How closely should we be looking at labels?
Just last night I came across a Facebook post that was taking about hidden pork in different products. One that I was totally unaware of was that some wines are "fined" using gelatin to remove clumps and because its not really an ingredient, wine co.panies are not required to put it on the label. Much to my dismay, I was drinking a glass of my "yay its sabbath, I'm finally relaxing" wine and I just ended up throwing it out after going back and forth in my mind about it. When I googled it, AI says the most common fining agent in wine is actually bentonite clay and that if gelatin is used, its only trace amounts of the gelatin getting into the actual wine and the only way to make absolutely sure there is none is if you buy vegan or kosher wine, which I haven't seen a lot of? Then again its never something ive looked for.
Another product that I hadn't really considered having hidden pork is cheese because of the enzymes. The enzymes listed on the ingredients usually dont say what animals they are from,if they are from animals, they only say "enzymes"
I can understand avoiding products with "gelatin" listed as an ingredient because realistically it probably does come from pork unless stated otherwise.
Side note: I'm not looking for anyone to give me "permission" to eat or not eat certain things but I am new on this walk (about 4 months) and I really thought I was doing okay just by avoiding pork/lard and shellfish themselves, I didn't imagine all these other "secret" places i would have to look and so I am just looking to get your opinions or any practical advise. Basically I'm just seeing where my judgements fall among all of your judgements, because again, I am new and a little unsure and dismayed at these new food revelations. Thanks
Posted Jun 6, 2026, 9:34 PM UTC