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Which food ingredients are not always vegan?

Sugar, on 524,712 products in Open Food Facts, is vegan only for some makes; so are natural flavouring, lactic ferments and artificial flavouring.

By Bravoora teamPublished 20 October 2026Sources checked 13 October 20267 min read

Sugar leads by far: some cane sugar is refined with bone char, and the label does not say which. Data: Open Food Facts (ODbL), read 13 October 2026.

Key takeaways

Bravoora’s dictionary answers the vegan question for its 2,502 ingredients: 1,400 are vegan, 637 are not, and 416 depend on how they were made.
Sugar is the most common ingredient that depends on the make, on 524,712 products: some cane sugar is refined with bone char, and the label does not say which.
Beet sugar is vegan by the same record (1,394 products), and glucose syrup too (70,277); honey is not (36,695).
Flavourings, natural or artificial, can be made from an animal source, and the label rarely says which: a vegan profile gets Heads up.
E-numbers too: 49 codes can come from an animal or another source, such as E471, so a code alone gives a vegan profile Heads up.

The short answer

Sugar is the most common: Open Food Facts lists it on 524,712 products, and marks it vegan only for some makes, because some cane sugar is refined with bone char. Natural flavouring (277,614), lactic ferments (66,069) and artificial flavouring (61,228) follow. In all, 416 of the dictionary’s 2,502 ingredients depend on the make.

Which ingredients are vegan only for some makes?

Sugars, flavourings, cultures and drinks. Bravoora’s dictionary, built from the Open Food Facts taxonomy, marks 416 of its 2,502 ingredients vegan for some makes and not others^[1]^[2]. The table ranks the most common by the products that list them^[3].

Ingredients that are vegan only for some makes, by the products that list them in Open Food Facts (read 13 October 2026)
Ingredient	Products	Vegan profile	Vegetarian profile	Why it depends
Sugar	524,712	Heads up	Fits you	Some cane sugar is refined with bone char
Natural flavouring	277,614	Heads up	Heads up	Can be made from an animal source; the label rarely says
Lactic ferments	66,069	Heads up	Fits you	Industrial ones are vegan; some made by small producers are not
Artificial flavouring	61,228	Heads up	Heads up	Can be made from an animal source; the label rarely says
Cane sugar	58,389	Heads up	Fits you	Some cane sugar is refined with bone char
Alcohol	30,293	Heads up	Fits you	Some makes use an animal product; the label rarely says
Vanilla flavouring	29,904	Heads up	Heads up	Can be made from an animal source; the label rarely says
Invert sugar	24,033	Heads up	Fits you	Some cane sugar is refined with bone char
Brown sugar	19,829	Heads up	Fits you	Some cane sugar is refined with bone char
Molasses	19,443	Heads up	Fits you	Some cane sugar is refined with bone char
Wine	14,929	Heads up	Fits you	Some makes use an animal product; the label rarely says

Why is sugar not always vegan?

Because of how some of it is refined. The Open Food Facts taxonomy explains its answer: some cane sugar is refined with bone char, charred cattle bones used as a filter to whiten it, mainly in North America^[2]. Nothing on the label says whether a given sugar was, so sugar, on 524,712 products, gets Heads up for a vegan profile.

The same note says beet sugar, organic sugar and unrefined sugars are not made that way, and the dictionary marks beet sugar vegan (1,394 products)^[1]^[2]. Sugar stays vegetarian: bone char is used in processing and is not in the sugar^[2]. Honey is the sweetener that is not vegan at all: honey is on 36,695 products.

Why do flavourings and cultures depend on the make?

Because the label names what they do, not what they came from. Natural flavouring is on 277,614 products and artificial flavouring on 61,228^[3]: some are made with an animal product, and a label rarely says which, so a vegan profile gets Heads up, and a vegetarian one too^[1].

Lactic ferments, on 66,069 products, are a different case: the taxonomy notes that industrially made lactic ferments are vegan, while some made by small producers are not^[2].

Which E-numbers depend on the make?

In Bravoora’s E-number list, 49 of the 328 codes can come from an animal or from another source, and seven always come from an animal or an insect^[4]. E471, mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids, is the common example: its fatty acids can come from plant oils or animal fat, and the pack does not have to say which^[5].

With no source on the pack, E471 gives a vegan profile “Heads up” and a vegetarian one “Heads up”^[4]. The article on E-numbers that can come from animals lists every code^[6].

What else do the vegan answers show?

Of the dictionary’s 2,502 ingredients, 56% are vegan, 25% are not and 17% depend on the make; the rest have no answer in the taxonomy^[1].
Sugar is listed on 41% of the 1,284,867 products with an ingredient list in Open Food Facts^[3].
Of the eleven ingredients in the table, eight are vegetarian for every make; the flavourings are open for a vegetarian profile too^[1].

Method: vegan and vegetarian answers from Bravoora’s dictionary, which takes them from the Open Food Facts taxonomy^[1]^[2]; product counts from the Open Food Facts export, read on 13 October 2026^[3]; codes from Bravoora’s E-number list^[4]. A product counts under an ingredient when its list names it or a more specific kind of it, in any language. Contains information from Open Food Facts, which is made available here under the Open Database License (ODbL)^[7].

Which words on a label leave the vegan answer open?

Sugar, cane sugar, brown sugar, invert sugar, molasses: vegan unless refined with bone char, which the label does not say.
Beet sugar: vegan in the dictionary. Honey: not vegan.
Natural flavouring, artificial flavouring, vanilla flavouring: the source is not named.
Lactic ferments, cultures: vegan when made industrially, by the taxonomy’s note.
E471 and the other codes whose source varies: open until the pack names the source, such as “from plant oils”.
Gelatin, carmine (E120), shellac (E904): always from an animal or an insect; not open at all.

How do you check a label for a vegan profile in 30 seconds?

Read the allergens first: milk and egg are never vegan.
Look for the ingredients that are never vegan: gelatin, honey, carmine, shellac.
Then the ones that depend on the make: sugar, flavourings, cultures, wine, and E-numbers such as E471.
Look for a stated source, such as “sunflower lecithin” or “from plant oils”: it settles the answer.
If the source is open and it matters to you, ask the maker.

How does Bravoora answer a vegan profile?

Bravoora reads each ingredient and code against the profile, with the answers these pages give, and shows the printed word behind the answer. For Nina, whose profile is vegan, gelatin gives “Not for Nina”, an ingredient that depends on the make, such as natural flavouring or E471 with no stated source, gives “Heads up for Nina”, and a pack whose every ingredient is settled gives “Fits Nina”. The methodology shows how it is tested.

Let Bravoora read the label with you.

Tell it once what matters: your allergens, your diet, the ingredients you watch. Every answer then shows the words it is based on.

Build my profile

Scope and limits

This article counts ingredients in Open Food Facts, a database its contributors fill in from real packs: it covers the products in it, not every product on sale, and a count is not a market share.

The answers are about ingredients as labels name them, not about any one product: a maker can always say how theirs was made. Sources were checked on the dates listed below.

This is general label information, not dietary or medical advice.

Frequently asked questions

Is sugar vegan?

It depends on the make. Some cane sugar is refined with bone char, and the label does not say which, so a vegan profile gets Heads up. Beet sugar, by the same record, is vegan.

Is natural flavouring vegan?

Not always. A natural flavouring can be made from an animal source, and the label rarely says which, so a vegan profile gets Heads up. Open Food Facts lists it on 277,614 products.

Are lactic ferments vegan?

Usually. The Open Food Facts taxonomy notes that industrially made lactic ferments are vegan, while some made by small producers are not.

Is E471 vegan?

It depends on the source. Its fatty acids can come from plant oils or animal fat, and the pack does not have to say which; with no source stated, a vegan profile gets Heads up.