Twilight – Vegan Mars Bar

A rich, fluffy, chocolately nougat topped with a layer of thick, buttery-tasting caramel all wrapped up in a creamy, rice-milk, chocolately coating.

Jokerz – Vegan Snickers Bar

Layers of dry roasted peanuts, buttery tasting caramel, and a rich peanut nougat, sweetly wrapped in a delicious chocolately coating.

Buccanner- Vegan Milky Way

A rich fluffy, chocolately nougat covered in a creamy chocolately coating.

Mahalo Bar – Vegan Bounty with Almonds

A gently sweetened coconut bar topped with three whole dry roasted almonds and covered in a luscious chocolately coating.

But don’t forget… You don’t have to catch a ferry to get all your vegan goodies, there’s also a shop right round the corner from you: Dragon Indulgence on Hanover St.

The annual London Vegan Festival

Where ?

Kensington Town Hall, Hornton Street, London W8 (underground – High Street Kensington)

When ?

Sunday 7th September 2008
11.00am to 8.00pm

More info:

Originally called the National Vegan Festival, the London Vegan Festival celebrates its 10th anniversary this year.

Highlights include comedian Andrew O’Neill, renowned musicians Robb Johnson and Tracey Curtis, new stallholders, free nutrition information and an array of interesting talks and workshops. And Food by Veggies! There will be something for everyone: children, adults, vegans and non-vegans alike.

Kensington Town Hall, Hornton Street, London W8 (underground – High Street Kensington). £1 (Under 16 free).

Lots of help is needed on the day with a range of tasks including fire marshalling, stewarding, traffic control (from 8am and again from 6pm – 9pm), setting up and clearing up, tidying up and collecting rubbish and recycling during the day, doing a shift on the Vegan Campaigns or Veggies Catering stalls, introducing speakers and leafleting outside.

» Link

Quick reminder for those too lazy to click the link: Masterfoods, the makers of Mars products decided to change their recipes and include ingredients from animals. [Namely rennet] and this decision provoked a massive outcry and because of this Mars backed down and issued an apology. But still left some confusion on which bars had rennet and which didn't.

We thought that Masterfoods (Mars) had learnt their lesson with trying to involve anything to do with animals with their food.

But sadly not.

Alexia over at Fish & Chimps: PETA Europe’s Blog reports on a petition sent to Mars in the UK urging them to stop their U.S counterparts from funding experiments on animals:

Mars Swap-Shop: This Chocolate Bar for That Rabbit’s Life

More than 5,000 petition slips have been sent to the UK branch of Mars in a bid to get the company in the US to stop funding painful and deadly tests on mice, rats, guinea pigs and rabbits. What really rattles us and is that these experiments aren’t even required by law and violate Mars’ own written policy…

… in a letter sent with the petitions, we urge Mars to forward the slips to the company’s US president and ask if similar tests are being conducted in the UK. And this is something we would all want to know about, as PETA US discovered that just a handful of tests which Mars has funded include:

• Rabbits forced to eat high-cholesterol diets with cocoa. Later, the animals were killed, and the primary blood vessels connected to their hearts were removed and examined.
• Rats force-fed through plastic tubes, which were shoved down their throats. Then the rats were cut open and killed.
• Plastic tubes were surgically attached to guinea pigs’ carotid arteries, and cocoa ingredients were injected into their jugular veins.

» Read the full post here

Saturday December 8th is going to be a very busy day for any ScouseVeggie’s involved…

It starts with the Reindeer Run, then the Vegan Fair and in the evening the annual ScouseVeg Xmas Dinner.

DECEMBER 8TH 2007

Reindeer Run and the Christmas Vegan Fair.

The Reindeer Run will be held at the same time as the Vegan Fair. The Fair is to be held at the Old Police Station, Lark Lane and the Reindeer Run to be held in Sefton Park. Both will start at 11am.

» The Reindeer Run is to raise funds for local animal charities. This is a fun run/walk and the walk only takes 1 hour to do so that when the event is finished the participants can go over to the Fair.

It is not a race but prizes given for the best Reindeer Outfits.

- Participants must a min’ 14 years or will then be escorted by an adult.
- The route through the park will be marshalled by the police cadets.
- Entries are welcome from the disabled as Sefton Park is wheelchair friendly.
- Dogs are welcome and must be on a lead at all times but remember the Vegan Fair at the same time.
- The entrance fee is £5 per person but not children under 14 with adults.
- All sponsor money will be collected and distributed to local animal charities.

This is a great opportunity to support local animal charities and 100% of the sponsor money will go to the charities. I urge you to participate in this.

Christmas time is possibly one of the worst times for animal charities when animals are unceremoniously dumped. For further details contact: reindeer.run@googlemail.com or 0151 428 9204 for application forms.

Please join in and get family, friends, co-workers to join in for this fun event.
PLEASE HELP THE ANIMALS.

-> As mentioned above the Vegan Xmas Fair will take place at the same time at the Reindeer Run.
Address and details:

Xmas Vegan Food Fair

Saturday December 8th 2007

Starting at 11am

The Old Police Station,
Lark Lane, Liverpool
» Map and directions

FREE ENTRY. EVERYONE WELCOME

Additionally – have a look at a couple of video’s from previous Vegan Fairs.

“…Live Earth will undoubtedly create a buzz and interest around climate change. But I do not believe it will produce significant change because it fundamentally misunderstands the challenge. The reason we are not doing enough about climate change is not because we don’t know about it, or that it is not hip, or that we don’t care. The problem is that we are locked into patterns of collective denial and have adopted a wide range of strategies to avoid accepting personal responsibility.

We argue that the primary responsibility for the problem always lies with someone else – Uncle Sid, or rich people, or, increasingly, the Chinese. Or, as some cynical columnists will say, it is those jet-setting hypocrites on stage at concerts such as Live Earth. And many people don’t blame anyone; they are just waiting for someone else to sort it out….”

» Full article

Via Metro.co.uk »

Cadbury guilty over salmonella scare
Friday, June 15, 2007

Chocolate giant Cadbury today pleaded guilty to hygiene charges relating to a salmonella scare last summer.

More than 1million chocolate bars had to be recalled when news of a possible health risk emerged.

Now the firm has admitted three offences under food and hygiene regulations.

The chocolate was recalled last July 23 after a contamination blamed on a leaking pipe at its factory in Marlbrook, Herefordshire.

The company’s barrister, Anthony Scrivener QC, entered the guilty pleas during a ten-minute hearing before Birmingham magistrates this morning, following a prosecution brought by Birmingham City Council.

Mr Scrivener told the court that although certain facts in the case were still in dispute, Cadbury accepted its responsibility and was pleading guilty to the charges.

He added: “They have already spent £20 million on improvements.”

The summons issued to Cadbury alleged that the company put “unsafe” contaminated chocolates on the market between January 19 and March 10 last year.

The other charges accused Cadbury of failing to immediately inform the relevant authorities about potential dangers and failing to identify “hazards” posed by the salmonella contamination.

The facts of the case were not opened at today’s hearing and Cadbury will be sentenced for the offences at Birmingham Crown Court on July 13.

» Full article

» The NOTMILK Homepage

A news item via the Independent Online about how the purchase of cocoa from Africa might be helping rebels fight wars in Africa:

Chocoholics may be funding war in Africa

By Claire Soares
Published: 08 June 2007

British chocoholics may have unwittingly helped fund an African conflict, with an estimated $120m (£60m) from the cocoa trade being siphoned off into war chests in Ivory Coast, according to a report released today.

“There is a high chance that your chocolate bar contains cocoa from Ivory Coast and may have funded the conflict there, which leaves a bitter taste in the mouth,” said Patrick Alley, the director of Global Witness, the London-based group behind the report.

Companies such as Nestlé and Mars source some of their cocoa from the troubled west African nation.

While much has been written about child labour on African cocoa plantations, the Global Witness report, Hot Chocolate, is the first to catalogue how cocoa has fuelled conflict on the west coast of the continent…

… Global Witness says that among the many abuses of cocoa revenues during the “no war, no peace” stand-off, about $20m was embezzled by Ivorian national cocoa institutions and diverted to the government. Another $40m were funnelled into the president’s war effort.

On the rebel side, militants extorted $30m each year from companies trucking cocoa through their half of the country – a illegal tax that “enabled them to survive as a movement”, the report says.

Campaigners want the intermediary cocoa-exporting companies to be transparent about exactly what payments they make, and want big confectioners to be upfront about where their cocoa comes from.

“The chocolate industry is so secretive about their recipes that they don’t tell you what’s in the mix,” said one of the report’s researchers, who has assumed the alias Maria Lopez. “The consumer can pressure chocolate companies to put that information on the label so they know they are buying conflict-free chocolate.”

» Full article

So another reason, if you need one, to continue to boycott any Mars/Masterfoods products.

As for Nestle and their practices – well that goes without saying.

But more about them in another post…

Vegan Willy Wonka Warns of Vegan Diet Dangers Prior to Presenting an Environmental Award at World’s Biggest Vegan Fayre

A leading UK dairy free organic chocolate manufacturer has gone mental – environmental. Plamil foods factory in Folkestone is now run on 100% sustainable energy sources. The latest research from Chicago University, a UN report and a leaked secret document from the UK government all suggest a vegan diet is the best for the planet. Adrian Ling Plamil Foods MD says “The food industry needs to realise the dangers of a vegan diet rising in popularity. Food manufacturers now have to watch quality control on many different new levels if they want to keep a competitive edge”

London, UK (PRWEB) June 4, 2007 — Vegan Willy Wonka Adrian Ling from Plamil Foods has issued a warning to the organic and health food industry about the dangers of Vegan diets, just days before he is due to present an Environment award at the world’s biggest vegan festival at The Bristol Vegan Fayre on the 9th and 10th June.

“The organic and health food industry needs to realise the dangers of a vegan diet rising in popularity. Food manufacturers now have to watch quality control on many different new levels if they want to keep a competitive edge,” Ling warns. “Just using organic ingredients is no longer enough to ensure customer brand loyalty,” he adds

Plamil Foods organic health foods factory in Folkestone, UK has gone the extra mile. Plamil have recently converted their energy supply to a 100% sustainable source of electricity, so not only are the ingredients used kinder to the environment, even the power used to make the products is more environmentally friendly.

Ling, the MD of the organic vegan chocolate and mayonnaise manufacturer says, “At Plamil not only do you find products that are healthier for people they are healthier for the planet too! Our dairy free organic chocolate bars and organic egg free mayonnaises are produced using 100% sustainably sourced energy.”

Plamil Foods have uncovered mounting evidence that vegetarian and vegan diets are as good for the planet as they are for your health. Ling says, “Recent research claims that plant based vegan diets are the most sustainable. Consumers are being advised that if they want to be kind to the environment and help prevent global warming they should eat the dietary equivalent of a lean, energy mean hybrid car, not an obese 4×4 monster SUV Chelsea Tractor cum king size Mars Bar or quarter pounder.”

» Full article

Another one:

Cookery Demo for ‘Excusitarians’ by Pirate of The Carob Bean at Bristol Vegan Fayre on the 9th & 10th of June – Perfect for Ethical Shoppers of Last Minute Holidays

A Vegan Pirate will be cooking up dishes at the Bristol Vegan Fayre on the 9th and 10th June aimed at helping ‘Excusitarians’ prevent global warming. It promises to be the perfect solution for ethically minded shoppers looking for a last minute holidays or short break holiday bargains. In addition to live bands, ethical fashion shows, a Bedouin tent, a health zone, vegan caviar, vegan kebabs, vegan BBQs, vegan milkshakes, vegan ice cream, vegan chocolate, vegan omega 3 fish oil alternative, vegan shoes, vegan cosmetics and up to 20,000 visitors , Cap’n Long John Tofu of the Pirates of the Carob Bean will be revealing the secrets of orgasmic chocolate mousse.

London, UK (PRWEB) June 4, 2007 — The list of special diets just gets longer and longer – Vegans, Fruitarians, Freegans, Flexitarians, the latest label is ‘Excusitarians’ coined by Vegan Pirate of The Carob Bean, Cap’n Long John Tofu. Tofu is on a mission to remove the excuses and “vegdumacate” people about pirate copies of food that make veganism both enjoyable and Healthy.

With new reports from Chicago University and The United Nations claiming a link between factory farming and global warming there are already many Vegans (no animal products used), Fruitarians (only eat raw fruit and veg), the windfall vegans (only fruit that has been discarded by the trees – no root vegetables), Freegans (freeloading vegans who raid supermarket rubbish bins for food that’s been thrown away), Flexitarians ( they eat whatever they feels right at the time – vegan Buddhists) . The latest addition to this (far from exhaustive) list is ‘Excusitarians’.

Excusitarians is the new term coined by Vegan Pirate Cap’n Long John Tofu of The Vegan pirates of The Pirates of the Carob Bean (www.piratesofthecarobbean.com) . Tofu is booked to appear to talk and cook at a Vegan Festival in Bristol, Bristol Vegan fayre (www.bristolveganfayre.co.uk ) on the 9th and 10th of June and plans to target ‘excusitarians’.

The Vegan Pirate uses the word ‘Excusitarian’ to categorise all the ex vegetarians and vegans who come up with a whole host of excuses about why it’s impossible for them personally to stay vegan and why they need meat.

“I wouldn’t be mindin’ if they just be admittin’ that they couldn’t be bothered any more, that they be giving up caring about animal welfare, the effects o’ intensively reared animals on the environment and the wastin’ o’ resources but they don’t. Instead I be told ‘some people just can’t be vegetarian’, ‘some people need meat’ and ‘sometimes it just doesn’t feel right to be vegan’ – they should know better!” rants the pirate.

Tofu admits a few people do get unwell on vegan diets, but claims It’s not because of veganism, it’s because they don’t eat a balanced vegan diet. Not because they have some rare digestive ‘dreaded lurgy’ style disease but because it doesn’t occur to them to follow simple diet, nutrition and health rules that everyone needs to be abiding by if they want to remain an optimally fit and healthy human.

A recently republished Hamlyn plant based recipe cookbook called ‘vegan’ has a handy list of all the nutrients you need for optimum health and their vegan sources and claims there are no essential nutrients you cannot get on a vegan diet. Co author, London Nutritionist Yvonne Bishop says “A vegan diet doesn’t exempt you from the basic laws of human nutrition but there are plant based solutions for all essential nutrients humans need”…

» Full article

Any ScouseVegan’s going to Bristol ? Take some pics and givvus a shout when you get back.

Via the Sunday Times:

Save the planet, eat a vegan
June 3, 2007/Jeremy Clarkson

“Good news. It seems that your car and your fondness for sunken light bulbs in every alcove are not warming up the planet after all.

In fact, according to new research, power stations and transport produce lots of carbon dioxide, but in addition they also produce lots of aerosols that, in the short term at least, help keep the planet as cool as a deodorant model’s armpits.

So who has come up with this new theory? Some half-crazed nitwit with a motoring show to protect? George Bush? A bloke in the pub? No. In fact it comes from an organisation called EarthSave, which is run and funded, so far as I can tell, by the usual array of free-range communists and fair trade hippies.

The facts it produces, however, are intriguing. Methane, which pours from a cow’s bottom on an industrial scale every few minutes, is 21 times more powerful as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. And as a result, farmed animals are doing more damage to the climate than all the world’s transport and power stations put together.

What’s more, demand for beef means more and more of the world’s forests are being chopped down, and more and more pressure is being put on our water supplies.

Plainly, then, EarthSave is encouraging us to go into the countryside at the first possible opportunity and lay waste to anything with more than one stomach. Maybe it wants me to shoot my donkeys. Happily what it’s actually saying is that you can keep your car and your walk-in fridge, but you’ve got to stop eating meat.

In fact you’ve got to stop eating all forms of animal products. No more milk. No more cheese. And if it can be proven that bees fart, then no more honey either. You’ve got to become a vegan.

Now of course if you don’t like the taste of meat, then it’s perfectly reasonable to become a vegetablist. It’s why people who don’t like, say, John Prescott become Conservatives. But becoming a vegan? Short of being paraded on the internet while wearing a fluffy pink tutu, I can think of nothing I’d like less….

Eating a plate of food that contains no animal product of any kind marks you down as a squirrel. Eating only vegetables is like deciding to talk using only consonants. You need vowels or you make no sense.

Of course there are certain weeds I like very much. Cauliflower and leeks particularly. But these are an accompaniment to food, useful only for filling up the plate and absorbing the gravy. The idea of eating only a cauliflower, without even so much as a cheese sauce, fills me with dread.

There are wider implications, too. Let us imagine that the world decided today to abandon its appetite for sausage rolls, joints of beef and meat-infused Mars bars. What effect would this have on the countryside?

Where now you find fields full of grazing cows and truffling pigs, there would be what exactly?

Hardcore vegetablists like to imagine that the land would be returned to the indigenous species, that you could go for a walk without a farmer shooting your dog, and that you’d see all manner of pretty flowers and lots of jolly new creatures. Wolves, for instance.

In fact if animal farmers were driven away, the land would be divided up in two ways. Some would be given over to the growing of potatoes – the ugliest crop in Christendom – and the rest would be bought by rock stars. Either way, Janet Street-Porter and her ridiculous gaggle of ramblers in their noisy clothes and stupid hats would still get short shrift.

What’s more, there’d be no grassland because there’d be no animals to graze. And there’d be no woods either because without pheasants what’s the point? I’m sure EarthSave dreams of a land as pristine as nature intended but it’d be no such thing. Within about three weeks Britain would look like Saskatchewan.

So plainly the best thing we can do if we want to save the world, preserve the English countryside and keep on eating meat, is to work out a way that animals can be made to produce less methane…

» Full article

» EarthSave

Mars have released a listing of products which have been confirmed as Suitable For Vegetarians – Including the “Best Before” dates of each product. Any product with a date equal to or later than those displayed will be Veggie.

See: http://www.masterfoodsconsumercare.co.uk/veg_prodlst.asp

They have also taken the decision to phase out all non-vegetarian products – so that “in the near future” -all- products will be Vegetarian. They are also considering adopting the VegSoc logo, and becoming VegSoc certified – which will be a first for any MAJOR confectioner. The only product i know of that is would be “Giant Flyers”

See our website: www.marscampaign.org for more information and links.

So some very good came from their very bad decision. I would still say for now to avoid any of their products until we are sure they are all suitable for veggies.

EDIT - Last Minute Update:

Just as I was posting this I received an email from Andrew. He contacted Masterfoods with some questions and their reply below:

…”Thank you for taking the time to contact us. As you know our consumer feedback is very important to us so your comments are very much appreciated.

Our consumer care website (www.masterfoodsconsumercare.co.uk) contains accurate listings of products which are suitable for vegetarians. Please use the best before dates on pack and refer to the website for confirmation of suitability.

I am sorry for any confusion caused in regards to the vegetarian suitability of our products. Masterfoods have always provided an up-to-date list of vegetarian suitable products for our consumers. Unfortunately, Celebrations and Bounty have never been included on this list, as they are manufactured on the continent and our suppliers there cannot guarantee that the whey they source is vegetarian suitable.

The same also applies to our Twix products, unless they were manufactured in the UK, in which case they were suitable for vegetarians. The batch code on the product wrapping would have contained a ‘U’ if it was manufactured in the UK. This was clearly stated on our vegetarian suitable list. All Twix products are now manufactured on the continent, so unfortunately cannot be classed as vegetarian suitable.

Please accept my apologies for any confusion caused. A list of vegetarian suitable products can be found at www.masterfoodsconsumercare.co.uk , along with a series of FAQs that should answer any further queries you may have.

Many consumers have requested we consider labelling our products with ‘suitable for vegetarians’. I can assure you that we are exploring the best ways of providing clarity on which of our products are suitable for vegetarians including labelling. Keep an eye out on our website for information about this…. “

As I said, still best to avoid any of it right now.

- – - – - – - – - –

JUKEBOX BONUS:

Hey did you know that The Undertones sang about Mars Bars ?
An unpaid endorsement of a product. Not very punk was it.

- Have a read of the lyrics, which has mentions of other choccy bars, a supermarket, as well as a couple of famous name checks, plus for extra points they even throw in the old advertising slogan: Work, rest and play.

For your listening pleasure »

UNDERTONES – MARS BARS:

But it wasn’t just chocolate, they liked that and girls too.

UNDERTONES – MORE SONGS ABOUT CHOCOLATE AND GIRLS: