A few nights ago I went to this Mexican joint I've been to many times before. I told the owner to make me a "cheese only" quesadilla. I also told him I was a vegetarian.



Well, apparently they had this new cook girl in and she was the one who made the quesadilla. I don't think her English was so good. Well, I'd eaten about half of my quesadilla when I noticed some small bits of pork in it! It was definitely pork. I started inspecting the rest and found a piece of beef! EWW!!!



I told the owner and he was like: "No, no, just beans." I said: "Oh, no it isn't!" He apologized twice and made me a new quesadilla (which was fine).



Anyway I haven't eaten red meat in 5 years and this situation makes me really disturbed! I can't stop thinking about it! I think I've been traumatized!



Has this happened to anyone else?

Once I was eating a green lentil soup and even though I was told it was vegan, I though I found a piece of ham in it. Then I realised it was one of my croutons >.<



I feel bad for that happening to you Its one of my worst nightmares.

I think it's happened to all of us at one point or another... Take deep breaths and try not to dwell on it.

I bought some samosas once that I thought were all vegan and I was munching away and I thought that it tasted odd; I looked down and it looked like there was chicken in there; so I looked at the packet and they were chicken samosas . The packaging for veg and chicken where almost identical.



I later "detoxed" by eating 100%vegan ready salted crisps and felt slightly better although I haven't eaten a samosa since.

It's true, everyone has had this experience. While it's absolutely disgusting, it's better to try to get over it and move on.



I've had quite a few of these experiences. Found beef in my vegetables at Cheesecake Factory (they messed it up the first time and added meat. Instead of making it again, they just picked the beef out). I've had soup at a restaurant before where the waiter swears it's vegetarian (claims to have checked) and then I go back, ask again, and another person says it's definately not. When my boyfriend and I first started dating, his Mom didn't know anything about vegetarianism. She's the sweetest thing and makes me special meals now (something my own Mom wouldn't do in 100 years). Since she's still not exposed to it much, she doesn't know what to look for on labels (and she doesn't read them all). She didn't realize that chicken broth wasn't vegetarian. She bought stuffing with chicken fat before (I didn't eat it though). The other night, she made a salad and after dinner, I found the recipe on the counter and there was Worcestershire sauce in it. Luckily, it was only 1/4 tsp and it served about 10 people. I didn't end up sick or anything. I think omnis just don't understand how to read a label. Us veggies are pros!

^ too true haha! It's one of the superpowers we get from going veggie. We can find an animal product on a label in record time!



I'm sorry you had to deal with that experience but like everyone said, we've all ran into a non-vegetarian moment at least once in our vegetarian lives. It's terrible but it wasn't your fault at all.



Once I went over to my friends house because she said I HAD to have this dish that her mother cooked. She assured me and reassured me that it was ok for a vegan so I trusted her. About two spoonfuls into the food I made the connection that the rice was boiled with cow bones for flavor! I hadn't had beef for over a decade! I tried not to be rude but I was completely traumatized. She had good intentions but most people don't understand that a lot of things are very NOT ok for vegetarians. I got over it after a few days because these things happen, just another difficulty of being vegan.

Yep! It's all of those carrots we eat... it helps with our eyesight. The other veggies make us smarter and more alert!



The rice was boiled in cow bones? EWWW. Why would anyone think that was vegan?

They thought that it was ok because it didn't exactly contain the animal...*deep breath* I was mortified when I found out.

I just tell people "If the animal had to die, be milked, or anything like that, I don't want it even near my food."



When people argue that point with me, I say "if I put a booger in your food then picked it out, would you still want to eat the food? What if I put human bones in?" Your situation doesn't make any sense though. Why would they think that? If I were them, knowing you didn't eat animal products, I would ASK you if the bones were okay. People assume the weirdest things.

Ahh, the label thing's so true. People always ask me if it takes ages to buy food, and it really doesn't. Then again, I'm also a fast reader, so I zoom round those aisles.



I never had an accident as a vegetarian, but there's been a few vegan ones and they're never nice

I love the label speed reading, for an omni they spend forever going through each and every ingrediant while we peak over their shoulder and say "oh, it has whey."






They had never ever met a vegan before and therefore knew nothing about it or that it wasn't ok for animals to be consumed (in our opinions at least). My friend sort of understood but I guess the part of no animal products in any form whatsoever got lost in translation to her mother. I guess it was like your case when your boyfriend's mother didn't think that chicken stock wasn't vegetarian. Yes, people really do assume the craziest.

Yes, I got pasta alfredo dish with shrooms, and I thought the chunks were shrooms, but my friend said, "I think that's chicken." And tried some and it was and luckily she saved me... And they made me a new dish. (That was a lot of "and"s.)

Sorry for your unfortunate experience at your Mexican restaurant. Don't feel too bad, it was unintentional.

The new one came with fresh, savory spit!






Thankfully, NO, but I often worry about it, especially when I indulge and have some Taco Bell. While Taco Bell has foods that are fine for a vegetarian, I always inspect my food first because you just never know how they will mess up your order.

Man, I am still trying to figure out why somebody would think CHICKEN broth was vegetarian. That's like somebody asking if MEAT sauce is vegetarian!

But still... I just know if I was cooking for someone with a special diet, I'd tell them everything that was in it. Plus, you never know if you're cooking for a person with food allergies.



I didn't understand the chicken broth thing either. What part of "chicken broth" sounds vegetarian? I think people just think "no meat" meaning no actual muscle. That don't think about the juices or by-products. I just know to never make assumptions. I think when you have a strict diet, you're more aware of everything. Before I became a vegetarian, I didn't really know about by-products like gelatin. I definately knew that chicken broth came from dead chicken.

No friggin' clue. I actually think the people don't think about it when cooking. If someone is used to cooking meat for themselves, they most likely don't know what the heck they're consuming. The only thing they're thinking about is not putting meat in. But you would think the word CHICKEN would stand out in the recipe. I just know to ask everytime. I think me being a vegetarian really educates the people around me.



Wait.... MEAT sauce isn't vegetarian?



I can understand why sometimes people don't think there are non-vegetarian things in products. For example: Stove Top Stuffing. The herb stuffing contains chicken fat. If I didn't know that reading a label was a must, I never would have even thought it wasn't veg. Ditto with gelatin. But if it's in the title or in the picture, I don't know what they're thinking.

I really wish they would have told me that the rice "May contain the boiled bones of a dead cow, proceed with caution." People just forget to think I suppose.

My mom thinks chicken broth is vegetarian. If there aren't chunks of meat in it, it's "vegetarian;" if there are little bits of meat or fish, it's "kind-of vegetarian."

"You don't eat poo.. If I put poo in your food, then picked it out, would you still eat it?"

Wait... people are supposed to think? Is that required?

I've used that one too before. I love the reaction *hehe*

I had that happen at a Chinese restaurant - my "vegetable egg roll" came back with pork in it. Yuck. I made a fuss, sent it back, made them get me new silverware, etc.

Once at school a friend put some ham in my salad roll - it got into my mouth then i realsied spat it out then got into a fight and somone got their finger broken, oopsy. All in the past and 10 years i am still very good friends with this person.



Also one lunch time i was munching away on a cheese n onion pastie (pre vegan days) when something very chewy appeared in my mouth, i spat it out and it was a big chunk of grey meat!! i felt very sick at the thought of rotting flesh in my mouth. Rah wish i had taken it back to bakery and kicked off now.



Sorry to hear the other accidentlal meat situations, not good and yes its also a great fear of mine when eating out.

Kiseki, I'm sorry this happened to you. How annoying!



I've had a similar experience recently. Our cafeteria had a special "fruit day" for the salad bar. Lots of lovely fresh fruit in several different combinations. I bought two - one was just strawberries and blueberries, the other was more like a fruit salad. Sat down to eat and found there was chicken pieces in the fruit salad! WTF??? WHO puts CHICKEN in fruit salad??? It wasn't that someone had accidentally knocked some into the pan either, this was definitely mixed in. Eww!

Chicken in a fruit salad? That's really really gross. Only an omni would think of that...

Haha, like the people at Panera. I was there yesterday, and they have this Chicken Strawberry Poppyseed salad.

My mom has gotten really good at checking lables (especially when it comes to cheese). She mentioned there was cheese tortellini in the freezer, so I decided to make some... as I was putting the bag back into the freezer, I saw "Renn" and checked the ingrediants... of course, there is freaking rennett in it. I didn't want to waste it.. but every time I took a bite, I thought of stomach.



It had been a while since I've been to a Pizza Delight, and when I got there, I ordered a panzeroti with mushrooms, green pepper and black olive. When it got it, it came with a dipping sauce... I dipped the dough in the sauce, put it in my mouth, and realized that I had a mouth full of ground beef... not fun... every time I go, I ask for extra pizza sauce on the side instead of meat sauce...



But still...



I've heard of vegetarians/vegans getting ill from eating meat, so I'm downright paranoid!

That's not too abnormal because the salad makes it work a bit. I would make that with soy chicken But just fruit and chicken? Is that what she talking about? Fruit salad is just mixed fruit. A salad with fruit is something different. Omnis will put meat on anything. Salads are better sans meat. Stawberry Poppyseed sounds just like the salad my bfs Mom made. It was AWESOME. Found out there was Worchester sauce in it after I ate it, but I didn't make a big deal out of it. 1/4 tsp for more than 10 people. I just found the recipe online, it's SO good. So make it if you're interested:



Strawberry Spinach Salad



Salad: spinach

strawberries, sliced

almonds, slivered



Dressing: 1/2 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon paprika

2 tablespoons sesame seeds

1 1/2 teaspoon minced onion

1/4 cup cider vinegar

1 tablespoon poppy seeds

1/4 teaspoon worchester (veggie version)

1/2 cup oil



Put all ingredients except oil in blender. Mix, then add oil on low until thick. Add water if too thick.



ETA: HAHAHA... 10 minutes after I posted this, I told my Mom that there's a recipe I want her to try (this salad). She said "Yesterday I was at Panera and they had this delicious Strawberry Poppyseed salad." I almost fell out of my chair laughing when she said that. What a coincidence!

I'm sorry about your meat experience. I've come to accept that these happen. If I do put meat in my mouth, I spit it out, close my eyes, and try to breathe. I am grossed out and feel upset, but try to move on.



People make mistakes. We're more aware of how important it is to get the food right than omnis are. When you eat almost everything, it's not a HUGE deal if they accidently give you meat sauce instead of pizza. It's especially important to get things right if someone has food allergies. In situations like this, I talk to a manager and let them know what happened. I do wish people were more aware though.

-shudder- Luckily I haven't had any experience (that I know of) with accidentally being served meat. I'm now extremely grateful for that!