Vegan Foods: Labelling Practice

Abstract

In recent years, the vegan diet has become more popular in Germany. So far, there is no reliable data on the exact number of vegan consumers in Germany. According to estimates from 2015, the percentage of vegans among the German population accounted for 1% [1, 2]. Although the exact number of vegans living in Germany cannot be quantified, the trend towards vegan food can also be observed in other areas of society such as the cookbook market, the gastronomic sector and on trade fairs. Whilst there were 67 vegan/ vegetarian cookbooks published in 41 publishing houses in 2010, already in the first three months of 2014 there were 135 vegan/vegetarian cookbooks in 71 publishing houses [3]. According to figures from the Vegetarierbund Deutschland e. V. (VEBU; German Vegetarian Union) in 2013, 75 vegan gastronomic undertakings were counted in medium-sized and big cities in Germany. In January 2015, 122 vegan gastronomic undertakings were listed [4]. In addition, in 2015 there was a variety of seven well-frequented trade fairs exclusively on vegan products [5]. In the meanwhile, also the German Nutrition Society (DGE) has published a position paper on the topic of vegan diet [6].