"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 yellow no 5?
Yellow No. 5 is a synthetic lemon-yellow azo food dye, also known as tartrazine or E102. It is produced through chemical synthesis, primarily derived from petroleum byproducts or aromatic hydrocarbons originating from coal tar. Manufacturers use this artificial color additive in a wide variety of processed foods and beverages to enhance appearance, including soft drinks, candies, flavored snacks, breakfast cereals, baked goods, and dessert powders. It also frequently appears in cosmetics, personal care products, and pharmaceutical medications such as pills and syrups.
This ingredient is classified as vegan because it is purely synthetic and contains no animal-derived substances. The manufacturing process relies entirely on petrochemical precursors and chemical reactions, without utilizing any animal tissues, fluids, or processing aids. Because the compound is produced from non-animal mineral and chemical sources from start to finish, it meets the standard criteria for a vegan ingredient.
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.