10 Surprising Products that Contain Animal Ingredients

Whether you are vegan or not, knowing what your cosmetics, food, and house products contain inside them is your right. The problem: ingredient lists are getting harder and harder to decipher. It’s no coincidence. The word “animal” is deliberately removed from the ingredients list. This serves manufacturers well so they don’t deter customers from purchasing their product.

One might ask, are these animal products more suitable for creating the specific product? The truth is, no. Vegetable derivatives can also be used, but quite simply, they aren’t as inexpensive as animal derivatives are.

Much of what is used to make these derivatives are byproducts of the animal after being slaughtered. This allows slaughterhouses the opportunity to make a profit, selling them to cosmetic and food manufacturers. Yes, bones and decaying flesh = money!

Here are 10 products that contain animal-derived ingredients where you would have never thought to look.

1. Shampoo and Conditioner

Ingredient name: keratin

A protein found in animal hair, ground hooves and horns that helps to seal the hair cuticle and fill in the gaps a damaged hair shaft.

2. Toothpaste

Ingredient name: glycerin

Found in animal fats, it retains water and prevents toothpaste from drying out in the tube.

​3. Lipstick

Ingredient name: carmine

Extracted from the eggs and body of the cochineal, gives the red pigment to food and cosmetic products alike.

4. Perfume and Cologne

Ingredient name: musk

Derived from dried secretion from the genitals of beaver, musk, otter, deer, and civet cats. It serves to balance and fix the ingredients and helps the fragrance last longer.

5. Mascara

Ingredient name: stearic acid

Derived from lard, it raises the melting point of cosmetics so they don’t streak and it serves as a thickening agent in cremes, deodorants and lotions.

6. Condoms

Ingredient name: casein

Derived from milk protein, it gives rubber the smooth and thin texture. Lambskin condoms also exist which are made from the intestines of sheep.

7. Sugar

Ingredient name: cow bone char

In an effort to give sugar that white color, cane sugar is refined through cow bone char. Thankfully it is rather easy to avoid by buying unrefined sugar.

8. Beer and Wine

Ingredient name: isinglass

A membrane taken from the bladders of certain fish and used for filtration.

9. Gummy candy

Ingredient name: gelatin

From the collagen of animal tissue, skin, and bone, used as a stabilizing and thickening agent.

10. Fabric Softner

Ingredient name: tallow dimethyl ammonium chloride

Fat from cows, sheep, and pigs used to literally soften and condition textiles.

It should be noted that sometimes the same ingredient name is derived from plants, however, it is hard to know if that certain product was produced with it or not. So how do you find an alternative? Look for the “animal-free” or “cruelty-free” label instead. The above are just a few of the products that contain animal derivatives, nonetheless, if you are interested in a more comprehensive ingredient list in deciphering what is in your product, People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) offers this on their website.

Sources:

- Products you didn't know contain animal products

- Animal derived ingredients

- Hidden animal fats