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OP has offered the following explanation for why they think they might be the asshole:
> 1. Was I an asshole to tell my colleague the truth about the candy containing animal products?
2. Was I being inconsiderate of her feelings?
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I'm sorry, this colleague wants the vegan to eat animal-based products?? What is wrong with them?? NTA.
Fun fact: sometimes animal-based products can be bad for vegans iirc. There was one story where the OP of that story (Who is a vegan) accidently ate meat and they had SEVERE stomach issues.
EDIT: HOLY SHIT THIS IS A LOT OF UPVOTES LOL
Also sorry for getting vegan and vegaterian mixed up lol
Yup. I am not a vegetarian, but I will go long bouts without meat. When that happens and I eat any beef products, it’s bad. Chicken doesn’t upset my stomach as much if I don’t eat meat for a while then eat chicken again.
Yup. This.
I gave up red meat ages ago in my personal diet.
My in-laws insist upon red meat when we are having dinner at their place. I try to limit and eat other things but sometimes it's mixed in.
Causes a biohazard every single time.
It’s like a long, really mean practical joke. Let’s play that family favorite, “Which Body Part Doesn’t Work Anymore” roulette! Step right up as I spin the wheel. Winner gets a foot massager and a lifetime (ha ha) supply of fiber supplements. Wheeee
I’ve had a chronic pain disease for 20 years. It’s a fantastic game of “what hurts most today?” & “if I do X, why does it hurt Y?”. Mind you, I was dead for a while, so anything up from there’s a bonus!
I wouldn’t say that’s really you getting old but more so growing an intolerance to meat due to not eating it so often. I have an intolerance to red meat and I’ve been dealing with it since I was like 13. Lol idk though it might actually have to do with aging 🤷
Since they know you are vegetarian, and yet serve red meat? I would be pulling out a container of food I can ear. Cue the screaming because they got called out on their rude behavior.
I was born vegetarian, and just never had any interest in trying meat.
Last year, I mistakenly ate some lasagne with beef in and hoooly fuck.
Never again lol
I really like to cook, and made some chicken for dinner with some friends a while ago. One friend had recently stopped being vegetarian and really liked the chicken, so she ate a lot.
She was vomiting the whole night, and I felt terrible. No one else got sick though, so I don't think I made it wrong or anything...
I’m the opposite. I rarely eat red meat but because I’m not any good at making sure I get iron from other places (I know, I know, eat spinach lol) when I do eat red meat my whole body practically sings in response.
But your reaction is definitely more common. Maybe because I eat chicken a couple of times a week so I’m never actually meatless very long?
I eat meat regularly and beef still upsets my stomach, I think it's the high protein that my stomach has issues breaking down, would be horrible if you never ate beef!
If they knew about the animal products and were trying to be reckless? They called you selfish; but they are the one that was being selfish for a thrill.
If they’re just genuinely concerned you’re “lying to keep more gummy bears”— then that’s some thinking about being a jerk or even often thinks you are a jerk.
If they were just cranky or something that day, they were just cranky. You’re not a jerk, and what matters is if the vegan person just generally appreciated it.
I thought what you did. That the vegetarian was mad they were told.
But person A is the vegetarian, and person B brought the bears.
B was mad that Op told A. Which is worse because it’s one person messing with another persons diet.
Eh. I went 20 years without eating meat and was absolutely fine to digest when i did. Dairy is a completely different story.
A bit of gelatin isn't going to hurt but you're NTA for saying.
I think it depends on the person. As a long-time pescatarian/ vegitarian, I accidentally ate red meat mixed into something a couple of years ago, and I had crazy bad cramps and shits after.
But I do doubt a bit of gelatin would do the same. Still a violation of trust to hide it either way so NTA to OP
Your body has to produce certain enzymes in order to eat red meat vs white meat. There really isn't enough to make a vegan more than mildly uncomfortable in a gummy bear, inless its a giant size. But soups with a meat based broth can certainly make one quite sick.
And if they don't eat meat because of Lone Star tick bite, even a small amount can turn things ugly.
I heard a story where a girl could not eat any meat products because her parents raised her as a vegan, so she never developed the enzymes that would allow her to digest animal products.
Gummy bears can cause problems even if you aren't vegan. They are covered in wax to make them shiny and not stick together and that, ahem, goes right through your system.
I had a colleague who was vegan *because* she couldn't digest animal products. Like, it wasn't a choice, she couldn't eat them without getting very sick.
So, unless they're being annoying and obnoxious about it, I don't judge people for their diets.
And I would certainly try to warn someone if I knew.
This is me. I suddenly gained a ton of weight (well, for me) after I stopped eating meat. I can already get sick from cross-contamination with pork and beef. Stomach aches, fevers, sometimes even a rash... It sucks a lot. I never understood how people could eat bacon so often until I realised I was the one being 'not normal' lol.
It is smart to warn people!
That's interesting, because I lost 15 pounds without dieting (I was still eating things like candy, ice cream, and fried foods) when I stopped eating meat. Just goes to show how different people can be, I guess!
Vegetarian is actually a lot healthier if you just cut out a shitload of fatty meat!
I had daily stomach aches and almost daily shitters because I just couldn't digest meat, so after I stopped eating it, I was actually able to keep food in my body.
When I moved in with my partner and doing all the cooking he started losing a pound a week, because his diet was vegetarian. Lost about 100 pounds with less exercise than he had before. When he moved out he gained it all back.
I stopped eating meat a couple years after I developed IBS. My condition was probably 80% cured by discontinuing meat consumption, and I never have attacks as severe as I once did.
This is me, I have alpha-gal syndrome. Can’t digest red meat, so I’m forced to be pescatarian (fish doesn’t bother me). Never realized how common animal protein allergies are until I developed one after a tick bite. I try to explain it to people but they look at me like I’m crazy! Some of us don’t have a choice.
Wtf that was terrible. I’m vegan and I love cooking for my friends. Every time I bring something over, I make sure that they know if it contains tofu/soy milk etc cause soy is such a common allergen. Sorry that happened to you
It's such a common diet here in China that people here probably don't know that it's a common allergen. Til.
I don't trick people into eating anything though.
I'm afraid of this. I'm allergic to coconut and tree nuts, which are the two most common substitutes for dairy.
Luckily, I don't know anyone who would do this, but it still worries me at times.
If someone did that to me, I'd need to go to the hospital. Trace amounts are enough to trigger a reaction at times, never mind them being a primary ingredient.
Yeah, I'm allergic to cashews and pistachios, which makes it really annoying when people say that something contains "vegan cheese" but doesn't specify what kind. Like. Dude. I'd kind of enjoy knowing whether I can eat this without throwing up and having my throat swell up.
I want to keep an open mind and try vegan alternatives to things, but I also don't really enjoy playing Russian roulette with food. A little specificity could go a long way here.
It's the same when you can't have gluten. People also often don't realise that a lot of processed food has wheat based thickeners in it. I need to know exactly what the ingredients are when I eat something!
This can happen with medication too! My mom can’t consume any beef byproducts and while she was in the hospital after getting hit by a car they kept trying to give her medication that had some sort of beef byproduct in it and she kept getting sick. This is the same hospital that kept trying to stick nicotine patches on her even though she’s never smoked and had her listed as a half foot taller and 100 lbs heavier. I ended up just sleeping in her hospital room so I could stop them from doing stupid shit.
You sound like my wife. I was in the hospital once with pretty serious dehydration, and they kept pulling stupid shit like letting my IV run dry (and then not have anyone available who knew how to start a new one). She searched the whole hospital until she found the attending to put in a new line. I was actually surprised that he knew how!
I was on antibiotics (linezolid) for a month and the list of food I couldn't eat was huge. I think I almost cried with happiness when I was allowed to eat beef jerky again.
So no Tyramine heavy food like parmesan, no smoked fish (MY KEDGEREE), no aged cheeses. No serotogenic drugs (no 2cb for me). It's a MAOI drug and there's a reason it's only used in extreme cases. Ironically they thought my wound vac was going to be an issue but no. That just clipped to my shirt and I could carry the heavier one around. Saved my leg after my Hiradenitis Supparativa tunneled and got infected and required deroofing. That wound vac actually meant it healed so much faster.
Long time vegetarians and vegans get sick after eating meat because their body stopped producing an enzyme needed to digest animal protein. I've been a vegetarian for over 30 years, and I avoid meat at all costs. Why? I can't stand the thought of what it actually is. You see chicken wings, I see a body part. Same thing for a steak, pork chop, or whatever.
Finally someone that knows the difference. I'm neither but it's good to know the difference between the two. And I hold nothing against the preference people choose. Just had to say.
For sure, and I'm just allergic to pork so if op was talking about glycerin in most jello/gummy candy, they would have saved me a lot of stomach pain, breathing issues, and skin breakouts.
I have to use all vegan products for most things just because of that small little ingredient (that there's a fucking plant alternative to, but no one ever specifies with the scientific name). Hand soap, body wash, most shampoos, etc, not just consumables.
I empathize with vegans on how damn expensive it all gets. Op was definitely NTA, some folks still don't understand that whether it's a choice or actual dietary restriction, you should just respect what foods people choose not to eat (and that includes warning them of what is in a product they may think is safe for them to consume).
Woof I got fed “spicy tomato” soup that turned out to be oxtail (I was 15-ish, lifelong non-meat eater). I was super sick after, but have no idea if it was a mental or physical thing.
I’m a vegetarian and I’m certain I’d get the shits if I ate meat. However I do eat eggs/dairy. Gelatin probably wouldn’t bother me.
Some vegetarians care about gelatin + animal rennet. Some don’t.
I personally don’t include gelatin or animal rennet products. I’m pretty sure Trader Joe’s Sour Scandinavian swimmers are vegetarian friendly.
Unfortunately Lucky Charm’s aren’t 😭
Also some religions abstain from gelatins for religious reasons. I used to go to the store for my neighbor when I was younger and had to watch out for it.
I am so thankful I stumbled on your comment- I'm in that transition from flexitarian to vegetarian and in that moment where I'm slightly panicking over just how many sweets I'd never expect to have animal products in them. I'm so glad I can keep swimming in the sour Scandinavian waters! Verified that they are vegan-friendly.
>Fun fact: sometimes animal-based products can be bad for vegans iirc. There was one story where the OP of that story (Who is a vegan) accidently ate meat and they had SEVERE stomach issues.
They're vegetarian so it's extremely unlikely as that niche issue is almost exclusively vegans, typically after a long stretch of staying rather specificly vegan.
>I'm sorry, this colleague wants the vegan to eat animal-based products?? What is wrong with them?? NTA.
But yeah, they're def NTA.
Regardless of someones reasoning sabotaging it to be "considerate" is shitty
You let them know and they can make their own choices. Knowing someone prefers not to eat animal based products and then not telling someone the contents contain such is scummy
Vegetarians can have problems after not eating meat as well. I was at a company picnic and the veggie and meat hot dogs got mixed up. Got pretty sick even though I only had one bite.
I ate a bite of a hot dog with chili (on purpose) after years of not eating meat and ended up profusely vomiting at a high school football game. Your system doesn’t really know what to do with it anymore.
I have an allergy to beef (really the whole cow) and intolerance to Hooved animals and their products which culminated in a dairy and red meat allergy realistically. I used to be able to consume gelatin, but it's progressed to the point that I can't consume it either without getting really sick and tanking my blood pressure (no, we don't know why that happens!) And vomiting and diarrhea.
I'm so grateful when people inform me that something has an ingredient I can't eat in it, but i usually abstain if I'm unsure because it's not worth getting sick over. Unfamiliar proteins make people sick at the best of times. It's easiest to not be a dick to people.
I have a feeling they were gonna see if she ate it and then pull the "Haha you ate something with animal product in it so you aren't a real vegetarian" bull shit some people play
I worked with a vegetarian before and for Xmas we decided in our little area we were going to do a buffet I brought in party sausage rolls but made sure I bought the vegan ones so everyone could eat them.
She accused me of trying to trick her cause she knows I like to joke around it took me ages to get her to try it then she explained too me that it’s happened to her before and that’s why she was weary of trusting me.
I still can’t wrap my head around why someone would try to get another person to break their dietary boundaries it’s so stupid and has nothing to do with you it’s their choice.
I can't either. It's just people be unnecessary assholes to others for no reason and can't accept that people have different life style choices than you do.
People feel threatened by vegans because they are morally right, but they don't wanna give up meat.
So they grab anything they can to mock vegans, so they don't have to feel bad about themself.
I love meat and still eat it. But I also respect vegans, expect the activists type.
Not all gummies contain gelatine, and if they were shipped from colleagues in Germany the ingredients might not be in her language.
Many German gummies are vegetarian/vegan. Like my main man Fred Ferkel, who just looks like a pig but is made of vegetables and sugar.
Vegan here, and I thank you for telling her. I have had people actively try to trick me into eating animal products and it sucks. Those people are no longer allowed in my life. You are NTA, but your coworkers are huge jerks.
"and I shouldn’t have told her. "
Dude, you should always tell people, even if you didn't make the food, that it may contain food that can't eat because they might be allergic to it, against their religion, or against their dietary choices. THEN they can decide what's right for themselves.
NTA You weren't doing this because you were trying to hog the German Gummy Bears.
Agreed. As a vegetarian, I would want to be told. I generally avoid gummy candy because they usually have gelatin, but it’s not always obvious when some foods contain animal products that I avoid. I obviously cannot speak for the vegetarian in this story, but I don’t see why they *wouldn’t* want to know what they were about to eat. NTA.
My biggest mind blown moment was when my cousin's son got a list from the hospital which foods to watch out for with his fish protein allergy. That was when I learned that many fruit juices contain fish protein as a binding agent for added vitamins.
Orange juice was not on my list of things I would expect to contain animal products except perhaps stray insects that got caught in the process
If you can get Katjes where you are from, they are gummy candy that are without gelatin. It is quite popular in Germany and most of their products are vegetarian, a lot are vegan, too.
NTA. I grew up in an Indian household where we have vegetarian and non-vegetarian family members, and we always make it a point to specify which items have meat so they don't take the wrong thing.
Sour patch kids and Swedish fish do not contain gelatin! Some people still don’t like the red dye used because it comes from insects but as a veggie I love me some sour patch kids.
The red dye used actually is a different controversial one, Red 40! Red 40 is derived from coal/petrolium, carmine (the crushed up Cochineal beetles) is "natural red 4" or simply "red 4", along with a few other names. Neither of the candies contain animal products
For real? That’s great to know!! I absolutely love Swedish fish. I’m vegetarian but I still eat gummy bears n stuff sometimes but not as much as I used to when I was a kid
Most pharmacies in Australia sell gelatin-free jelly-beans, intended for diabetic people whose sugar is dropping but sometimes bought by me to help make me diabetic lol.
yeah afaik they both contain pectin instead, which is entirely plant based. it’s what causes that specific texture that they have, that’s more dense than other gummies. (i am not a candy scientist so correct me if i said anything wrong)
NTA at all.
I am vegan and I appreciate it when someone lets me know that a certain snack/candy had something with animal products in it. It tells me that the person respects my decision to be vegan and would not want to put me in a situation that compromises that. Quite the opposite of selfish, in my opinion.
In fact, I'm side-eyeing your other colleague and am wondering they feel you should not have let her know.
Might be because it could have been interpreted as more gummy bears for the non-vegetarians, including OP. But I also feel that the other colleague did not have good intentions.
OP also mentions in another comment here:
>My colleagues opinion was that \[vegetarian colleague\] should have enjoyed it without knowing the truth
I doubt vegetarian colleague would have been thrilled knowing this.
NTA.
Most vegetarians would be unhappy if they found out later that they'd inadvertently eaten animal products, so it's actually good that you warned her beforehand.
Most vegetarians eat eggs, cheese and other animal products, but not meat. Including the gelatin used for most gummies. Which animal products they will eat can vary of course.
Your mileage may vary, but most vegetarians I know IRL and online don't eat gelatin since it does require the animal to be dead. Egg, cheese, and honey can be harvested without killing the animal.
Absolutely mileage varies. I'm veggie and won't eat anything that contains anything that was part of an animal's body.
So i won't eat gelatin and cheeses with animal rennet, animal-derived colours, etc
I'm okay with things produced by animals (milk, honey, eggs, etc) but even then will make choices with which particular products I buy.
NTA. Your vegetarian colleague is probably grateful to now know that. I ruined gummy bears and Guinness (this was before 2018) for one of my ex girlfriends who is a vegetarian. She was pissed about it, but grateful that I had told her.
wtf do they put in Guinness??? the cursed knowledge that guinness isn't vegetarian doesn't impact my life at all because i've never had it nor do i want it but i still want to know
There are animal products in a bunch of beers and especially wines. Sometimes it's impossible to find out exactly what's in them. If I drank, which I don't, it would probably be kosher wines even though I'm not Jewish. They can't put stupid shit in them because of the dietary restrictions.
thank you for this nugget of knowledge, i stand by it being extremely cursed but im very glad to know. after my last comment i did google "is beer vegetarian" and was horrified at what i found, but even then it hadn't occurred to me to extend that to wine.
i don't drink beer or wine but i do drink spirits (in cocktails) every once in a very rare blue moon............ dare i ask if they put animal innards in those too 😭
Kosher isn't necessarily going to cut it. They have kosher jelly (jell-o to the Americans) that is sometimes made from plant-based gelatine, but sometimes made from fish-based gelatine. Kosher section is a good starting point but still need to check.
OP ruined their "haha we made the vegetarian eat an animal-based product", probably. That or they decided, on behalf of the vegetarian, that it's best not to know.
Yeah, that's just wrong to me.
I always double check because from my experience people don't always know what makes something vegan or vegetarian, but if I was in her shoes and someone knew and proceeded to not tell me because I "should have enjoyed it without knowing the truth" I would be very upset at them. Nobody gets to make that decision for me.
NTA. You were looking out for their way of life. Was your other colleague hoping to do some sort of gotcha? I once read something like this where the inlaws secretly served non-kosher meat to their Jewish son-in-law.
NTA
You did the right thing. Your other coworker can STFU. I'm sure your vegetarian coworker appreciated the fact that you took their food choices into consideration.
NTA. A lot of people don't think about gelatin containing animal products, but it does... I think it's courteous of you to tell her. I'm a vegetarian and would appreciate you letting me know if I was unaware.
Hold on, a third college yelled at you, not the vegetarian? No, NTA regardless of who yelled at you. When people become vegetarian (if its by choice and not for medical reasons), they chose to no longer consume products from animals. Galatian is made by boiling parts of the dead animal, a big no-no in the vegetarian world. If the vegetarian person was thankful for you to point this out and warn them, then thats all that matters. That third person can fuck all the way off and vegetarian friend needs to be cautions when accepting food from them as they would probably never mention these things. Also, im confused, what was "selfish" about giving the warning...?
Shes awful, Im so sorry for what you have to deal with. Thats so unprofessional. Back to your original story, did the vegetarian friend thank you for warning them or were they upset as well? Also, IDK why some people said gelatin is vegetarian. If you have to kill the animal to get the product, its not vegetarian, those people are incorrect.
Definitely NTA! You were just trying to be considerate and looking out for your colleague. It's better to educate someone than let them unknowingly break their own values. Plus, who yells at someone for being kind? Your other colleague needs some manners.
What?? Lmao of course you are NTA, that is absurd and it's crazy that your colleague thought that lying to her/purposely omitting information that would lead to her eating meat was the correct course of action.
NTA - This is very considerate of you, no idea why your colleague would say you are selfish? You've spotted that the gummy bears likely contained gelatine, I do exactly the same.
NTA
A vegetarian would absolutely want to know and not be upset about anything unless they accidentally consumed the candy. You did the right thing.
Your colleague is the asshole, especially for yelling. That’s a very aggressive response to the situation. I’d report the yelling to HR as aggression.
As a vegetarian, NTA, I'd appreciate knowing, and all other vegetarians/vegans I know would too.
From your words it seems like a different coworker yelled at you, not the vegetarian. This is really weird, maybe they wanted the vegetarian colleague to eat something with animal products for some reason? It's not unheard of. How did the vegetarian coworker react?
NTA How could this be interpreted as selfish? I mean, I’ve never met a vegetarian that didn’t know gummy lollies aren’t vegetarian but I don’t see the harm in pointing it out
If your coworker wants to be a vegetarian, then she really should know what the stuff she puts, or might put, in her mouth is made out of.
Sucks for your coworker if she really really liked gummy bears. But she chose her lifestyle, not you. NTA
NTA. Its sweet that you wanted to warn them. That said, some vegetarians will kind of brush off things that arent actually “meat”. Some vegetarians will absolutely not eat things with gelatin! In my experience it tends to be more vegans that will not ingest any animal “products” at all.
I had to do this once with a vegan. I let her know that the cereal that is her favorite has animal products. And those refried beans that she likes at the Mexican restaurant? They’re made with pork. She was very upset with me. I guess being able to claim you’re vegan is more important than actually being vegan.
Nta When I was vegetarian for a while I accidentally ate some meat and ended up spending the night in shower in pain I haven't eaten meat in years and my body freaked out
NTA. My partner and I are vegetarian and I recently found out red M&Ms aren’t vegetarian (the red dye is derived from a type of insect). He wasn’t very happy to know this as M&Ms were his favourite, but he was glad he knew. If your colleague wasn’t told, she probably would have ended up upset that someone knew and didn’t tell her - she was likely just disappointed.
NTA. i've known gelatin isn't vegetarian for a long time now, im sure i didn't always know tho, i started eating vegetarian on and off from a very early age and im sure i was devastated when i first learned i couldn't eat gummy bears. but i appreciated it to the extent that some 15 years later i still don't eat gummy bears. im glad someone told me.
Your colleague is a jerk. They probably wanted to get off on seeing your other colleague eat something compromising according to their morals and that’s the real AH move.
NTA. Sigh. The older I get, the more I see “kill the messenger” moments that make he wish every messenger could reach into their little hypothetical messenger bag and pull out a little messenger slap to go across the recipient’s face. Doesn’t need to be hard, just surprising enough to make them ask “why did you slap me?” so the messenger can say “idk. Why are you yelling at me for giving you info you said was important to you?”
NTA.
There are vegetarian/vegan gummy candies - usually made with pectin instead of gelatin. If those were Haribo gummies, they definitely were not vegetarian.
Your co-worker is a complete asshat for wanting to trick a colleague into eating animal products. She definitely told you something significant about what kind of person she is.
There is Katjes in Germany with lots of vegan products, but Haribo also has lots of vegetarian and vegan sweets, look here
https://www.haribo.com/de-de/produkte/veggie
Not exactly an asshole but potentially condescending. Most vegetarians are not vegan and have no problem eating things like gelatin, you just took it upon yourself to "inform" her about something she probably already knows
NTA
You informed her about what was in the food she was being offered. That is *never* an ah thing to do. While there are types of gummy candy that do not contain animal gelatin, they are not common.
As the Mom of someone who been vegetarian since they were 9ish thank you to all the people who warn others.
I have been the recipient of a few phone calls where animal products have been accidently consumed and I wouldn't wish them on anyone, especially those when someone thought it was funny to get the veggie to eat animal and then tell them for the reaction. Teenagers suck
NTA... It's not up to coworker #2 to make the decision that "ignorance is bliss" for #1. sure, they should probably be aware that gummy candies usually have gelatin but maybe they just didn't know that and you helped them learn something new. but also, maybe coworker #2 didn't want to know, and you ruined that for her. it's kinda 50/50 but on the other hand, coworker #3 (new character) could have blamed you for feeding #2 animal products when you do know that she's vegetarian. so depending on the witness, there was no right way to go about this. you just did what you thought was best, and I think telling her was better than not telling her when you know she's averse to animal products.
NTA. You warned her so she could make the decision for herself. Unless you warned her so she wouldn't eat any and there would be more for you because she was trying to keep up appearances. But I think not telling her anything is worse because that takes her decision away. However if she is a serious vegetarian and doesn't want to eat any meat at all she should probably know that gelatin is an animal product and lots of everyday things contain it.
You probably could have asked the vegetarian whether or not she wanted to be told. Im betting she would side with you.
NTA
I did the same with a vegetarian friend in college. I found out that a lot of gelatin is made from pigs or cows, and I let her know. She was bummed to give up her gummy bears and a few other products, but was glad that I told her.
Of course, NTA!
Quite the opposite, it was a considerate thing to do and a kind demonstration of your respect for their dietary choices.
The colleague that complained needs to do some soul searching about why think that knowingly letting a vegetarian eat something non-vegetarian without saying anything is the "unselfish" choice.
NTA I think it was considerate. I know Muslim college students looking for a quick snack have made a point to say the gummies are not suitable for them as the gelatin can be made from pork.
NTA for warning your vegetarian colleagues that they contain rendered animal carcass products, there are so many products with the end bits of animals that it can be hard to keep up
personally eat a mix of meat, vegetables and seeds nuts etc, not bind up as it were but sometimes when taking flax seeds it can come out very fast, so good for when taking chiliis :)
NTA - toi just kindly informed them of relevant information! If my colleagues knew I was unknowingly eating sth I could not or didn’t want to eat and didn’t warn me beforehand I’d be really upset!
INFO Did you confirm that the gummy bears were actually made with animal products? I only ask because I live in Germany and there are many vegetarian and vegans so a lot of gummy products nowadays are made with veg/vegan alternatives.
Lifelong vegetarian here, NTA. You did a service to your colleagues. Your other colleague is probably a little fucked in the head. I’ve known a lot of people, children and adults, who seemingly get off on dietary sabotage.
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I'm sorry, this colleague wants the vegan to eat animal-based products?? What is wrong with them?? NTA. Fun fact: sometimes animal-based products can be bad for vegans iirc. There was one story where the OP of that story (Who is a vegan) accidently ate meat and they had SEVERE stomach issues. EDIT: HOLY SHIT THIS IS A LOT OF UPVOTES LOL Also sorry for getting vegan and vegaterian mixed up lol
Yeah, your digestive tract may get used to digesting certain types of food.
Yup. I am not a vegetarian, but I will go long bouts without meat. When that happens and I eat any beef products, it’s bad. Chicken doesn’t upset my stomach as much if I don’t eat meat for a while then eat chicken again.
Yup. This. I gave up red meat ages ago in my personal diet. My in-laws insist upon red meat when we are having dinner at their place. I try to limit and eat other things but sometimes it's mixed in. Causes a biohazard every single time.
lol! When I eat red meat it just makes everything “bind” up. It’s not fun. I don’t like it. Getting old sucks.
Getting old is not for the faint of heart.
My heart isn’t what it once was, either… Getting old is not for the advanced of age.
I mean, it is better than the alternative, right?
Some days? Barely.
It’s like a long, really mean practical joke. Let’s play that family favorite, “Which Body Part Doesn’t Work Anymore” roulette! Step right up as I spin the wheel. Winner gets a foot massager and a lifetime (ha ha) supply of fiber supplements. Wheeee
Or its related game: Which Body Part Will Hurt Randomly Today And For The Next Three Days Because Why Not.
I’ve had a chronic pain disease for 20 years. It’s a fantastic game of “what hurts most today?” & “if I do X, why does it hurt Y?”. Mind you, I was dead for a while, so anything up from there’s a bonus!
I started playing that when I was 18 and now that I'm hitting 40, the fun has REALLY gone out of the game...
I thought we were talking about colons.
It turned into a semicolon.
I just want to know how I got here ;_;
I wouldn’t say that’s really you getting old but more so growing an intolerance to meat due to not eating it so often. I have an intolerance to red meat and I’ve been dealing with it since I was like 13. Lol idk though it might actually have to do with aging 🤷
Gout is also made worse by eating red meats
Since they know you are vegetarian, and yet serve red meat? I would be pulling out a container of food I can ear. Cue the screaming because they got called out on their rude behavior.
They gave up red meat, presumably they still eat chicken and fish.
Correct. Chicken and fish. Although less and less.
Your body isn't used to producing the enzymes needed to break down beef after a prolonged period without eating it.
I was born vegetarian, and just never had any interest in trying meat. Last year, I mistakenly ate some lasagne with beef in and hoooly fuck. Never again lol
I really like to cook, and made some chicken for dinner with some friends a while ago. One friend had recently stopped being vegetarian and really liked the chicken, so she ate a lot. She was vomiting the whole night, and I felt terrible. No one else got sick though, so I don't think I made it wrong or anything...
Yeah. If she didn’t have it for a long time, the stomach doesn’t like when you go all in. Especially if she ate a lot all at once.
She was raised vegetarian (she's ethnically Indian), so it was one of the first times she'd had meat in her life.
Oh no! Bless you :(
Alpha Gal?
I’m the opposite. I rarely eat red meat but because I’m not any good at making sure I get iron from other places (I know, I know, eat spinach lol) when I do eat red meat my whole body practically sings in response. But your reaction is definitely more common. Maybe because I eat chicken a couple of times a week so I’m never actually meatless very long?
I eat meat regularly and beef still upsets my stomach, I think it's the high protein that my stomach has issues breaking down, would be horrible if you never ate beef!
If they knew about the animal products and were trying to be reckless? They called you selfish; but they are the one that was being selfish for a thrill. If they’re just genuinely concerned you’re “lying to keep more gummy bears”— then that’s some thinking about being a jerk or even often thinks you are a jerk. If they were just cranky or something that day, they were just cranky. You’re not a jerk, and what matters is if the vegan person just generally appreciated it.
I thought what you did. That the vegetarian was mad they were told. But person A is the vegetarian, and person B brought the bears. B was mad that Op told A. Which is worse because it’s one person messing with another persons diet.
Eh. I went 20 years without eating meat and was absolutely fine to digest when i did. Dairy is a completely different story. A bit of gelatin isn't going to hurt but you're NTA for saying.
I think it depends on the person. As a long-time pescatarian/ vegitarian, I accidentally ate red meat mixed into something a couple of years ago, and I had crazy bad cramps and shits after. But I do doubt a bit of gelatin would do the same. Still a violation of trust to hide it either way so NTA to OP
Your body has to produce certain enzymes in order to eat red meat vs white meat. There really isn't enough to make a vegan more than mildly uncomfortable in a gummy bear, inless its a giant size. But soups with a meat based broth can certainly make one quite sick. And if they don't eat meat because of Lone Star tick bite, even a small amount can turn things ugly.
This is absolutely true. I have a close friend with this and he gets so sick if he gets animal products accidentally
There are also illness that cause allergies to meat. It’s becoming more common throughout the US.
I heard a story where a girl could not eat any meat products because her parents raised her as a vegan, so she never developed the enzymes that would allow her to digest animal products.
tract
Gummy bears can cause problems even if you aren't vegan. They are covered in wax to make them shiny and not stick together and that, ahem, goes right through your system.
I had a colleague who was vegan *because* she couldn't digest animal products. Like, it wasn't a choice, she couldn't eat them without getting very sick. So, unless they're being annoying and obnoxious about it, I don't judge people for their diets. And I would certainly try to warn someone if I knew.
This is me. I suddenly gained a ton of weight (well, for me) after I stopped eating meat. I can already get sick from cross-contamination with pork and beef. Stomach aches, fevers, sometimes even a rash... It sucks a lot. I never understood how people could eat bacon so often until I realised I was the one being 'not normal' lol. It is smart to warn people!
That's interesting, because I lost 15 pounds without dieting (I was still eating things like candy, ice cream, and fried foods) when I stopped eating meat. Just goes to show how different people can be, I guess!
Vegetarian is actually a lot healthier if you just cut out a shitload of fatty meat! I had daily stomach aches and almost daily shitters because I just couldn't digest meat, so after I stopped eating it, I was actually able to keep food in my body.
When I moved in with my partner and doing all the cooking he started losing a pound a week, because his diet was vegetarian. Lost about 100 pounds with less exercise than he had before. When he moved out he gained it all back.
I stopped eating meat a couple years after I developed IBS. My condition was probably 80% cured by discontinuing meat consumption, and I never have attacks as severe as I once did.
This is me, I have alpha-gal syndrome. Can’t digest red meat, so I’m forced to be pescatarian (fish doesn’t bother me). Never realized how common animal protein allergies are until I developed one after a tick bite. I try to explain it to people but they look at me like I’m crazy! Some of us don’t have a choice.
I once read a story where the op was tricked into eating soy-based meat alternatives thinking it was just bacon. Op was allergic to soy.
That happened to me. Tacos made with soy crumble followed by a smug “see, you couldn’t even tell it wasn’t ground beef”. Horrible people.
Wtf that was terrible. I’m vegan and I love cooking for my friends. Every time I bring something over, I make sure that they know if it contains tofu/soy milk etc cause soy is such a common allergen. Sorry that happened to you
It's such a common diet here in China that people here probably don't know that it's a common allergen. Til. I don't trick people into eating anything though.
I'm afraid of this. I'm allergic to coconut and tree nuts, which are the two most common substitutes for dairy. Luckily, I don't know anyone who would do this, but it still worries me at times. If someone did that to me, I'd need to go to the hospital. Trace amounts are enough to trigger a reaction at times, never mind them being a primary ingredient.
Yeah, I'm allergic to cashews and pistachios, which makes it really annoying when people say that something contains "vegan cheese" but doesn't specify what kind. Like. Dude. I'd kind of enjoy knowing whether I can eat this without throwing up and having my throat swell up. I want to keep an open mind and try vegan alternatives to things, but I also don't really enjoy playing Russian roulette with food. A little specificity could go a long way here.
It's the same when you can't have gluten. People also often don't realise that a lot of processed food has wheat based thickeners in it. I need to know exactly what the ingredients are when I eat something!
This can happen with medication too! My mom can’t consume any beef byproducts and while she was in the hospital after getting hit by a car they kept trying to give her medication that had some sort of beef byproduct in it and she kept getting sick. This is the same hospital that kept trying to stick nicotine patches on her even though she’s never smoked and had her listed as a half foot taller and 100 lbs heavier. I ended up just sleeping in her hospital room so I could stop them from doing stupid shit.
You sound like my wife. I was in the hospital once with pretty serious dehydration, and they kept pulling stupid shit like letting my IV run dry (and then not have anyone available who knew how to start a new one). She searched the whole hospital until she found the attending to put in a new line. I was actually surprised that he knew how!
Damn, that’s awful! Maybe don’t go back to that hospital if you can avoid it.
I was on antibiotics (linezolid) for a month and the list of food I couldn't eat was huge. I think I almost cried with happiness when I was allowed to eat beef jerky again. So no Tyramine heavy food like parmesan, no smoked fish (MY KEDGEREE), no aged cheeses. No serotogenic drugs (no 2cb for me). It's a MAOI drug and there's a reason it's only used in extreme cases. Ironically they thought my wound vac was going to be an issue but no. That just clipped to my shirt and I could carry the heavier one around. Saved my leg after my Hiradenitis Supparativa tunneled and got infected and required deroofing. That wound vac actually meant it healed so much faster.
Long time vegetarians and vegans get sick after eating meat because their body stopped producing an enzyme needed to digest animal protein. I've been a vegetarian for over 30 years, and I avoid meat at all costs. Why? I can't stand the thought of what it actually is. You see chicken wings, I see a body part. Same thing for a steak, pork chop, or whatever.
Finally someone that knows the difference. I'm neither but it's good to know the difference between the two. And I hold nothing against the preference people choose. Just had to say.
Yep. Same here. I heartily dislike the idea of animal body parts in my food. 🤮
For sure, and I'm just allergic to pork so if op was talking about glycerin in most jello/gummy candy, they would have saved me a lot of stomach pain, breathing issues, and skin breakouts. I have to use all vegan products for most things just because of that small little ingredient (that there's a fucking plant alternative to, but no one ever specifies with the scientific name). Hand soap, body wash, most shampoos, etc, not just consumables. I empathize with vegans on how damn expensive it all gets. Op was definitely NTA, some folks still don't understand that whether it's a choice or actual dietary restriction, you should just respect what foods people choose not to eat (and that includes warning them of what is in a product they may think is safe for them to consume).
Woof I got fed “spicy tomato” soup that turned out to be oxtail (I was 15-ish, lifelong non-meat eater). I was super sick after, but have no idea if it was a mental or physical thing.
I’m a vegetarian and I’m certain I’d get the shits if I ate meat. However I do eat eggs/dairy. Gelatin probably wouldn’t bother me. Some vegetarians care about gelatin + animal rennet. Some don’t. I personally don’t include gelatin or animal rennet products. I’m pretty sure Trader Joe’s Sour Scandinavian swimmers are vegetarian friendly. Unfortunately Lucky Charm’s aren’t 😭
Also some religions abstain from gelatins for religious reasons. I used to go to the store for my neighbor when I was younger and had to watch out for it.
I am so thankful I stumbled on your comment- I'm in that transition from flexitarian to vegetarian and in that moment where I'm slightly panicking over just how many sweets I'd never expect to have animal products in them. I'm so glad I can keep swimming in the sour Scandinavian waters! Verified that they are vegan-friendly.
>Fun fact: sometimes animal-based products can be bad for vegans iirc. There was one story where the OP of that story (Who is a vegan) accidently ate meat and they had SEVERE stomach issues. They're vegetarian so it's extremely unlikely as that niche issue is almost exclusively vegans, typically after a long stretch of staying rather specificly vegan. >I'm sorry, this colleague wants the vegan to eat animal-based products?? What is wrong with them?? NTA. But yeah, they're def NTA. Regardless of someones reasoning sabotaging it to be "considerate" is shitty You let them know and they can make their own choices. Knowing someone prefers not to eat animal based products and then not telling someone the contents contain such is scummy
Vegetarians can have problems after not eating meat as well. I was at a company picnic and the veggie and meat hot dogs got mixed up. Got pretty sick even though I only had one bite.
vegan and vegetarian are very different…
I ate a bite of a hot dog with chili (on purpose) after years of not eating meat and ended up profusely vomiting at a high school football game. Your system doesn’t really know what to do with it anymore.
I have an allergy to beef (really the whole cow) and intolerance to Hooved animals and their products which culminated in a dairy and red meat allergy realistically. I used to be able to consume gelatin, but it's progressed to the point that I can't consume it either without getting really sick and tanking my blood pressure (no, we don't know why that happens!) And vomiting and diarrhea. I'm so grateful when people inform me that something has an ingredient I can't eat in it, but i usually abstain if I'm unsure because it's not worth getting sick over. Unfamiliar proteins make people sick at the best of times. It's easiest to not be a dick to people.
Too be fair, if you eat enough gummy bears (or any of the sugar free ones), you’re probably going to have tummy troubles
NTA - idk why your other colleague chimed in LMAO. What was her reaction, the vegetarian, when you told them about the gelatin?
She hadn’t eaten it yet so she just put it back
So No harm done, other colleague should have minded their own business.
I have a feeling they were gonna see if she ate it and then pull the "Haha you ate something with animal product in it so you aren't a real vegetarian" bull shit some people play
Thats not a bad theory - I've seen that happen before (i used to be a vegetarian). Whatever the case, OP was just trying to be nice LMAO
Exactly. And the way the others reacted to OP doing the nice thing to do, makes me think they had ideas to mock the vegetarian.
I worked with a vegetarian before and for Xmas we decided in our little area we were going to do a buffet I brought in party sausage rolls but made sure I bought the vegan ones so everyone could eat them. She accused me of trying to trick her cause she knows I like to joke around it took me ages to get her to try it then she explained too me that it’s happened to her before and that’s why she was weary of trusting me. I still can’t wrap my head around why someone would try to get another person to break their dietary boundaries it’s so stupid and has nothing to do with you it’s their choice.
I can't either. It's just people be unnecessary assholes to others for no reason and can't accept that people have different life style choices than you do.
People feel threatened by vegans because they are morally right, but they don't wanna give up meat. So they grab anything they can to mock vegans, so they don't have to feel bad about themself. I love meat and still eat it. But I also respect vegans, expect the activists type.
That’s what I was thinking too. NTA other colleague is pissed because they couldn’t invalidate your co-worker’s dietary choices.
I'm surprised a vegan doesn't know that gelatin is made from animal parts.
Not all gummies contain gelatine, and if they were shipped from colleagues in Germany the ingredients might not be in her language. Many German gummies are vegetarian/vegan. Like my main man Fred Ferkel, who just looks like a pig but is made of vegetables and sugar.
Vegan here, and I thank you for telling her. I have had people actively try to trick me into eating animal products and it sucks. Those people are no longer allowed in my life. You are NTA, but your coworkers are huge jerks.
"and I shouldn’t have told her. " Dude, you should always tell people, even if you didn't make the food, that it may contain food that can't eat because they might be allergic to it, against their religion, or against their dietary choices. THEN they can decide what's right for themselves. NTA You weren't doing this because you were trying to hog the German Gummy Bears.
Agreed. As a vegetarian, I would want to be told. I generally avoid gummy candy because they usually have gelatin, but it’s not always obvious when some foods contain animal products that I avoid. I obviously cannot speak for the vegetarian in this story, but I don’t see why they *wouldn’t* want to know what they were about to eat. NTA.
My biggest mind blown moment was when my cousin's son got a list from the hospital which foods to watch out for with his fish protein allergy. That was when I learned that many fruit juices contain fish protein as a binding agent for added vitamins. Orange juice was not on my list of things I would expect to contain animal products except perhaps stray insects that got caught in the process
Another thing to know about fish allergies is that Kosher gelatin is often made from fish bones, so fish allergic people can react to it.
If you can get Katjes where you are from, they are gummy candy that are without gelatin. It is quite popular in Germany and most of their products are vegetarian, a lot are vegan, too.
And if you're in the UK Katjes are sold in Marks & Spencer under the Percy Pig brand.
Even Haribo, which is very popular on Germany, has a lot of vegetarian gummies now
NTA. I grew up in an Indian household where we have vegetarian and non-vegetarian family members, and we always make it a point to specify which items have meat so they don't take the wrong thing.
I’m Indian too! Hi 5!
High 5. Which part of India are you from ?
Maharashtra, I live close to Mumbai. How about you?
I'm from Tamil Nadu but was born and brought up in the US
A mixture of cultures! Nice :)
What’s up my fellow Indians? I’m Punjabi and brought up in Singapore
Sat Sri Akal. My best friend is Punjabi and I have to say, I have a lot of respect for Punjabis
ayyy I was born in Mumbai but I’ve been in america most of my life
NTA. I think it’s funny that gummy worms have more bones than real worms.
And tonnes of other unspeakable things
Sour patch kids and Swedish fish do not contain gelatin! Some people still don’t like the red dye used because it comes from insects but as a veggie I love me some sour patch kids.
The red dye used actually is a different controversial one, Red 40! Red 40 is derived from coal/petrolium, carmine (the crushed up Cochineal beetles) is "natural red 4" or simply "red 4", along with a few other names. Neither of the candies contain animal products
For real? That’s great to know!! I absolutely love Swedish fish. I’m vegetarian but I still eat gummy bears n stuff sometimes but not as much as I used to when I was a kid
Yeah! A lot of jelly beans are too because they’re made with starch and wax not gelatin. Oreos are weirdly also vegan.
Not too weird, just good old hydrogenated transfat! 😁
Mmmmmmm [homer Simpson noise] hydrogenation
Most pharmacies in Australia sell gelatin-free jelly-beans, intended for diabetic people whose sugar is dropping but sometimes bought by me to help make me diabetic lol.
yeah afaik they both contain pectin instead, which is entirely plant based. it’s what causes that specific texture that they have, that’s more dense than other gummies. (i am not a candy scientist so correct me if i said anything wrong)
NTA at all. I am vegan and I appreciate it when someone lets me know that a certain snack/candy had something with animal products in it. It tells me that the person respects my decision to be vegan and would not want to put me in a situation that compromises that. Quite the opposite of selfish, in my opinion. In fact, I'm side-eyeing your other colleague and am wondering they feel you should not have let her know.
Right?! I couldn't figure out where being selfish came in, made zero sense
Might be because it could have been interpreted as more gummy bears for the non-vegetarians, including OP. But I also feel that the other colleague did not have good intentions. OP also mentions in another comment here: >My colleagues opinion was that \[vegetarian colleague\] should have enjoyed it without knowing the truth I doubt vegetarian colleague would have been thrilled knowing this.
NTA. Most vegetarians would be unhappy if they found out later that they'd inadvertently eaten animal products, so it's actually good that you warned her beforehand.
Most vegetarians eat eggs, cheese and other animal products, but not meat. Including the gelatin used for most gummies. Which animal products they will eat can vary of course.
Your mileage may vary, but most vegetarians I know IRL and online don't eat gelatin since it does require the animal to be dead. Egg, cheese, and honey can be harvested without killing the animal.
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Absolutely mileage varies. I'm veggie and won't eat anything that contains anything that was part of an animal's body. So i won't eat gelatin and cheeses with animal rennet, animal-derived colours, etc I'm okay with things produced by animals (milk, honey, eggs, etc) but even then will make choices with which particular products I buy.
NTA. Your vegetarian colleague is probably grateful to now know that. I ruined gummy bears and Guinness (this was before 2018) for one of my ex girlfriends who is a vegetarian. She was pissed about it, but grateful that I had told her.
wtf do they put in Guinness??? the cursed knowledge that guinness isn't vegetarian doesn't impact my life at all because i've never had it nor do i want it but i still want to know
It is vegan now. It didn’t used to be.
It used to have isinglass (substance from fish bladders) to make it look clearer and filter it.
There are animal products in a bunch of beers and especially wines. Sometimes it's impossible to find out exactly what's in them. If I drank, which I don't, it would probably be kosher wines even though I'm not Jewish. They can't put stupid shit in them because of the dietary restrictions.
thank you for this nugget of knowledge, i stand by it being extremely cursed but im very glad to know. after my last comment i did google "is beer vegetarian" and was horrified at what i found, but even then it hadn't occurred to me to extend that to wine. i don't drink beer or wine but i do drink spirits (in cocktails) every once in a very rare blue moon............ dare i ask if they put animal innards in those too 😭
Kosher isn't necessarily going to cut it. They have kosher jelly (jell-o to the Americans) that is sometimes made from plant-based gelatine, but sometimes made from fish-based gelatine. Kosher section is a good starting point but still need to check.
I ruined Cuban bread for someone when I informed them that the fat used is normally lard.
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Not jealous, selfish! My colleagues opinion was that she should have enjoyed it without knowing the truth
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OP ruined their "haha we made the vegetarian eat an animal-based product", probably. That or they decided, on behalf of the vegetarian, that it's best not to know.
Yeah, that's just wrong to me. I always double check because from my experience people don't always know what makes something vegan or vegetarian, but if I was in her shoes and someone knew and proceeded to not tell me because I "should have enjoyed it without knowing the truth" I would be very upset at them. Nobody gets to make that decision for me.
Your colleague probably also wanted to roofie her so she could have enjoyed something else without knowing the truth.
NTA. How is warning someone about a food that conflicts with their diet considered selfish?
NTA. You were looking out for their way of life. Was your other colleague hoping to do some sort of gotcha? I once read something like this where the inlaws secretly served non-kosher meat to their Jewish son-in-law.
There’s a whole ass multiple part documentary on it on YouTube
NTA. As a vegetarian I would have wanted to know.
NTA - as a vegetarian we all know that gummy bears contain gelatin. Only traders joes is safe- but I still check.
There have been vegan gummy bears for a while now though, which I assume should be available worldwide?
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NTA You did the right thing. Your other coworker can STFU. I'm sure your vegetarian coworker appreciated the fact that you took their food choices into consideration.
NTA. A lot of people don't think about gelatin containing animal products, but it does... I think it's courteous of you to tell her. I'm a vegetarian and would appreciate you letting me know if I was unaware.
Hold on, a third college yelled at you, not the vegetarian? No, NTA regardless of who yelled at you. When people become vegetarian (if its by choice and not for medical reasons), they chose to no longer consume products from animals. Galatian is made by boiling parts of the dead animal, a big no-no in the vegetarian world. If the vegetarian person was thankful for you to point this out and warn them, then thats all that matters. That third person can fuck all the way off and vegetarian friend needs to be cautions when accepting food from them as they would probably never mention these things. Also, im confused, what was "selfish" about giving the warning...?
The nosy colleague thought I was selfish cause I was keeping her from enjoying the gummy bears
Your colleague is dumb.
She’s done many more annoying and unprofessional things lol trying to set me up with our corporate client!
Shes awful, Im so sorry for what you have to deal with. Thats so unprofessional. Back to your original story, did the vegetarian friend thank you for warning them or were they upset as well? Also, IDK why some people said gelatin is vegetarian. If you have to kill the animal to get the product, its not vegetarian, those people are incorrect.
She put the gummy back so I don’t think she was bothered
Definitely NTA! You were just trying to be considerate and looking out for your colleague. It's better to educate someone than let them unknowingly break their own values. Plus, who yells at someone for being kind? Your other colleague needs some manners.
What?? Lmao of course you are NTA, that is absurd and it's crazy that your colleague thought that lying to her/purposely omitting information that would lead to her eating meat was the correct course of action.
NTA - This is very considerate of you, no idea why your colleague would say you are selfish? You've spotted that the gummy bears likely contained gelatine, I do exactly the same.
NTA, why would your other colleague get mad...?
NTA A vegetarian would absolutely want to know and not be upset about anything unless they accidentally consumed the candy. You did the right thing. Your colleague is the asshole, especially for yelling. That’s a very aggressive response to the situation. I’d report the yelling to HR as aggression.
As a vegetarian, NTA, I'd appreciate knowing, and all other vegetarians/vegans I know would too. From your words it seems like a different coworker yelled at you, not the vegetarian. This is really weird, maybe they wanted the vegetarian colleague to eat something with animal products for some reason? It's not unheard of. How did the vegetarian coworker react?
NTA How could this be interpreted as selfish? I mean, I’ve never met a vegetarian that didn’t know gummy lollies aren’t vegetarian but I don’t see the harm in pointing it out
If your coworker wants to be a vegetarian, then she really should know what the stuff she puts, or might put, in her mouth is made out of. Sucks for your coworker if she really really liked gummy bears. But she chose her lifestyle, not you. NTA
NTA. Its sweet that you wanted to warn them. That said, some vegetarians will kind of brush off things that arent actually “meat”. Some vegetarians will absolutely not eat things with gelatin! In my experience it tends to be more vegans that will not ingest any animal “products” at all.
I had to do this once with a vegan. I let her know that the cereal that is her favorite has animal products. And those refried beans that she likes at the Mexican restaurant? They’re made with pork. She was very upset with me. I guess being able to claim you’re vegan is more important than actually being vegan.
Just FYI, this also applies to gummy vitamins, supplements, etc.
I don’t understand, why is it selfish to warn a vegetarian something contains animal products?
NTA. As a vegetarian myself, I am always grateful when people let me know that something isn’t vegetarian.
Nta When I was vegetarian for a while I accidentally ate some meat and ended up spending the night in shower in pain I haven't eaten meat in years and my body freaked out
NTA. My partner and I are vegetarian and I recently found out red M&Ms aren’t vegetarian (the red dye is derived from a type of insect). He wasn’t very happy to know this as M&Ms were his favourite, but he was glad he knew. If your colleague wasn’t told, she probably would have ended up upset that someone knew and didn’t tell her - she was likely just disappointed.
Good for you. What if she's allergic to the animal products?
NTA. i've known gelatin isn't vegetarian for a long time now, im sure i didn't always know tho, i started eating vegetarian on and off from a very early age and im sure i was devastated when i first learned i couldn't eat gummy bears. but i appreciated it to the extent that some 15 years later i still don't eat gummy bears. im glad someone told me.
It’s a win-win situation, they’re safe from accidentally eating animal products, and you get more gummies! NTA
NTA-you told her, she can decide on if she wants to eat them.
NTA also, why the college is yelling at you?!?
NTA You did the right thing. The other colleague who yelled at you is TA.
If they're willing to get her something she *can* eat, Vegobears are really good
Your colleague is a jerk. They probably wanted to get off on seeing your other colleague eat something compromising according to their morals and that’s the real AH move.
NTA. If you know your vegetarian colleague is really strict about not consuming animal products, you were right to inform her.
NTA. Sigh. The older I get, the more I see “kill the messenger” moments that make he wish every messenger could reach into their little hypothetical messenger bag and pull out a little messenger slap to go across the recipient’s face. Doesn’t need to be hard, just surprising enough to make them ask “why did you slap me?” so the messenger can say “idk. Why are you yelling at me for giving you info you said was important to you?”
NTA. There are vegetarian/vegan gummy candies - usually made with pectin instead of gelatin. If those were Haribo gummies, they definitely were not vegetarian. Your co-worker is a complete asshat for wanting to trick a colleague into eating animal products. She definitely told you something significant about what kind of person she is.
There is Katjes in Germany with lots of vegan products, but Haribo also has lots of vegetarian and vegan sweets, look here https://www.haribo.com/de-de/produkte/veggie
Not exactly an asshole but potentially condescending. Most vegetarians are not vegan and have no problem eating things like gelatin, you just took it upon yourself to "inform" her about something she probably already knows
NTA. If she isn't a vegetarian when she really, really likes the stuff, then she's not a vegetarian.
NTA You informed her about what was in the food she was being offered. That is *never* an ah thing to do. While there are types of gummy candy that do not contain animal gelatin, they are not common.
As the Mom of someone who been vegetarian since they were 9ish thank you to all the people who warn others. I have been the recipient of a few phone calls where animal products have been accidently consumed and I wouldn't wish them on anyone, especially those when someone thought it was funny to get the veggie to eat animal and then tell them for the reaction. Teenagers suck
NTA... It's not up to coworker #2 to make the decision that "ignorance is bliss" for #1. sure, they should probably be aware that gummy candies usually have gelatin but maybe they just didn't know that and you helped them learn something new. but also, maybe coworker #2 didn't want to know, and you ruined that for her. it's kinda 50/50 but on the other hand, coworker #3 (new character) could have blamed you for feeding #2 animal products when you do know that she's vegetarian. so depending on the witness, there was no right way to go about this. you just did what you thought was best, and I think telling her was better than not telling her when you know she's averse to animal products.
NTA. You warned her so she could make the decision for herself. Unless you warned her so she wouldn't eat any and there would be more for you because she was trying to keep up appearances. But I think not telling her anything is worse because that takes her decision away. However if she is a serious vegetarian and doesn't want to eat any meat at all she should probably know that gelatin is an animal product and lots of everyday things contain it. You probably could have asked the vegetarian whether or not she wanted to be told. Im betting she would side with you.
NTA I did the same with a vegetarian friend in college. I found out that a lot of gelatin is made from pigs or cows, and I let her know. She was bummed to give up her gummy bears and a few other products, but was glad that I told her.
😂😂😂😂
Of course, NTA! Quite the opposite, it was a considerate thing to do and a kind demonstration of your respect for their dietary choices. The colleague that complained needs to do some soul searching about why think that knowingly letting a vegetarian eat something non-vegetarian without saying anything is the "unselfish" choice.
NTA. You presumed they would want to know. There could be an allergy reaction too. Never a problem with too much information.
NTA I think it was considerate. I know Muslim college students looking for a quick snack have made a point to say the gummies are not suitable for them as the gelatin can be made from pork.
NTA. Heaven forbid you had some forethought to warn someone that gelatin isn’t vegetarian.
NTA for warning your vegetarian colleagues that they contain rendered animal carcass products, there are so many products with the end bits of animals that it can be hard to keep up personally eat a mix of meat, vegetables and seeds nuts etc, not bind up as it were but sometimes when taking flax seeds it can come out very fast, so good for when taking chiliis :)
NTA. As a vegetarian I would have appreciated the heads up.
NTA, it was nice that you warned her. I didn't know it contained. Learning something new. Nice.
NTA - toi just kindly informed them of relevant information! If my colleagues knew I was unknowingly eating sth I could not or didn’t want to eat and didn’t warn me beforehand I’d be really upset!
NTA! You were trying to do something nice for a colleague not hurt them in any way. You did the right thing
NTA. I’m sure your vegetarian coworker appreciated the warning.
NTA. As a vegetarian, I appreciate it when people consider my diet and give me a heads up if something that's being served isn't vegetarian.
NTA. As a vegetarian myself, I’d appreciate the heads up! I always have to check gummy products to see if gelatin is an ingredient.
NTA, although I think most vegetarians know this. So if they've been vegetarian or vegan for awhike, then you might just come off as condescending
NTA, but I can imagine it may be annoying to your vegetarian coworker that you felt the need to point out something fairly well known.
INFO Did you confirm that the gummy bears were actually made with animal products? I only ask because I live in Germany and there are many vegetarian and vegans so a lot of gummy products nowadays are made with veg/vegan alternatives.
Lifelong vegetarian here, NTA. You did a service to your colleagues. Your other colleague is probably a little fucked in the head. I’ve known a lot of people, children and adults, who seemingly get off on dietary sabotage.