Lies, Damned Lies, and Sean

Rosarita No Fat Traditional Refried Beans

I've been a vegetarian since around 1991.  I noticed that a number of products have no mention of meat in their ingredients list, but they do use natural flavor.  In particular, Rosarita No Fat Traditional Refried Beans include this mysterious substance.  I therefore wrote a (real) letter to Rosarita Consumer Affairs.  They recently replied back via telephone — the beans are not vegetarian.  Mystery solved.  Unfortunately many people  seem to assume the opposite, such as Shopping Vegan.

My letter:

[my address, phone, and email info]

May 20, 2004

Rosarita Consumer Affairs
P.O. Box 57078
Irvine, CA 92619-7078

RE:  Are Rosarita No Fat Traditional Refried Beans vegetarian?

Dear Helpful Person:

I applaud Rosarita for selling Rosarita Vegetarian Refried Beans because I wish to avoid eating meat, as do some of the people for whom I cook.  I was wondering if another product, Rosarita No Fat Traditional Refried Beans, is also vegetarian.  I notice the ingredients include "natural flavor," which is highly ambiguous; e.g., it may be chicken or beef stock.  Could you please tell me what the "natural flavor" is?

It would be helpful if the labels on the cans clearly indicated that the contents were not vegetarian (or vegan) if that is the case.  Thank you for your time.

Yours  sincerely,

Sean Anderson

Their reply:

UPDATE 2004-06-29:
ConAgra also sent me a letter, which I scanned it in:

Posted by seander at June 19, 2004 04:50 PM