Study Abroad

[wbucky71]

I'm planning on studying abroad in the UK next year, and I was just wondering if being a vegetarian there is similar to being one in the USA. Thanks.

[slimlife]

That's what i always wanted to ask.

All that i know is this.
The ratio of vegetarian population(6.1%) in UK is more than twice as big as US(2.5%).
But the ratio of vegan in UK(0.6%) is slightly smaller than US(0.9%).
Total vegetarian population in the US is more than twice as many as UK.

I guess most of UK vegetarians are lacto-ovo veggie.

From not uk resisdent.

[Pirate Ferret]

Its easy peasy being vegetarian in the UK
practically every food is labelled suitable for veg or not, in resteraunts veg stuff has a V next to it etc

[hoodedclawjen]

its better. waaaay better.

[LionSpirit]

Its easy peasy being vegetarian in the UK
practically every food is labelled suitable for veg or not, in resteraunts veg stuff has a V next to it etc

Beware of the V - some unscrupulous companies (such as Wimpy's*) have used it to mean something else, and because it's just a letter, they can get away with it as it doesn't actually say 'vegetarian'.

*Wimpy's originally used the V to mean "fried with meat/fish oils" (in small print of course). I still don't trust them, as my local Wimpy's (and by the way, Wimpy's have ignored every e-mail I've ever sent them on such issues - not exactly professional) currently list some tuna thing as being "vegetarian".



However, yep, generally it's easy to be a vegetarian in the UK. Stuff that is labelled vegetarian is free from dead animals (including fish) and by-products of dead animals. It can contain eggs (which may not be free range), milk, and honey and their related products such as cheese.

[Schoska]

Maybe it varies. My wimpy doesn't label any of the fish stuff as veggie and they make it clear that the chips are cooked only in chip vats (no cross contamination) and that they will cook veggie stuff seperately as well.

[Indian Summer]

Yeah, being vegetarian seems to be as easy here as most places in the USA, if not easier. I suspect (but not sure) that it varies more from area to area in the USA than in the UK.

[Pirate Ferret]

*Wimpy's originally used the V to mean "fried with meat/fish oils" (in small print of course). I still don't trust them, as my local Wimpy's (and by the way, Wimpy's have ignored every e-mail I've ever sent them on such issues - not exactly professional) currently list some tuna thing as being "vegetarian".


Why don't you ask next time youre in there?
I've emailed companies before and got replies saying sorry we have no idea, there should be an ingredients list in each restaurant. I haven't been to a wimpy in a while but ive never noticed tuna being listed as veg. I do remember a * and then at the bottom it was clearly stated it MAY be cooked in the same oil as fish - maybe if you asked nicely they would cook it separately

[LionSpirit]

Maybe it varies. My wimpy doesn't label any of the fish stuff as veggie and they make it clear that the chips are cooked only in chip vats (no cross contamination) and that they will cook veggie stuff seperately as well.

I guess it does vary then, but it'd be nice if Wimpy's didn't ignore all e-mails on the issue.


Why don't you ask next time youre in there?
I've emailed companies before and got replies saying sorry we have no idea, there should be an ingredients list in each restaurant. I haven't been to a wimpy in a while but ive never noticed tuna being listed as veg. I do remember a * and then at the bottom it was clearly stated it MAY be cooked in the same oil as fish - maybe if you asked nicely they would cook it separately

Well seems the staff aint that clever - prior to the menu saying about stuff with a V being cooked in meat/fish oils, I asked about something and the guy said something like "yes, totally vegetarian, we don't cook any meat with it. we only cook it with fish!". *Sighs* Frigging pescetarians messing up peoples' idea of what a vegetarian is :P

But anyway as I said, rather than a star, they used a V symbol which os commonly associated with vegetarianism, to mark items that were NOT vegetarian, which is why I said to be careful of companies that use a V without the meaning explained.

And there's definitely some tuna thing listed as being supposedly vegetarian. But yeh, good idea, if head office are being ignorant it might help just to go in and speak to the manager. Or not. Worth a try though I guess.

[kat]

I don't think I've been to a Wimpy's since I was about 7.