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Vegetarian and vegan: what's the difference?

People who eat a vegetarian or vegan diet consciously avoid animal products. But what are the advantages of a meat-free diet? Is this even healthy? Or can it lead to deficiencies in certain nutrients? We'll give you interesting information and answer your FAQs about vegetarian and vegan diets.

Wooden board with chopped vegetables and tofu for a vegan diet

All guides on vegetarian and vegan diets

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Vegetarian foods such as pepper and aubergine cooked on the barbecue

Vegetarian barbecue

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A comparison of two meat-free diets

Vegetarians and vegans do not eat meat or fish. However, vegetarians generally eat products that come from living animals, such as milk, dairy products, eggs and honey.

A vegan diet, on the other hand, avoids all foods of animal origin. A vegan meal will not include meat, fish, milk, dairy products, eggs or honey. Often, a vegan lifestyle is not only about a person's diet – many also avoid clothing made from leather or animal wool, as well as cosmetics containing animal ingredients.

There are many reasons for choosing a plant-based diet. However, individual motivations for a vegetarian or vegan diet are different from person to person. Animal welfare is one of the most common concerns, but many people choose a meat-free diet for ethical, health, religious or ecological reasons.

Easier shopping thanks to clear product labelling

Coop wants to make it easier for consumers to purchase vegan and vegetarian foods. As such, all Coop own-label brand products are labelled accordingly: Foods in the Délicorn line are always labelled with the yellow European vegetarian logo (V-Label). Products in the Karma line, as well as other Coop products that are suitable for a vegetarian and/or vegan diet, are labelled with the black and white V-Label. This can be found as a pictogram on the front of the packaging.

A vegan product in the Karma line with a black and white V-Label

The V-Label is assigned to the following two categories:

Vegetarian V-Label: products that may still contain dairy, eggs or honey
Vegan V-Label: purely plant-based products with no animal ingredients

The respective V-Label guarantees that the product does not contain any ingredients or processing aids of animal origin (e.g. gelatine to clarify juice) in its manufacture.