On road trips, you settle for french fries and a burger minus the meat. At dinner parties you reach for crackers and cheese for lack of other options. And when you go out for Tex-Mex food, you fill up on rice and refried beans. So goes the life of a vegetarian.

But eater beware, all of these vege staples may contain hidden animal products.

French fries are just fried potatoes, right? Not always. Some fries, including those from McDonald’s contain beef products. And they aren’t the only foods that seem vegetarian but aren’t.

The popularity of vegetarianism continues to grow. In fact, according to the American Dietetic Association more than 30 million Americans have tried vegetarianism. But if you think it’s easy to really eat vegetarian, think again.

Diet plays a crucial role in your overall health, so it’s important to know what you’re putting into your body. As a consumer, it’s your basic right to know exactly what’s in the foods you buy and feed to your family. And for vegetarians, avoiding meat and animal-derived products is a way of life. But sometimes being in the know can be quite a challenge.

Meat-Free Foods?

Just because the animal products aren’t obvious, doesn’t mean they aren’t there. Some common animal-derived ingredients are not clearly marked as such. Other additives can be made with either plant- or animal-based sources while food packaging fails to indicate which one was used. Some of these products that may or may not be animal derived include sodium stearoyl lactylate, glycerin, glycerol and trypsin.