How we decide

The three verdicts

Certified Vegan

Certified vegan by a third-party organisation, such as VegeProject. A maker's own “vegan” label isn't a certification, so we mention it in the product's note instead.

No Known Animal Ingredients

Nothing in the ingredients is known to come from animals. Some ingredients can be animal- or plant-derived, and labels rarely say which: when a product has one, its note names it.

Not Vegan

At least one ingredient comes from animals, according to the label, the allergen declaration or the maker.

What we check

• The ingredients list (原材料名), including the additives after the slash (／).
• The allergen labelling. Allergens are listed either right after the ingredient that contains them, as in チョコレート（乳成分を含む） (chocolate, containing milk), or all together at the end, as in （一部に乳成分・大豆を含む）. If it declares milk, egg or another animal product, we count it, even when no ingredient in the list names it: it's usually inside an ingredient whose own ingredients aren't listed. If it declares nothing animal-derived, that proves nothing: pork, beef, chicken and gelatin only have to be declared voluntarily, and highly processed animal products may not be declared at all.
• Answers from makers, and their official product pages, when we have them.

Ingredients that can go either way

Some ingredients can be made from plants or from animals: emulsifier (乳化剤), flavouring (香料), shortening (ショートニング), lecithin (レシチン) and glycerin (グリセリン) are common ones. When the label gives the source, as in 乳化剤（大豆由来） (emulsifier from soy), we go by it. When it doesn't, the product stays “No Known Animal Ingredients” and its note names the ingredient. If the maker tells us it's animal-derived, the product is “Not Vegan”.

Seasoning (調味料（アミノ酸等）) is one of these. It's usually MSG and similar flavour enhancers made by fermenting sugarcane or starch, but Japanese labelling rules let the same name cover a few amino acids made from feathers or gelatin, and nucleotides that can be made from fish. So we note it unless the maker has told us its source.

Some names only look animal-derived. 乳酸 (lactic acid), 乳酸菌 (lactic acid bacteria) and 豆乳 (soy milk) contain the character for milk, but none of them is dairy.

What we don't count

• Shared factories and equipment. A warning such as 本品製造工場では乳成分を含む製品を生産しています (made in a factory that also makes products containing milk) is about traces from shared equipment, not about ingredients. We mention it in the product's note.
• Processing aids that don't end up in the product and don't appear on labels, such as the bone char used to refine some sugar.

What labels can leave out

Japanese labels don't always list everything. A small amount of an ingredient, such as fish stock used for flavour, can go unlisted, and so can additives carried over from another ingredient. That's why our middle verdict is “No Known Animal Ingredients” rather than “Vegan”.

Check a label yourself

The ingredient checker applies these rules to any Japanese ingredients list you paste in.

Spotted a mistake?

Every product page has a “Let us know” link for reporting changes, or you can tell us in our Facebook group.