Vegan Australia Certified standard

The aim of the Vegan Australia Certified program is to ensure that products bearing the Vegan Australia Certified logo do not contain any ingredients of animal origin and that animal products have not been used during the manufacturing process.

Vegan certification helps both vegan businesses and non-vegan businesses promote their vegan products. It also provides assurance to those looking for vegan products.

This standard specifies the criteria products must meet for compliance with the Vegan Australia Certified program.

This standard covers both manufactured vegan products and vegan menu items in restaurants.

For a product to meet this standard:

• the product must not contain any ingredients derived from animals
• animal products must not be used in the manufacturing process
• the product and its ingredients must not be tested on animals by the manufacturer or a related entity
• any ingredient that may be of animal origin must have a traceable supply chain
• reasonable steps must be taken to minimise cross contamination

For products made in facilities that also handle non-vegan products, reasonable steps must be taken to minimise cross contamination. If there is a risk of contamination with animal products, the product packaging should include an appropriate statement, such as "may contain ...". No animal ingredients are to be deliberately added at any point during production.

Products are certified for one year (or other period as granted at Vegan Australia's discretion), after which certification must be renewed.

Find out more, including how to apply.

Notes on the standard

• The word 'ingredients' means all inputs used to make the product, including materials, additives, flavourings, enzymes, carriers, processing aids and any other substances, including any that do not have to be listed on the label by law. The standard also applies to each component of compound ingredients.
• For more information about how the standard is applied when certifying products where there is a possibility of cross contamination with non-vegan ingredients, see Cross contamination when certifying vegan products.
• In general, for multi-ingredient products, the requirement that "animal products must not be used in the manufacturing process" only applies to post-harvest processing. However, in cases where it can be readily identified that a particular use or harm occurs in growing or harvesting a particular plant product, then this product does not meet the standard. An example of this is wine made from grapes grown using biodynamic methods that require the use of animal products as an integral part of the growing process and so is not vegan. The Australian National Standard for Organic and Bio-Dynamic Produce states that biodynamic farms must apply "Preparation 500" at least once per year. Preparation 500 is made from cow manure buried inside a cow horn.
• To certify single ingredient products (fruit, vegetables, etc), it must be shown that no animal products were used and no animals were deliberately harmed in the farming process from soil preparation to growing and harvesting.
• Certified products must not have wording or images on the packaging or related material that suggest or depict any animal being used, exploited or harmed. This includes recipes that contain animal products or instructions that animal products be used in the preparation, use or finishing of the product.