Vegan Certification FAQs

Vegan is not legally defined in any one jurisdiction in the world, and right now vegan claims lack credibility without certification. There have been cases when a brand has claimed their product was vegan but upon inspection, one realizes that the product may contain non-vegan source ingredients, or be subject to spillover cross-contamination, and because there is no law requiring a single vegan standard, that product legally can continue to market themselves as vegan because the question comes back down to, vegan by what standard? Can a product legally be marketed vegan without looking into the source ingredients to ensure integrity in the vegan claim? Legally. Yes. Can a product using a sugar with bone char or natural coloring made of insect juice still call themselves vegan? Legally. Yes. Can Burger King’s Rebel Whopper Burger market as vegan friendly even though it is cooked with burgers on the same grill, as the same time? Legally. Yes. All over the world labeling laws with regards to vegan claims are undefined and legally insufficient, which leads to false advertising. For example, in the United States, you are not required to label “insignificant ingredients” which means anything under 0.5% per serving does not have to be disclosed. This could lead to non-vegan ingredients such as whey powder appearing in products with no need to mention. Or this could mean that if less than .5 grams per serving of sugar with bone char is used, that product can claim it is sugar-free and vegan! Internationally recognized vegan certification gives the consumer peace of mind. As it is, consumers are sick of reading tiny ingredients, and educated consumers know those ingredients lack transparency. A proper vegan certification logo like BeVeg gives the consumer the confidence needed to purchase and consume that product without worry. When a consumer sees a known global vegan trademark that consumer can rest assured the research was done for them and they don’t have to read and study tiny ingredients. They can trust the vegan symbol. It’s no different than needing FDA approval for food and drug safety or gluten-free certification to avoid a gluten allergy reaction. Vegan certification isn’t necessary if you want a product that’s truly vegan.

BeVeg has 2 global trademarks. We certify vegan food, beverages, alcohol, vitamins, supplements, makeup, textiles, fashion, furniture, household cleaning supplies, artwork, and any other product that could otherwise have a compromised vegan integrity.

The vegan symbols licensed by BeVeg are the only vegan symbols in the world backed by a law firm with global reach. Lawyers by nature are regulators. We are professional experts with trained legal minds to define a standard, and raise the standard for consumer transparency. BeVeg is the gold standard for vegan certification as featured in Forbes, CBS, NBC, PETA, Social Life Hamptons Magazine, Veg World Magazine, Vegetarisimo Magazine, VRG, LiveKindly Magazine, Metropolitan Magazine, California Wine Advisor, VegFests, at Seed Food & Wine Summit, among others, and used and endorsed by celebrity super model, Christie Brinkley.The BevVeg certification mark is considered the honest label, must-have, good housekeeping seal of approval for vegan claims.

No. We certify products, not companies. You can certify some or all of your products. Our goal is to make the vegan symbol accessible to all products and companies whose practices are in alignment with the BeVeg Vegan Standards, as BeVeg is here to make the consumers’ shopping experience easier. Register your vegan products with us, and join our exploding network. BeVeg vegan products also get listed on our free consumer app.

Yes. The trademark is not color specific. That means you can change the color of the BeVeg vegan certification marks to match the companies packaging.

It’s a 12 month license. You can use the vegan symbol on vegan verified product packaging, social media, your website, and other marketing materials, so long as it is clear which products are BeVeg vegan certified and it does not imply all products are blanketly approved.

It can take anywhere from a week to 60 days. It is all dependent on the ingredients, processes, and suppliers and how well suppliers communicate and how quickly they respond to BeVeg discovery requests.

Sadly, if it does not have a BeVeg certified vegan symbol, you do not know what standards were applied to make that vegan claim. The best thing to go would be to reach out to the companies directly to ask; create the consumer demand for honest labeling and transparency in labeling laws.

Only those products that pass certification are legally allowed to use the BeVeg vegan certified logos. Please contact us immediately if you suspect any misuse.

The cost of certification is based on a number of custom factors. We consider the number of products applied for, company revenue, whether you are a brand owner or private label, whether your product is made at a certified BeVeg vegan facility, whether your facility has other safety certifications, whether it is a shared facility or dedicated vegan facility, we assess the risk of cross-contamination at the facility, where consider where the manufacturing facility is located, how many manufacturing plants there are, and many other factors to ensure a unique quote that makes perfect sense for your company or brand. Please fill out the intake application so we can contact you with your special offer.

We start by answering a few initial questions on our website, these are seen as “to the best of your knowledge” answers as we will be digging a little deeper when we complete this part – We then work out the most affordable fee for each individual company either based on the amount of products they want to certify or their Gross Annual Revenue (you can check out the calculator on our website to understand this a little more) They are then sent an automatic email asking for their suppliers, ingredients, cleaning practices and any other information we may need, this is then sent to our applications team for review and we will get back to you within 2 weeks with our results!

At BeVeg, we are a team of Vegans who created a globally accredited Vegan certification standard. We have partnered with RangeMe to help Vegan and plant-based brands get into retailers. We know the struggles of standing in supermarkets for far longer than needed just to try and live the conscious lifestyle we’re striving for and think it’s time for this to change! We know retailers are risk averse to product recalls and want to protect product Vegan label claims. We make sure to promote our certified Vegan brands as much as possible through influencer engagement, social media, weekly shows and press releases to support you as much as you are supporting the vegan community.

We understand, if you are an established brand who is already well known in the vegan community you may not see the need here. However, we are trying to show the vegan community that these brands are here for them! That they support the idea of one global standard and want those companies who have been saying they are vegan with no checks can be held accountable. The vegan claim has no legal standing at the moment and we don’t think that is fair when people living this way have to go out of their way just to harm the planet a little less. Yes, you may be known but don’t you want to show those who are using veganism for monetary gain that we expect them to be certified too?

Yes! If you think that all the fruits you buy at the supermarket are Vegan, think again! Recently a customer at Tesco found herself shocked when she saw that the oranges, mandarins and satsumas were labeled non-vegan. The fruit itself is obviously inherently Vegan, but what about the chemicals added to make it shiny on shelves? That’s insect juice….

In some cases, pesticides like Imazalil and E904 are used to protect the fruit, and make it grow and look better. However, the wax on this chemical is made from shellac, a resin derived from the lac bug. In the EU, this chemical is banned, but outside of that it is not always applicable. That means you need to think carefully when ordering that shiny lemon to drop in your water, or that pretty apple to bite into! 

While most fruits are safe to buy and inherently Vegan, the consumer is quite unaware of these unnecessary additives, and they have the right to know about them. In general, there is limited governmental regulation for Vegan labeling, which easily misleads and tricks the consumer. While there is regulation for consumer protection laws to prevent misleading information on labels, the scope of those laws fall short at Vegan protection. Basically, any brand owner can self-certify themselves with a Vegan trademark, causing label credibility and true verification concerns. 

One of the ways to be completely reassured is by choosing brands with a trustworthy Vegan label – like BeVeg. BeVeg, is the world’s leading Vegan certification standard, and the only one with international accreditation through ISO 17065 and recognized in accordance with 17067. BeVeg Vegan Certified means the product is Vegan, and keeps the supply chain accountable, requiring full transparency or process, audits, testing, and ingredient disclosure. 

BeVeg is on a mission to protect the consumer and make life of the plant-based consumer easier, honest, and stress-free. While the Tesco incident is a rare one, and though the consumer need not obsess over shiny fruit and the origin of its shine, it does highlight the problem around Vegan labeling laws and teaches us not to make an assumption that anything is Vegan without the proper certified Vegan trademark. If you’d like to make your Vegan label claim official, check out BeVeg, the world’s leading and only accredited Vegan trademark standard. 

No. Most facilities that apply for and achieve BeVeg certification are shared facilities and plants. That is why BeVeg brings meaning to Vegan label claims processed from these shared facilities. BeVeg requires controls to be in place to ensure no animal contamination during the manufacturing process. This requires updating standard operating procedures (SOPs) and HACCP plans to reflect a commitment to Vegan / BeVeg integrity. This ensures mechanisms are in place to enforce true Vegan label integrity for the final BeVeg certified product using the official Vegan trademark.