"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 e e500i?
The label text "e e500i" is an optical character recognition artifact or typographical duplicate for E500(i), the European food additive code for sodium carbonate. Sodium carbonate, historically known as soda ash, is an inorganic mineral salt used in food processing as an acidity regulator, raising agent, stabilizer, and anti-caking agent. It is commonly found in baked goods like pretzels and biscuits, Asian noodles, effervescent drink mixes, and cocoa products.
Sodium carbonate is sourced either by mining natural mineral deposits such as trona ore, or through chemical synthesis via industrial methods like the Solvay process, which utilizes limestone and sodium chloride brine. Because its manufacturing relies exclusively on mineral and synthetic raw materials, no animals or animal derivatives are used during extraction or refinement. Therefore, it is suitable for vegans.
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.