The Vegan Thread

What the actual fuck.

My girlfriend and I spent a few nights in Pitlochry a couple of weeks back and when we were researching places to eat this never popped up on our radar. Could be that out Google Fu is weak but even our Airbnb host who was seriously into his local knowledge/history never mentioned it.

We’re planning another trip up north soon so guess we’ll have to make sure we visit.

Cadburys hot chocolate powder is accidentally vegan!

Thanks for your reply @Simba.

B12 does not come from healthy and varied eating.
B12 comes from bacteria.

What I meant was that I (in general) keep up a very healthy and varied diet - and, in addition to that, I take care to include things like nutritional yeast and alcohol free wheat beer, for the B12.

I'm a bit confused now though.
It seems I did wrongly assume that all nutritional yeast products contain the vitamin B12 that I want - though apparently only fortified ones actually do; quoting from the Wikipedia here:

Since nutritional yeast is often used by vegans who may be interested in supplementing their diets with vitamin B12, there has been confusion about the source of the B12 in nutritional yeast. Yeast cannot produce B12, which is naturally produced only by some bacteria.
Some brands of nutritional yeast, though not all, are fortified with vitamin B12. When it is fortified, the vitamin B12 (commonly cyanocobalamin) is produced separately and then added to the yeast.

..regarding the non-alcoholic wheat beer:
I did read that this does not contain any significant amounts of B12.
Yet on the website of my favourite one Erding claims that half a liter gives 0,65 µg -
not that I'd want to drink four of those on a daily basis but still I wonder what's going on here.

Does the yeast in af beer actually contain B12 / can the yeast bacteria actually produce B12? Is their beer "fortified" with vitamin B12?

Hi,

Are you particularly big on plant milk intake? The alpro stuff is fortified with B12 and D.
I get through a ton of oat milk with cereal and have a protein shake daily; but also take spirulina / chlorella tablets which have a little B12. If you go the spirulina route though make sure you find something certified as 'metal free' as there are (apparently) some dodgy cheap brands that are less than ethical in that respect.
Or just go for a well known supplement...

Hi @aniki, thanks for your feedback.

I do just take a supplement as of now, still I'm curious regarding yeast / af-beer etc.

and delicious!

I understand.
The important differentiation here is yeast and bacteria. They are not the same.

Vitamin B12 can only be produced by bacteria.
It cannot be produced by any yeast cells. So if there is some B12 in nutritional yeast or in beer, it is always added or due to bacterial contamination in the production which is highly unlikely.
Some of the other B vitamins can be produced by yeast, but not B12.

You mention the 0,65mcg and I’m guessing you see that in relation to the current EU (it will likely change very soon) daily recommendation of 2 mcg, so my numbers doesn’t add up or seem exaggerated, but that’s due to how the receptor system works.

Apart from 500mcg daily and 2500mcg once a week there is also the option of eating fortified foods.

In that case it is recommended to eat B12-fortified foods three times a day (at each meal), each containing at least 190% of the Daily Value listed on the nutrition facts label (based on the new labeling mandated to start January 1, 2020—the target is 4.5 mcg three times a day). 

The easiest, cheapest and safest way is to eat a supplement.

Here are some videos to check out.
https://nutritionfacts.org/video/safest-source-of-b12/

https://nutritionfacts.org/video/cheapest-source-of-vitamin-b12/

https://nutritionfacts.org/video/daily-source-of-vitamin-b12/

Hi Simba,

thanks again for elaborating!

Can't really watch those videos though to be honest as that guy's voice is just making my head hurt unfortunately.

Vitamin B12 can only be produced by bacteria.
It cannot be produced by any yeast cells. So if there is some B12 in nutritional yeast or in beer, it is always added or due to bacterial contamination in the production which is highly unlikely.
Some of the other B vitamins can be produced by yeast, but not B12.

..so I did actually contact the brewery and asked them about this; here's what they tell me:

Unsere Weißbierspezialitäten werden nach dem Bayerischen Reinheitsgebot hergestellt, weshalb wir nur die Rohstoffe Wasser, Weizen- und Gerstenmalz, Hefe und Hopfen verwenden. Im Falle von ERDINGER Alkoholfrei wird außerdem noch die aus dem Brauprozess gewonnene Gärungskohlensäure als Zutat genutzt. Zusätze, z. B. von Vitaminen, sind nicht erlaubt, weshalb die wertvollen Vitamine in unseren Weißbieren von Natur aus enthalten sind. Das Vitamin B12 in ERDINGER Alkoholfrei wird über den natürlich vorkommenden mikrobiellen Besatz auf Weizen und Gerste bzw. Malz gebildet. Für dieses Vitamin B12 wurde durch renommierte Wissenschaftler eine Bioverfügbarkeit beschrieben.

"Our wheat beer specialties are made observing the bavarian purity law (...) which forbids adding supplements, including vitamins (...).
The vitamin B12 in Erdinger alcohol-free wheat beer is formed by microbial growth on wheat, barley and malt.
Renowned scientists have attested the bioavailability of this vitamin B12"

Yeah, I would consider that an untrustworthy industry answer.

Drink the beer because you like it, not because of the B12

Also, all of the videos are subtitles in multiple languages and transcribed.

would consider that an untrustworthy industry answer

..not sure, Bavarians really don't fuck around with their Reinheitsgebot so can't imagine them really addings stuff like vitamins to be honest.

I thought all beer has B12 in

Is the b12 in marmite fortified or part of the process?

@ioreka @Cazakstan thanks!

Fortified apparently - https://www.quora.com/Where-does-the-vitamin-B-12-in-the-marmite-or-vegemite-come-from-yeast-or-bacteria

Finally made rice pudding

200g pudding rice
1200ml fake milk (coconut in my case, which was also out of date so needed using up)
120g caster sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

simmer down on the stove for 45 mins until thick

i ate mine with a spoonful of golden syrup on top. jam is also acceptable.

Does anyone have a recipe for an easy go-to dessert?

Lidl. Festive feast sandwich. Not terrible/10 £1.69

Sounds like a terrible suggestion for a dessert.

Some sort of crumble?

Coop apple or rhubarb pie with alpro custard.

it has cranberries in it?

Another rice pud recipe.

100g white rice
1 tin of coconut milk
3 table spoons of maple syrup (can use sugar instead) adjust to taste
Optional spices -
Pinch of cinnamon
3 cardamom pods
3 cloves
Optional fruit-
Raisins chopped apple

Bung everything into a saucepan, summer and stir continuously. Add a touch of water or plant milk if needed. Remove cardamom pods and cloves before serving.

I actually have one of those in the fridge. I bought it on a whim and didn’t know what to use it for. Great suggestion!

This sounds delicious, but rice pudding is a Christmas dish around here (Denmark) so I’ll save that a month or two and then make it.

Not super easy, but this is very good

https://www.nigella.com/recipes/dark-and-sumptuous-chocolate-cake