I updated my photo on Big_Other.comIt's hard not to eat pieces of insect even if you're a vegan. It turns out that there are substantial quantities of said pieces in products such as peanut butter and chocolate. The FDA deems this contamination of �aesthetic� significance. There's a whole paper just in that designation isn't there? HT Jarrod Fowler.
Chitin also appears in mushrooms. Interesting non-boundary there between �animal� and non-animal. John Cage was a vegetarian who studied mushrooms, along with his day job as spearhead of the avant garde.
Carlos Casteneda was stopped by a horrified fan at a burger joint in New Mexico while he was chowing down on a hamburger. When asked to explain himself he replied, �Everything is sacred.� Think about it.
(It's also hard not to eat pieces of animal when you're committed to eating pieces of them deliberately. Wilde: �alcohol, when taken in sufficient quantities, produces all the effects of drunkenness.�)
I remain a vegan.
| CHOCOLATE AND CHOCOLATE LIQUOR | Insect filth (AOAC 965.38) | Average is 60 or more insect fragments per 100 grams when 6 100-gram subsamples are examined OR Any 1 subsample contains 90 or more insect fragments |
| Rodent filth (AOAC 965.38) | Average is 1 or more rodent hairs per 100 grams in 6 100-gram subsamples examined OR Any 1 subsample contains 3 or more rodent hairs | |
| Shell (AOAC 968.10-970.23) | For chocolate liquor, if the shell is in excess of 2% calculated on the basis of alkali-free nibs |
SIGNIFICANCE: Aesthetic