TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Vegan Status
• Ingredients and Allergen Status
• Food Chain Details

Vegan Status

This icon indicates that menu item is vegan. There are three types of vegan products:

Certified Vegan

This means that the menu item has been certified by a recognised vegan certifying organisation. We will verify that the product is actually certified before putting this status on a product. When a product is certified vegan, the manufacturer has had the product independently verified as vegan by a third party vegan certification organisation. Most vegan certifying organisations are not-for-profit organisations that use funds received by manufacturers to promote veganism.

When you purchase vegan certified products, you show the manufacturer that there is demand for certified products and you are indirectly supporting vegan organisations by encouraging the manufacturer to continue to renew vegan certification and to certify more products.

Restaurant Vegan Claim Made

This means that the restaurant has labelled the menu item as vegan, but have not had the menu item certified by a recognised vegan certifying organisation. We have verified the vegan status of the product. 

*Please note that we rely on the restaurant chain to be honest about the ingredients, manufacturing and cooking processes and animal testing status of the menu item when we contact them. This is different from certified menu items where the restaurant has to provide extensive documentation to the vegan certifying organisation.

No Vegan Claim Made

This means that the restaurant has not labelled the menu item as vegan. Fussy Vegan has verified the vegan status of the menu item. Many restaurants will not label a product as vegan even when the menu item meets the requirements to be considered vegan. There are many different reasons why a restaurant may decide to not label the menu item as vegan. These menu items are often referred to as "accidentally vegan" items.

*Please note that we rely on the restaurant to be honest about the ingredients, manufacturing and cooking processes and animal testing status of the menu item when we contact them. This is different from certified menu items where the restaurant has to provide extensive documentation to the vegan certifying organisation.

This icon means that the menu item can be made vegan upon request or that there is a vegan version of the menu item available. The above vegan status explanations are also applicable to this status.

This icon is used when either a vegan status cannot be verified or when there is important information regarding the vegan status of the menu item. There will always be an explanation below this icon explaining the situation for the menu item.

This icon indicates that the menu item is not vegan. A menu item is considered to be not vegan if it fails to meet at least one of the vegan standards that we use to determine the vegan status a product.

You can read more about the vegan standards that we use here: What does vegan mean?

Ingredients and Allergen Status

For allergens and certain other ingredients, we will use the following statuses for each allergen/ingredient:

This status indicates that the menu item contains the allergen/ingredient.

This status indicates that the restaurant has declared that the menu item is free from the allergen/ingredient.

This status indicates that the restaurant has declared the the menu item is made on the same equipment and or in the same manufacturing facility as products containing the allergen/ingredient. Those with a severe allergy to the allergen/ingredient should consider whether this product is suitable for them or not based on risk of possible cross contamination.

*Please note that "may contain" warnings are not mandatory under Australia/New Zealand food labelling laws and the absence of a "may contain" warning does not imply that the menu item is not made on the same equipment as products containing the allergen/ingredient. We will only put the may contain status on a menu item where the restaurant has made a "may contain" statement.

This status indicates that we have not yet confirmed whether the product contains the allergen/ingredient or not.

IMPORTANT!

Vegan does not mean animal allergen free. Please read this article for more information: Vegan does not mean allergy free 

Whilst we take great care to ensure that the information we provide in the app is accurate and up to date, it is important to note that ingredients and allergen statuses may change at any time and we may not yet be aware of the change in ingredients or allergen statuses of the menu item. We highly recommend that app users at risk of severe allergic reaction do their own checking and verification to be sure that the menu item is safe for them to use.

Food Chain Details

Underneath the menu item name is the copany name and the country where the company is based. Where ever possible, we try to list the parent company name and what country the parent  company is based in.