It’s really been a whirlwind of activity over here while we continue to get to the bottom of what’s really in a bottle of V8. I’d like to give you a quick rundown of what happened since I published my Campbell’s V8 Juice post on Tuesday, so that you have the complete picture and know what to do from here on out to hold Campbell’s accountable for their lack of transparency and the huge mistakes they are making that have confused many of us.
On the morning of August 5th, 2014, I was alerted that a petition was launched on Change.org to remove animal products from V8 juice, as they had publicly admitted to a vegan blogger on Twitter that the natural flavors in their products may contain meat or dairy:
I was alarmed to find out that V8 “100% Vegetable Juice” could contain something other than vegetables. Not sure if it was true, I asked one of my team members to contact Campbell’s to double check and ask them to verify this information. We used the chat function on their website, so that we’d have a written record, but we also called them. As you can see, at around 11:30 a.m. EST, August 5th, Campbell’s confirmed that the information given on Twitter was true:
———: Hi there. I read that you recently Tweeted that the “natural flavors” in V-8 Juice may contain “meat/seafood/poultry/dairy”. Is that true?
**Welcome to Campbell’s Chat! An agent will be with you shortly.
Thank you for holding, you are speaking with Kelly.
Kelly: Thank you for taking the time to contact Campbell today ———. I will be happy to help.
Kelly: That is a great question! Yes this is true.
———: Are there any more ingredients that may contain animal parts?
———: Can you clarify if it is meat or dairy?
Kelly: The term “flavoring” refers to the oils or extracts that are obtained from spices and herbs. Natural flavoring may also include onion or garlic derivatives, as well as flavor derived from fruits, vegetables and their juices, or edible parts of plants. Other sources may include meat, seafood, poultry or dairy products, whose significant function in the food is flavoring rather than nutrition.
Kelly: I cannot clarify, However I can tell you if there was dairy in the Natural Flavoring, It would be listed in parenthesis after Natural Flavoring, because dairy is a top 8 allergen.
Campbell’s went on to say the natural flavors are “proprietary” and may contain meat:
———: Okay, so it would be from either meat, poultry, or seafood?
Kelly: Correct. It can be.
———: Are you saying that you don’t know if it does?
Kelly: I’m not saying that. It can be derived from Meat, Seafood, Poultry or Dairy.
Kelly: It is a proprietary recipe.
———: So, you can’t disclose which it is made from?
Kelly: That is correct. However, as I stated, if there was an allergen, That would have to be listed after the Natural Flavoring.
Campbell’s responds after consumers become outraged…
I also couldn’t find any mention of the fact that V8 “100% Vegetable Juice” may contain animal products on their website or their labels. I know that there are many vegans and vegetarians that have been consuming V8 juice for years without realizing that it could contain meat-derived flavorings, and I had to share this information. Within minutes of publishing my blog post on this issue, many of you were very upset, commented on V8’s Facebook page and signed the petition on Change.org, demanding that Campbell’s remove animal products from V8. As reported in Politico, after I shared the petition, it “zoomed from less than 200 signatures to nearly 6,000 in just a few hours” (and it now has over 11,000 signatures). This surely got Campbell’s attention and they made an attempt to respond, by leaving a short comment on my website:
“Hi there, It’s Anna here from Campbell Soup. We saw this post and wanted to set the record straight. V8 100% Vegetable Juice IS vegetarian and uses natural flavorings derived from plants and vegetables. Also, our Tomato Soup is vegetarian. Our care team got this information wrong on Twitter. We apologize for any confusion”.
This comment brought up more questions than it answered.
Just a few short hours ago they told us that V8 may contain meat, but now it is all plant/vegetable derived? Your customer service got it “wrong on Twitter”, although they confirmed this was “true” this morning via their website and on the phone? Why are your customer service agents giving inaccurate information to your customers? What other product questions are getting answered incorrectly?
If V8 is vegetarian, why isn’t it vegan?
Just because it is vegetarian, does not mean that it doesn’t contain any animal products. Vegan foods shouldn’t contain any meat or animal bi-products, including dairy, eggs, and gelatin – so what does V8 contain that prohibits it from being vegan?
According to Karen C. Duester, MS, RD, the editor of FoodLabels.com: “Neither FDA nor FTC has any labeling regulations for vegetarian or vegan statements, other than being “truthful and not misleading.” A clarifying “contains honey” statement near the “vegan” call-out would help to ensure that the manufacturer is making truthful and not misleading statements while giving consumers the information they need to make informed decisions”.
We are looking for the truth, and it really shouldn’t be that hard.
Even if you are not a vegan, can you really trust a company that gives conflicting information about their ingredients to their customers? For a company that has spent nearly ONE MILLION DOLLARS to fight transparency in food ingredient labeling, you’d think they would have spent that money in a positive way, possibly by creating better products and training their employees so that customers could get accurate and honest information. Mary Tully recently updated her petition, which sums up how Campbell’s actions are untrustworthy:
“How does a food company’s customer care team (they make the food, they don’t just sell it like a supermarket) not know something so basic as whether or not some of its most popular products have animal ingredients?… If their own staff doesn’t know what’s in these products, how do they expect consumers to trust them?… Trust has been lost. Campbell really screwed up. I don’t know why we are expected to trust them now”.
Yesterday, I responded to Campbell’s by email, this is what I wrote:
“I am still confused, just this morning, I received a chat response on your website from “Kelly” indicating that your natural flavorings could have animal products and the statements on Twitter were true. Are you going to issue a formal response to this matter? What EXACTLY are “natural flavorings derived from plants and vegetables”? What process(es) are used to “derive” these flavorings? You say the V8 and Tomato Soup are vegetarian, but you don’t mention if they are vegan, are they? I’d like to share your response with my readers.”
Then, I received this response from Campbell’s:
“To clarify, both V8 100% Vegetable Juice and Campbell’s Condensed Tomato Soup are suitable for vegetarians. The information provided by our care team wasn’t accurate and we’ve updated the way we respond to these enquiries. The flavoring in V8 100% Vegetable Juice product is a blend of herb and citrus oils and in Tomato Soup it’s a blend of herb oils. Both these blends help give the products their unique tastes. We don’t currently market any of our products as vegan.”
Our Path Forward
I responded back to Campbell’s and asked them to provide a complete list of all of their products that may contain animal products hidden within their flavors. We’ve also asked them to explain why V8 is not vegan. If it’s not, we want to know what animal products or byproducts are in V8 juice that prevent it from being vegan. Again, you’d think that a product that says 100% vegetable juice, should just be made from vegetables, right?
Please let Campbell’s know that this lack of transparency is unacceptable. Hold them accountable and ask them to provide clear labeling for vegetarian and vegan products and to provide the public with a complete list of products that may contain animal-derived ingredients. If you haven’t already, go to Campbell’s Soup Facebook page here or Twitter page here and leave a comment.
Feel Free To Call Campbell’s Customer Service Line: 1-800-257-8443
I will update you all here on the blog on any further developments. Make sure you are subscribed to get our email updates, so you don’t miss it.
Xo,
Vani
P.S. I have an amazing homemade recipe for V8 here, check it out.
This product is never going into my grocery cart again. As a lifelong vegetarian, I’m appalled by the misinformation and back-peddling by this company. Why should I trust their product when I can’t trust their words?
Exactly. It seems to me to market it as vegetarian is a complete misunderstanding of vegetarianism.
Why LEH? They say it is 100% vegetarian so how is that a misunderstanding of vegetarianism?
And Anon, I’m confused by you statement. They market this is 100% Vegetable Juice and you believed it. This was some misinformaton from the company and now you can’t trust their words? I’m sure customer service had no clue about what goes into V8 or tomato soup and they have a set of answers to provide. I’m also sure that customer service handles inquiries on chat, emails, phone calls, or Twitter – so any inquiry would have received the same standard response without knowing each and every ingredient in every product.
kevingt – vegetarians do not eat meat so why is it all right for them to advertise 100% vegetarian on one side of the package in big huge letters and then in small print, admit that it *might* contain meat?
Why are you so surprised that Anon no longer trusts the company to tell the truth when they have all ready been caught in one lie?
LEH, it does NOT contain meat. NONE! They stated it doesn’t and they said that the customer service team did not have all of the information. Where’s the confusion in that?
Kevingt, I am almost positive that the flavoring does include animal products, and the later statements were just meant to make people satisfied. Big companies will blatantly lie to keep their consumer base. Besides that, there might be a certain amount of animal products allowed to legally label something as vegetarian.
Absoloutely..we have turned into a society of liars..government lies, corporate lies, media lies..lie to me once and your goodwill and trust is done, i no longer buy from you, i know longer listen to you, I know longer do business with you…enough already. Adios Campbells, your on the scrap heap with the Democrats, Republicans, the main stream media….
You nailed it. These lies are exactly why big government and big agriculture are doing there worst to shut down small farms and businesses. So they can control it all and leave us no choice. Well, I have chosen to grow my own. Its a big change in lifestyle. Less TV and other stuff and more time in the garden. It does appear more and more people are becoming aware of this and I hope things can change soon. This website and foodbabes work is definitely helping. Its a real kick in the teeth when someone finds out almost everything they know and learned is a complete lie.
The real ? is. If they are adding meat in it on purpose or if it is coming from the sorting belts.
When I was younger I worked in the canning industry for my summer job and I remember when they sorted the tomatoes and other veggies it was allmost impossible to remove everything from it that came down the belt.Sometimes things slip through(this is part of any industry).
So what are they finding! normal operating debris in v8 or is it added on purpose?
Read Michael Pollan. Especially Food Rules. In short they are: Eat (real) food, not much, mostly plants. He and Mark Bittman of the New York Times are the most reasoned, factual and enlightened journalists writing about all aspects of the food system. Pollan’s views on organic are instructive. His bottom line: it’s best to know where your food comes from ( buy or grow local). If that’s not possible buy organic, but understand that some large organic labels are just as industrialized and non-organic. Consumers vote with our wallets; why do you think Big Food glommed onto “natural?” Educate yourselves and make the best decision you can.
To Melanie
You think it’s unfair to single out one company? I personally think we should single out one at a time and put them out of business if they support the fight against labeling or they sell food products that contain poisons. They should be ASHAMED to profit financially from selling garbage to people and then turn around and fund against our right to know, spending tens of millions of dollars to keep us from knowing? Poisoning our land, rivers, streams, animals it’s even in infant formula, oh I feel sorry for Campbell’s too, sorry that they do not run their company with integrity and honesty.
Tam
STL, MO
Yes, if America boycotted Campbells for 6 months they get with the food labeling. The same goes for the “organic” mislabeling. Also, the pharma methods that put untested medicines at the hands of the physicians.
Shaming is the way to go. Its how societies used to control the criminals and deviants among them. Now these criminals and deviants run global corporations, get elected to political office and run Wall Street. Good, honest people do not aspire to positions of control and power. We have been conditioned to believe shaming someone is mean and nasty. Well its how you show the rest we will not tolerate bad or criminal behavior. Political Correctness is the method of this conditioning.
There is a major problem here in the US with many companies trying to stop the real contents of their food from being know. Food Babe is doing a good job and I hope Campbells and other companies that lie and cheat, sell us crap and GMO food and then tell us they are looking after us all lose major market share. I will never buy from any company that will not tell what is truly and honestly in their products.
Foodbabe, or whomever may know this….I’m curious if it’s possible to just take a sample of the food (soup or whatever) and take it to a lab to be tested so you can see for yourself what’s in it and don’t have to rely on these companies for the ‘truth’ ?? I have no idea how that all works, just curious.
The true test of character is what one does when no one is watching. There aren’t many corporations regardless of what discipline, that have character worth anything. Their goals are to make as much money from the blind consumer regardless of the methods used even if they are harmful to the very people who support them. Big Pharma, Banks, Insurance, utilities, etc. the list is way too long and truly unfathomable. Another scum gets their hand caught in the cookie jar, welcome to America.
Listen lady, if you DONT like the freaking soup… The don’t buy it… But I believe that if they want to put crap in a can and sell it, they have the right to do it, since it’s their crap, it belongs to them, and they can do whatever they want with it. It’s your choice to buy it or not to buy it. So don’t go looking for someone to blame about, Well, Nothing! Just because you had your period today. If you are looking for the government to do something about it and u want an oppressive government telling you what to do, then go to North Korea. This was supposed to be a free country. Or it used to be a long long loooong time ago before people like you started complaining about retarded stuff. Make your own damn soup!
Dude, you’re just rude. You come on like an obnoxious industry schill.
Hey, this has nothing to do with a woman having her period and you are out of line for saying that. The issue is people are buying a product based on the information on the label. If the label does not contain accurate info then a buyer of the product could encounter health issues, eat products that should not be a part of their diet preferences. This is a valid issue and as far as I am considered it is fraud. If you do not like what you read, you do not have comment or spew your dislike of women. Just move on.
Well said. Obviously a bad tempered git who got out of bed on the wrong side and enjoys eating any sh*t put in front of him!
I agree about boycotting the company, however, the reason Vani posts these things is to alert consumers because things like this are imperative to everyone’s health and well-being, and when people know about it they can then in turn BOYCOTT this company (duhh). However, there’s a point when the FDA is allowing ingredients in food that one should never consume, that makes intelligent people like her question what the fxck they’re doing and why they’re allowing these harmful, and in some cases carcinogenic things into our food! That’s their job for fxcks sake! Please think before you make yourself sound even more stupid than you probably are 🙂
You’re missing the point. In this free country, if you want people to buy your crap soup you have to tell people what’s in it.
I am shocked to my core!
I am 67 years old…..and have trusted Campbell’s my entire life!
I now know…..(and boy, do I know it) not one “prepared” food (not even one) is OK unless you check!
I just threw out some cinnamon that has ” that disgusting stuff in it!!
What a jerk! How dare you talk to a woman like that or for that matter anyone! Just because someone cares about you and everyone else and is trying very hard to make a difference! Maybe you should be more investigative before you open your big uneducated mouth! Grow up!
If you don’t care what you put in your body then why are you ever bothering to read this. Being free means also the freedom to know what is in the food I purchase. Mind your own damn business.
It’s not about them being able to sell what they want it’s about lying about what’s in it! The companies need to be honest because some people are absolutely sickened just about the thought of eating meat! We have the God given right to know what we are eating and spending our money on! It’s our health that matters! When I go to the store if I choose to buy vegetables or choose to buy meat that is my choice but don’t lie to me just so you can make a profit from it! It’s all about money!
100% vegetable juice should be only juice and plant based flavorings…NOW THAT IS WRONG to have meat or dairy in something claiming to be 100% vegetable juice.
It sounds like you are having your period, too.
LOLOL
(where’s the like button?)
I find the answer of the company extremely satisfying. The key point to understanding why their twitter reps may screw up is that most companies outsource their web and social media contacts who only have a script to answer customers’ questions. It is possible that these people who not only work for campbell but for many other companies screw up responses from time to time.
It is not in the best interest of Campbell to lie or cheat their customers. They risk the trust and name of a company that has been active for many many years. So I think that when Vani wrote an e-mail to them, she reached someone that actually works directly for Campbell and is why she got the correct response about the soup.
And as Mikel said, if you just don’t trust the company, don’t buy from them. Eventually if enough people boycott it, they will have to do something to earn back your trust, or they’ll go bankrupt.
Cheers!
Your mother had a period once too. That’s how she had you (unfortunately).
Sorry, the above reply is not meant for Daniel (my apologies), but for Mike.
Companies lie and cheat consumers everyday
Until they’re Caught!
BUSTED
I say get a chemist friend to look at the V8..
Then we know 100 percent
“I find the answer of the company extremely satisfying” Sure troll..I hope, otherwise you are a loser
Dude….it’s called food safety laws. If YOU don’t like them, move to a 3rd world country. Wow too dumb to even know what he is being protected from!
Michel — don’t get your knickers in a twist. Perhaps it is you that is having the period? Seriously, you do sound like an industry shell. Why are you even here? To bit**, moan, and groan? Go away!
You’re way off base with your comments. We want straight foreward answers that are truthful, and we want our families to survive!
What is needed is to force corporations to go after the big Swiss company that produces “natural flavors” ( I here it’s big bucks) and demand that they list exactly what’s in natural flavors and then put that on your soup cans. Watch em squirm.
Let’s get an international attourney and go after whoever.
Take the winnings and expand our endevors.
Can I tell you something? You are not American. But you do believe in the Viagara you’re taking is the real thing.
Mikel, you are WORSE than rude…you are ignorant and sexist, and you are more than simply out of line. You owe us all an apology for such a crude and inaccurate statement! Not that I think you’re interested in making things right…
Campbell’s does indeed have the right to package and sell whatever they own…but not by DECEPTION. In America, we have laws against deceptive marketing practices…and Campbell’s has put itself forward as a TRUSTED leading American company…the assumption by the masses is that Campbell’s products are safe, dependable and nourishing. If this is true, WHY are they fighting so hard to keep from HAVING TO BE HONEST on the labeling???
I am astonished that in this day……there is some weirdo guy who is referring to a female “having her period” as a criticism.
I feel terribly sorry for this cretin.
Lordy!
the internet is wonderful in many ways…..and then it allows completely insane people to post!
Oh well.
Hooray for “foodbabe”!!
she is uncovering amazing and astonishing disgusting chemicals and dangerous additives in our food! BRAVA!!!!
You are the BEST!!
and most courageous!!
Penelope
http://www.mccmormickinteriors.com
I like your style, Penelope!
What a rude fool you are! You need slapped silly by your mother and grandmothers who have either done a poor job teaching your sorry self manners and respect or you just treat all women with a lack of respect and divinity! Man up! Grow up!
Divinity=diginity
WOW feeling brave behind your keyboard now aren’t you! It is quite clear you are IGNORANT on the issues of labeling and GMO. Maybe after you actually did some homework and research you would see what we see and Food Babe sees. You are a typically Simpleton who doesn’t understand something so you use insults and bully tactics. Get a life dummy 😉
I often work with people like you in my field of nutritional health, and I want to say to them what I will say to you. The day will come when all the additives and unlisted ingredients in processed food will attack your health, but it will be too late because the damage to your health will have already been done. Some people (like you) aren’t ready to hear that yet mostly because they are still healthy and can’t imagine being very sick and growing old. Such is life, but if you want to go on thinking companies can do whatever they want to sell their product, you go right ahead, but in allowing you that right, I have the right to expect the same respect from you. Your words are immature and lack knowledge.
Corporations are controlling you way more than N. Korea does its people. How? They’ve gotten into your head and direct you to think and act on their behalf rather than that of your fellow citizens. You want to put anything in your mouth, go ahead. But don’t claim you’re on the side of freedom when you espouse ignorance.
You mean corporations can create phony “scientific” websites in order to try and discredit people who may have stumbled onto something exposing their corporate lies for cash?? Say it isn’t so!!!!
People, people, people! Don’t take Mikel seriously for even one minute. Don’t give him another thought! He’s an Ayn Rand follower, you can tell. Plus, he uses “retarded” as a pejorative term; disses what a woman has to say by suggesting that she has her period; and asks us to believe that we can choose between only two polar opposites: a totalitarian state or no regulation at all. He is not intelligent, so don’t get your undies in a bundle about someone who does not have the capacity to think on a deeper and more thoughtful level.
People shouldn’t be eating processed food in the first place.
I agree with you Lawrence!
Campbell’s Soup Company is NOT a privately held company. It’s listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the code CPB. It’s also one of the components of S&P’s 500. Yes, they’re in business to make money, but they are NOT a privately held company.
Also, they own quite a few companies. To name a few:
** Pepperidge Farms
** Bolthouse Farms
** Prego
** Swanson
** Plus companies in Australia, Germany, France, and others.
My guess is that their natural flavors contain castoreum, this is secreted by the anal glands of a male beaver and is often used in natural flavoring. There is so little used that food companies can label this as “natural flavoring”. This is probably something they wouldn’t want to publicly admit, but it is used in many foods.
And some of these fools want to eat what comes out of the ass end of a beaver. If they want to eat beaver sh*t, let them, but I bet they would not if it ewas a listed ingredient. ROTFLMAO.
What about all the MSG in their soups? An excitotoxicin which is basically a drug that causes all kinds of problems…oh and for you vegans…soy is the main source for MSG! Humans shouldn’t consume Soy!
I have been telling people this story for years. However, I read an article about the heating process. Soy sauce is safe regarding soy but not the MSG. Did not know this. I do buy Soy sauce light.
Denise,
I don’t know if u have ever tried this but Bragg Liquid Aminos taste just like Soy sauce. The ingredients is – Vegetable protein from Soybeans and Purified Water. Braggs products r wonderful and taste so good. It is non GMO and made in the states. There r no preservatives, no alcohol, not fermented, gluten free and contains 16 amino acids. Enjoy
Tete
Yes that’s possible
But now
I’m just wondering if they throw a little beef broth in their V8 for flavor
Campbell products
With one hand not knowing what the other is doing how can we trust there products anymore what if we are allege to it what is added then what, and then getting sick from them not being listed where is there responsibly.
O that right only to the stock holder, I get it.
I agree with you. Mike needs to stay off this site
Just found out. Their customer service team isn’t even a part of Campbell’s! They are with a customer service agency named TelerX in Hanover Township PA! One of our friends called there and spoke to a woman named Lois who told our friend all about the TelerX company! The reps are told to say they are in Camden NJ and are right in the company headquarters! They aren’t. The Campbell’s Canadian and Pepperidge Farm teams are in this building as well! None of them have ever even seen the headquarters I’d bet with how far from it they are!
Check out INGREDION, on the NYSE. This is your “natural flavorings”
Description (from their website)
Ingredion Incorporated (Ingredion), formerly Corn Products International, Inc. is a global manufacturer and supplier of starch and sweetener ingredients to a range of industries, including packaged food, beverage, brewing and industrial customers. The Company’s product line includes starches and sweeteners, animal feed products and edible corn oil. The Company’s starch-based products include both food-grade and industrial starches. The Company’s sweetener products include glucose syrups, high maltose syrups, high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), caramel color, dextrose, polyols, maltodextrins and glucose and syrup solids. The Company’s products are derived primarily from the processing of corn and other starch-based materials, such as tapioca, potato and rice.
I haven’t bought Campbell’s soups in many, many years, ever since I became aware of aluminum or BPA’s in the cans and all the additives and high salt in most canned goods. I do occasionally buy organic soups, however. But I skip Campbells and go straight to the organic products. So many products contain “natural flavorings” that it is very hard to go to the grocery story and not come home with some of those!!
Interesting how they answer your question without answering your question. They just restate what has already been said and never address the vegan issue. Also, apparently, they have no idea what vegetarianism is let alone Veganism. Good grief, disgusting
FOOD BABE RULES!!! Actually gets these corporate dinosaurs 2 sit up and pay attention…..we r slowly waking up especially when our media figure head is such a babe!!!!….BUTT….4 all u pinheads still eating campbels products, or any thing processed…. i mean if u cant pronounce it dont f-in eat it zippy… when are we gonna do a class action law suit on the distributors of poison???? sue Safeway 4 selling poison and we will see how fast manufacturing dumps the chemicals?!?!? ya babe!!
this is WRONG,WRONG,WRONG, 100% veggie juice should not have anything but veggie products and veggie flavoring. I am not a vegan but this really pisses me off.People spend lots of money on V8 thinking they are drinking something that will allow then to get 1 of there 5 veggies a day and now there may be animal products in a 100% juice…WOW i see this going viral!
Food babe do you have a food testing team at a university?I think this would be a product that should get tested….
Good work GIRL!
Well done Food Babe!!!!!!!!!!
This is bad, for 100% vegetable should be 100% vegetable. However, I’ve read MSG as an ingredient on labels of some Campbell’s “food” products. Perhaps Campbell’s has corrected this latter error, but I doubt that it’s gone.
Given that Campbell’s could and did include MSG in some of its “food” products and now learning that it, Campbell, is the provider of V8 juice, I wouldn’t be surprised that there’s MSG also in this juice.
And that’s not an appetizing thought at all.
Sounds like more BEAVER BUTT to me!! And like someone else previously mentioned…why is anyone eating this processed food anyway?? Eating only organic and homemade is my solution! No Campbell’s in my cupboard…but I do agree that they shouldn’t be lying or deceiving their customers!!
I will not be buying any products of cambells or the other companies the Doctor mentioned
I will not buy Campbell’s products until they label what’s truly in it. I surely do not want Beaver juice in my food or juice!
However, they did not say it is NOT Vegan. They said that they do not Market it as Vegan.
Well, if it is 100% Vegetable juice, it should be labeled and marketed as Vegan!
PS Dear Mike, it seems as though you are on the RAG! Dam disgusting TROLL!
Hi Vani, I want to bring attention to something that Kelly said. “Kelly: I cannot clarify, However I can tell you if there was dairy in the Natural Flavoring, It would be listed in parenthesis after Natural Flavoring, because dairy is a top 8 allergen. ” This is correct information! Eggs are also a top eight allergen, therefore they would have to be disclosed as well. Since according to it’s label, V8 contains neither dairy nor eggs, and according to Campbell’s is not vegan then what other animal products are left that are suitable for vegetarians??? None that I can think of.
For comparison sake – Here is the ingredient list from a Campbell’s vegetable soup (though it may not be a current product as the post is dated 2009). You can clearly see that in this instance, the label states “natural flavors (milk)”
Confirmation about allergen statements from Campbell’s own FAQs listed on their website in regards to another similar juice product: “What are the natural flavors in V8 Harvest?
Natural Flavors are ingredients that are completely derived from natural sources. The formula for natural flavors is considered a “trade secret” and is protected under federal law. It is protected so that we can keep our formulations proprietary and prevent our competitors from copying our blends. While we cannot divulge the specific ingredients, we can assure you that all of the ingredients in natural flavors are derived from natural sources and comply with the FDA. None of the flavors contain any of the eight major food allergens or MSG.”
I stopped eating Campbell soups, because they are really watered down now. No taste in their chicken noodle soup anymore. They are only hurting themselves by becoming cheap. As for the juice, I too am very disappointed about that and will tell my cousin who is a vegan, not to drink it anymore. They are trying to put the blame on the representatives, but they were probably just reading from a script that Campbell’s gave them.
Campbell’s is a soup company. Commercially made soups are generally Seasoned with Bouillon and people buy the little bouillon cubes and take them home as a quick and expedient way to season their homemade soups. It’s been my understanding for several decades now that one of the Natural Ingredients in ‘Beef Bouillon’ is condensed ‘Beef Blood’, and I kind of thought that was general knowledge. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the bouillon is also used in the V-8.
General knowledge? I can’t find anyone else who “knows” this. It’s broth.
A lot of assumptions and opinions here based on nothing.
Don’t worry.
Walk into any supermarket and find mostly over-processed, factory-farmed “food” that will kill us prematurely and cause us ailments long before we croak from it.
BUT
it’s the only way to provide for an overpopulated & urban-centered society,
with so many mouths to feed.
Therefore, the solution (junk food for the masses) will –in turn– solve the overpopulation problem.
Neat, isn’t it?
Don’t buy processed food. Don’t give Big Food your money. Problem solved.
What is unsettling here is that this company has spent millions to prevent labeling transparency! That means they don’t want everyone to KNOW what’s in their products. They probably and especially don’t want people to know that many if not all of their ingredients are GMO (Genetically Modified Organism, which means pesticides!).
I am sure that the FDA allows them to use animal products as flavorings (The FDA makes up their own definitions, regardless of what the common understanding of a word or meaning is) without disclosure and allows them to use the phrase “100% Vegetable Juice”, when in fact it is not.
Just because Campbell is “allowed” to label this way, does not mean they should, nor that doing so is acceptable. It seems Campbell is not worried about having a labeling “conscience” because they are spending millions to prevent us from knowing exactly what is in their foods…thus proving it!!
Lying to the public about what is in food, is immoral! And goes well beyond the current issue. The FDA needs to be held accountable for their labeling laws, and other practices that prevent the public from knowing exactly what they are consuming.
Shame on you Campbell, as well as other companies that go along with this practice!! Just as Kashi was sued (they lost) and held accountable for calling their product “All Natural” when in fact it had GMO ingredients, Campbell should be held accountable in exact the same way!!! We all know companies pay attention when it affects their wallets!
Campbell has given their company a black eye, and has ruined the reputation of this age old and trusted company.
I have something I would love for you to look into Food Babe!! Rachel Ray nutrish super premium cat food. It makes my cats sick. On the front is says no ground corn but the 3rd ingredient is corn gluten meal. The fourth is Menhaden fish meal. Which contains Ethoxyquin That is a known carcinogenic. Read this article here. http://ottawavalleydogwhisperer.blogspot.com/2013/02/fish-fish-meal-and-ethoxyquin-danger-do.html The 6th ingredient is dried plain beet pulp.
It is also full of potassium chloride which I believe makes all three of my cats throw up. I believe this is someone using there popular name to make cheap trash cat food and marketing to absolutely healthy and fabulous while doing it. I would love for you to write about this gmo issue.
What we need to worry more about than “dead animal parts” in our food is vegetable oils (corn, canola, soybean, cottonseed, etc.). Even if they are non-GMO/organic, they are detrimental to our health. More people need to start cooking from scratch. It would be nice to see more companies make products with only wholesome ingredients in them. This is already changing. I see many more packaged food items with only good ingredients!
This is the same BS answer that companies in the mattress business have been giving for years to hide their toxic ingredients “Trade Secret” or “Proprietary Ingredients.” Tempurpedic, the largest mattress manufacturer AND CURRENTLY RUN BY THE FORMER HEAD OF CAMPBELL SOUP! tells customers that the fire barrier they use in their mattress is a trade secret. It is made by Dow Chemical. They don’t want the liability of telling millions of consumers with their faces planted in the bed and their kids and pets next to them that the bed is toxic. No wonder they hired the former CEO of Campbell soups!!!
That juice taste nasty anyway. I tried a bit once and never ever again. No wonder it didn’t taste good, it is not real “vegetable” juice.
Campbell’s is just a can of chemicals. Whether it’s vegan is a mute subject as far as I’m concerned. Buy a cheap soup bone from the butcher and make soup stock in bulk. Heathy, easy inexpensive soup in no time at all.
Vani,
I like V8 Fusion, though don’t drink it quite as much as I used to. But perhaps Cambell’s kids soups need addressed next: Why are the kids condensed soups (like the chicken) appear to be their least healthy soups? That is, they have minimal chicken pieces, high sodium, MSG, etc… And the cans state “Healthy Kids” right on the front. Compare these products to their lines like Healthy Request. Isn’t this backwards? Food directed at kids should be top quality.
Thanks food babe. Message to big companies….”With the internet and easy access to information..we are finding the TRUTH. I ask you big companies …specifically food companies ….Are you going tell your kids its ok to lie as long as you make MONEY,,,,here in America
The new Ebola serum that is helping those two Americans who contracted it has GMO tabacco! Something must be done!!!!! How can they do this????? Soon all medicines will be made with GMO. I am in disbelief that this is happening in our world. What can we do to STOP IT????? Help us food babe!
That’s why I’m glad I’m an omnivore, the way that nature intended! I think v8 is delicious & will continue to drink it in spite of what may or may not be true. I never expected truth in advertising from any corporation to begin with, so my feelings haven’t been hurt! That’s just my opinion.
I loved finding the time to read all the different viewpoints and learn from so many different angles of people’s thinking and their articulation. I shared my idea of this particular Food Babe alert with my dear friend after an Overeaters Meeting. She is Orthadox and allergic to fish, and seafood, and doesn’t eat pork. She was truly shocked and I went home and sent her the alert.
One more reason it’s important to know if meat products are in that 100% percent vegetable juice….
An allergy (called “alpha-gal” allergy) to mammal meats and mammal meat by-products such as milk, butter, cheese, gelatin, lactose, lanolin, etc, is on the rise in the US and in other countries too. After a bite from a tick (most often the lone star tick in the US), that person may later suffer an allergic reaction to beef, pork, lamb, venison, bison, etc., so if beaver butt cells (beaver is a mammal) and/or other mammal meat cells are hidden in “natural flavor” ingredients, then someone with this alpha-gal allergy who consumes the “natural flavor” may suffer allergic reactions (such as hives, swelling, itching, difficulty breathing, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, chills, speech impediment, fainting, heart stopping, and so on).
My mom, who’s 71, is also a fan of yours and she’s glad that you’re looking into Campbell’s. She’s been down on them for years because of the high sodium in their soup. Thank you very much for helping to expose what they’re doing to V8 juice.
What about Kosher? Are these products marked Dairy?
Oh my!! I went to their FB page, and simply asked a question regarding which of their products I could have as a vegan. Some woman came on there and ripped me a new one!! She got so ugly I had to block her. My friends tell me she is still over there spouting venom though – wonder if she works for Campbells???
Great investigation! Unfortunately, Campbell’s products are full of crappy ingredients. Their tomato soup is sweetened with high fructose corn syrup (among other atrocities) – why they feel the need to sweeten tomato soup at all baffles me!
In the 1920s or before, there was a huge scandal of Campbell’s having slave oriental workers confined in buildings that were not paid (if they were) until they left, and were not allowed to leave until the company decided so. I think I read this in Truth magazine from the Sixties. It showed pictures of newspaper articles.
I think years ago V8 had something in it that caused me to never buy it. Always had a bad feeling about it and would buy it and then not drink it.
A person who works for me says never to buy chicken soups from Campbell’s because it had a plant in his town and people were scandalized about the meat they used.
For decades, I have noticed that products (even insurance companies) that have kids or some purity theme are usually the bad ones.
Hello Food Babe readers:
I just spoke to a very kind and competent customer service rep at Campbell’s who said that the labeling of products does not have only to do with the ingredients that go into the products, but also the equipment that the product is produced on. So, a product could be vegetarian, but not vegan, and still not contain meat. If V8 is processed on a machine that processes Campbell’s Mushroom Soup, for example, it would be vegetarian, but not Vegan, because of the dairy involved in the mushroom soup recipe.
That made sense to me… and I was ready for a battle! I think that the Food Babe is great, and I was doing this kind of research long before she came along, however, sometimes I think that Food Babe is super-duper sensationalistic.
Why buy Campbell’s products anyway, they’re extremely low quality.
Hmmm this is quite concerning the marketing tactics used by companies to persuade consumers into buying their product is unbelievable.
Hi! I recently discovered your website and the whole concept of being fed harmful ingredients through our food.
I am kind of, actually very, overwhelmed about where to start on all this, I don’t want to keep feeding my body these damaging ingredients but just the thought of changing my whole lifestyle as well as every single item I normally eat is driving me crazy. Where do I start? What do I do? I honestly don’t feel like eating anything that I currently have in my home, but I can’t actually throw everything out and start over with a college student budget. Any advice or comments would be greatly appreciated.
Also, I live in Vancouver (Canada) so any recommendations geared towards that would also be amazing.
Thank you!!
S.
As an RD married to another RD, get on with your lives.