"You are amazing, this has saved me so much time when grocery shopping!"
— Austin, a user who reached out with feedback
"It's been a great tool since starting my journey! You take a pic of the nutrition/ingredients, and it'll warn you of anything questionable or not vegan. 😁"
— Ashe, a Vegan For Beginners Facebook Group member
"Use a vegan app when you go shopping, I use WhatsVegan."
— Dóra, a Vegan For Beginners Facebook Group member
Learn more
"You are amazing, this has saved me so much time when grocery shopping!"
— Austin, a user who reached out with feedback
"It's been a great tool since starting my journey! You take a pic of the nutrition/ingredients, and it'll warn you of anything questionable or not vegan. 😁"
— Ashe, a Vegan For Beginners Facebook Group member
"Use a vegan app when you go shopping, I use WhatsVegan."
— Dóra, a Vegan For Beginners Facebook Group member
So, what is astragalus membranaceus?
Astragalus membranaceus is the botanical name in Latin for a perennial flowering plant in the legume family, commonly known in English as milkvetch or huang qi. Native to parts of northern and eastern Asia, this ingredient is obtained directly from the roots of the plant. The roots are harvested, washed, and dried, after which they are either sliced, pulverized into a dry powder, or processed through aqueous or solvent extraction to create liquid tinctures. It frequently appears on ingredient labels for herbal teas, functional drinks, broths, and dietary supplements.
This ingredient is vegan because it is derived exclusively from a botanical source, with no animal tissues, byproducts, or animal-derived processing aids involved in its cultivation or extraction. When consumed as a dried root, powder, or liquid extract, it is entirely free from animal inputs. Consumers purchasing it in dietary supplement forms such as capsules should only verify that the outer casing uses vegetable cellulose rather than animal-derived gelatin.
We've built a vegan ingredients scanner that classifies food ingredients as "vegan", "non-vegan", or "potentially vegan".
It allows you to avoid non-vegan ingredients - just take a picture of a product's ingredient list, and the app tells you if the product is vegan or not.
Check out other ingredients: