Vegans, vegetarians have new certification

Toronto – A new certification was launched May 30 for the vegetarian and vegan communities in Canada.

VegeCert, a non-profit organization that certifies vegan and vegetarian food products, says that food products qualifying for its certification will have their packaging branded by the VegeCert symbol and the appropriate designation: either Certified Vegetarian or Certified Vegan.

The Toronto Vegetarian Association worked with VegeCert on the new certifications.

What makes VegeCert unique is that it does not certify products by simply verifying a list of ingredients that make up a particular product.

Its inspectors make real-time inspections to a company’s manufacturing facilities to ensure that VegeCert certified products conform to VegeCert’s high standards.

VegeCert says its inspections are performed by COR, Canada’s largest kosher certification agency. COR has been servicing the food industry for more than 60 years and now certifies more than 65,000 products at over 1,000 facilities across Canada and beyond.

Vegetarians and vegans represent approximately four per cent of Canadian and U.S. consumers, while approximately 10 per cent of all consumers support a vegetarian-inclined diet.