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You've looked at the evidence, weighed up the world and decided that veganism is the way forward. The next step is to find out what foods are available and how to get the best out of your diet.

As a vegan, you'll obviously be avoiding anything containing meat, fish, milk, eggs or honey, but sometimes animal-derived ingredients are a little more difficult to spot. Some of the main ones to look out for are:

• lactose (milk sugar, added to some crisps, biscuits, and other foods)
• gelatin/e (boiled-down bones, used to make jellies)
• shellac (secreted by little lac beetles, used to coat sweets and other foods)
• whey powder (a milk based ingredient, added to a wide variety of foods)

There are other ingredients to be aware of, but these are the main ones that you'll come across. For a complete list see our criteria for vegan food.

OK - you've worked out what foods to avoid, so what does that leave you with? Well, only everything else!

Use the links on the right to find more.....