporting | dv8-designs July 2nd, 2009 at 15:42

[...] Not sure about you, but that sounds like a pretty sound plan. Find out what happened here. [...]
V for Vegan: easyVegan.info » Blog Archive » The easyVegan Weekend Activist, No. 10 July 3rd, 2009 at 12:57

[...] Quarry Girl: Operation Pancake (laboratory tests of vegan restaurants in la) [...]
piece 0 plastic - the revolution will be blogged » ruff linkage 200927 July 3rd, 2009 at 22:35

[...] laboratory tests of vegan restaurants in la – "Is your vegan food really vegan? We pull out all the stops to test 17 LA area vegan restaurants for non-vegan ingredients, and to find out why seven of them failed miserably." i worked in a “vegetarian” restaurant once where they used gelatine. [...]
Missing in Action « cute and delicious July 5th, 2009 at 21:36

[...] probably didn’t even notice that I was gone, what with all the excitement going on over at quarrygirl (which you should read in case you live in a black hole and haven’t already) and tons of [...]
DodaPedia » Oh Look, Citizen Journalists Can Do Real Investigative Reporting July 6th, 2009 at 08:43

[...] Not sure about you, but that sounds like a pretty sound plan. Find out what happened here. [...]
Interesting clips from around the web | An Exploration of Portland Food and Drink July 6th, 2009 at 12:53

[...] aren’t into the vegan lifestyle. I wonder if anyone has ever done the same thing in Portland. You can read the post here. From Mongabay.com, Madfish?: scientist warns that farmed fish could be a source of mad cow [...]
quick, cheap and pleasant: green leaves (IS NOT) vegan | vegan food and living in Los Angeles July 6th, 2009 at 18:31

[...] we did an investigation on this place and found out their cheese is NOT VEGAN, but contains casein. other dishes at green leaves contain egg products. they have been lying about it for years. i [...]
Friendfeed for Science: Abstract July 8th, 2009 at 13:09

[...] phones (comment here, some more general point on using mobile phones for citizen science is here), food composition and a Friendfeed discussion page_revision: 61, last_edited: 1247086783|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z (%O [...]
allergymoms.com : : Blog » Operation Pancake: Milk and Egg Cross Contamination Found in Several LA Restaurants July 9th, 2009 at 09:06

[...] for yourself here. I know I will think twice about serving my son “safe” vegan foods from now on. From [...]
Soy-less Greens « white lotus, white russian July 9th, 2009 at 15:11

[...] minority among vegetarians and vegans, which is why I thought I’d pass along this article: A blogger tests the food at several vegan restaurants in Los Angeles and discovers that almost half …. It’s worth a read. The conclusions of the testing make it pretty likely that this is not [...]
laboratory tests of vegan restaurants in la | vegan food and … | Hunger Hut July 10th, 2009 at 06:05

[...] the rest here: laboratory tests of vegan restaurants in la | vegan food and … | « Adventures in Shaw » FoodBuzz 24, 24, 24: Virginia Farmland Summer … Chef [...]
Extreme shrugs « ludditerobot July 10th, 2009 at 21:34

[...] Comment International tastemaker and occasional revolution-enthusiast Andrew Sullivan finds the rather awesome and intrepid debunking of L.A. restaurant claims to veganism [...]
Interesting clips from around the web | DodaPedia July 14th, 2009 at 00:35

[...] aren’t into the vegan lifestyle. I wonder if anyone has ever done the same thing in Portland. You can read the post here. From Mongabay.com, Madfish?: scientist warns that farmed fish could be a source of mad cow [...]
Operation Pancake: Green Leaves Vegan Update | vegan food and living in Los Angeles July 15th, 2009 at 17:22

[...] Green Leaves Vegan (see below). You may recall that when we tested their food in the original Operation Pancake, samples from several food items showed as positive for Casein and [...]
to be or not to be…vegan. | We Are The Underground July 22nd, 2009 at 04:53

[...] click here for the article! [...]
Purity versus Intent | Goatless July 27th, 2009 at 05:27

[...] Lots of (well-intentioned I’m sure) vegan and omnivore friends over the last month have sent me links to Quarrygirl’s investigative report on animal product ingredients in food purchased from self-declared vegan restaurants around LA (Operation Pancake). [...]
The Face On Your Plate, by Jeffrey Masson (2009) « The Vegan Korean August 5th, 2009 at 17:50

[...] But other signs are there. I go to the PETA.org website and check out the “Hottest Vegetarians over 50″ every year. I like Toby Maguire. I LOVE Chris Evans though apparently he is eating meat now, in order to bulk up (what a shame, he didn’t need to bulk up for me). I love whole grains, especially brown rice. Tofu also has never done me wrong. I love my dog, even when he smells. I even tsk tsked when I read Quarrygirl’s expose on LA “vegan” restaurants . [...]
Food For Thought – Friday, July 3rd « Save Your Fork… There’s Pie August 12th, 2009 at 11:59

[...] food bloggers in LA do some tests on food from their local vegan restaurants – with little of it turning out to be completely vegan. Something to think about if [...]
you had me til colonics « think outside the cage August 24th, 2009 at 07:14

[...] organic or safe or non-GMO), how i feel about faux meats and cheezes (tho honestly, ever since reading this study, i’ve felt queasy about these things, particularly as these are produced in [...]
Vegan and Vegetarian Chinese Food in SE Asia « Verdant Reports August 28th, 2009 at 02:11

[...] in Los Angeles, the Quarrygirl vegan foodie blog had been doing an undercover investigation of supposedly vegan restaurants. They tracked fake meats that tested positive for egg and milk back to suppliers in Taiwan. [...]
vegan food at toi thai in hollywood | quarrygirl: a vegan food blog in los angeles September 21st, 2009 at 09:50

[...] seems to be a thai restaurant with the word vegan in its name popping up on every corner. after a few of these restaurants turned up sketchy results when we tested their food for non-vegan ingredi…, i have pretty much been avoiding them all [...]
ronald's donuts vegan lab test results | quarrygirl: a vegan food blog in los angeles September 24th, 2009 at 07:15

[...] actual lab results were nowhere to be found. well thanks to mr. wishbone, the stealth agent behind operation pancake (our undercover investigation of the ingredients at LA vegan restaurants), we were able to get our hands on rey ortega’s [...]
Vegan Donuts: Revenge of the Lab Test | Vegan.com September 24th, 2009 at 10:31

[...] new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!After QuarryGirl’s groundbreaking but disturbing investigation of the vegan status of various LA restaurants, my heart sank when I saw her tweet this morning that [...]
pure luck vegan restaurant | quarrygirl: a vegan food blog in los angeles September 25th, 2009 at 00:57

[...] this very quickly: 1.) the food is inconsistent. somedays it’s better than others. 2.) the soy fish at pure luck may contain casein. (i avoid it just in case) 3.) pure luck used to have really comfortable seating and then they [...]
VeganPr0n.com » LA Restaurant Review Time September 29th, 2009 at 11:04

[...] delivery, and just a few blocks from my home? Yes, please. Despite the Operation: Pancake debacle, this is my neighborhood haunt. Super friendly staff, great food, fast delivery. All they need now [...]
Vegetarian Lifestyle Benefits » Blog Archive » Latest vegan foods news - laboratory tests of vegan restaurants in la | vegan food and … October 3rd, 2009 at 15:50

[...] laboratory tests of vegan restaurants in la | vegan food and … [...]
2009 VegNews Veggie Awards: We Steal A Sneak Peek At 12 Winners! « ecorazzi.com :: the latest in green gossip October 16th, 2009 at 05:59

[...] Breakers of the Year: Operation Pancake (Quarrygirl) Ecorazzi Says: If there’s one thing that vegan restaurants in and around Los Angeles learned [...]
quarrygirl.com wins vegnews award | quarrygirl: a vegan food blog in los angeles October 16th, 2009 at 07:07

[...] While a VegNews award isn’t quite as prestigious we’re also humbled that Operation Pancake, our investigation into Los Angeles area vegan restaurants, would win a “Scandal Breakers of [...]
How to Spot a Fake Vegan Business | Vegan Mainstream October 22nd, 2009 at 06:55

[...] Technorati Tags : How to Spot a Fake Vegan Business Posted By: MarinaHanes In June 2009, QuarryGirl.com conducted an undercover investigation of vegan restaurants in Los Angeles, California. They tested [...]
Spicy Ginger Peanut Noodles « Kat Food December 27th, 2009 at 13:01

[...] sure that your variety is vegan. Also, look for brands that are made in the USA; brands made in taiwan or china may not include all ingredients on the label, and may not be vegetarian at all. If I am using vegetarian “chicken,” I go to my local asian mega-mart and look there. [...]
Zagat Buzz - Latest Restaurants and Nightspot Openings, Dining Trends, Events and Industry Buzz March 3rd, 2010 at 08:04

[...] How vegan is your vegan food? [Quarry Girl, via [...]
green leaves lies again | quarrygirl.com July 13th, 2010 at 06:31

[...] If you were a quarrygirl.com reader just about a year ago, you’ll probably recall reading Operation Pancake, where we investigated 16 Los Angeles area vegan restaurants, and found that six of them tested [...]
dear pure luck, don’t spread rumors! | quarrygirl.com August 14th, 2010 at 08:42

[...] when they removed curry from the menu, we may have called them communists at one point, and their baja tacos failed to pass our veganocity test. whatever, though! all that BS aside, we still looooooooooove pure [...]
Research for Vegans | Fuel your life August 26th, 2010 at 12:58

[...] Research for Vegans Posted on August 26, 2010 by fuelyourlife So today I ended up on this article: http://archives.quarrygirl.com/2009/06/28/undercover-investigation-of-la-area-vegan-restaurants/. [...]
Wok on the Wildside » Blog Archive » Let’s Play Cowboys & Turbans September 10th, 2010 at 18:54

[...] Sure, there are some instances where vegan places are mislabeled (check out quarrygirls undercover Operation Pancake), but for the most part, you’re safe at a restaurant that says it’s [...]
Vegan LA Restaurant Study - Grumpy Vegan December 28th, 2010 at 08:04

[...] Grumpy Vegan’s initial reaction to this study was “Wow!” This was quickly followed by “Haven’t these people gotten [...]
beware non-vegetarian gummy bears at whole foods | quarrygirl.com February 1st, 2011 at 14:53

[...] whether or not products are vegan. this was true for mr. wishbone (you remember him from operation pancake, right?) recently when he bought some agave-sweetened gummy bears at whole foods. here’s his [...]
Pictures in Vegan Lifestyle Magazine Really Contained Meat; Exposed by Blogger | I Lost My Job Because of Social Media April 20th, 2011 at 21:04

[...] This is unlikely to mollify Quarrygirl, who insisted that “the laziness and outright lack of respect from Veg News toward animals and vegans undermines everything we stand for.” The blogger announced that she is cancelling her subscription, and returning the award that the magazine gave her – a 2009 “Scandal Breaker of the Year Award” for a stealth investigation into deceptive practices in Los Angeles vegan restaurants. [...]
there has never been anything better than this « resistance is fertile April 21st, 2011 at 21:07

[...] the other hand, remember when Quarry Girl did that expose [way too tired tonight to find accent aigus, my friends] of vegan Asian greasy spoons in LA and [...]
swingers diner is not vegan | quarrygirl.com April 25th, 2011 at 21:32

[...] sick. she called into question the vegan cheese, and even suggested that quarrygirl investigate it, after the success of operation pancake! we didn’t think much of it at the time, so it was even more upsetting when a forum thread [...]
Missing in Action – cute and delicious June 11th, 2011 at 15:51

[...] probably didn’t even notice that I was gone, what with all the excitement going on over at quarrygirl (which you should read in case you live in a black hole and haven’t already) and tons of [...]
The Internet's Most Famous Vegan Talks about Her Vegan Beer Fest | Drink Eat Travel June 21st, 2011 at 09:33

[...] website highlights vegan restaurants, dishes and drinks while occasionally exposing vegan no-no’s. We chatted with Ms. Quarrygirl about the return of her LA Vegan Beer Fest, organized by [...]
Vegan Pizza at Red Brick Pizza in Ventura | Live from La Quinta June 30th, 2011 at 19:43

[...] along with guest reviews from other places. She also has done some investigative reporting, uncovering so-called vegan restaurants serving animal products, restaurants that cruelly used animals in their marketing, and vegan magazines that used photos of [...]
green leaves vegan opens seafood restaurant sea minor in los angeles | quarrygirl.com July 13th, 2011 at 18:41

[...] about using vegan cheese (suspicions date back to 2008, see the review by happycow user brittany). when we proved that they were deceiving customers by passing off real dairy as vegan, they threatened to sue us. since then, they’ve been under scrutiny by the los angeles health [...]
toi > vegan thai | quarrygirl.com August 23rd, 2011 at 08:33

[...] in their name, that regurgitate the same tired menu of fake thai food and fake vegan food, which is usually neither. you know who i’m talking about—the “vegan thai” places that sell [...]
“I Keep Kosher, But I Eat Dairy in Restaurants” » Mixed Multitudes – My Jewish Learning: Exploring Judaism & Jewish Life October 3rd, 2011 at 06:08

[...] Whenever you go out to eat, you’re putting your trust in the kitchen staff — not only that they won’t pee in the food, but that they’ll give you what you ask for. And when certain things don’t turn out to be exactly what was advertised — ending up with milk, eggs, and shrimp, as in the photo below — well, let’s just say we shouldn’t be surprised. [...]
NOT VEGAN « Pythagorean Crank October 29th, 2011 at 10:03

[...] went so far as to bestow QuarryGirl with the “Scandal Breakers of the Year” award for their Operation Pancake investigation. In that investigation they tested “vegan” menu items from local restaurants for animal [...]

Operation Pancake: Undercover investigation of LA vegan restaurants

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