Vegan cold cuts: 13 out of 19 products fail

ÖKO-TEST actually wanted to recommend many vegan cold cuts for the April issue of their magazine. But the test with 19 sausage substitute products (04/2022 issue) instead resulted in a long list of defects. At the top are mineral oil components, controversial additives and way too much salt.

Only one product scored “good” overall. This is Vemondo vegan cold cuts in the style of ham sausage from Lidl for 1.49 euros per 100 g. But precisely this is now being revised by the manufacturer, ÖKO-TEST regrets.

All that remains is an overall satisfactory cold cut, which at least scores “good” in the test result for ingredients: Alnatura Vegan Tofu Cold Cut Herbs for around 2 euros per 100 g (to the shop).

Vegan cold cuts: 13 out of 19 fail

At first glance, the remaining 18 products appear to be impeccable in terms of appearance, smell, taste and mouthfeel.

However, the testers are annoyed that they are more or less contaminated with mineral oil components and only award a good two-thirds of the products an overall rating of “poor” or “inadequate”. But where do the mineral oils come from? ÖKO-TEST suspects that they could get into the vegan cold cuts from lubricants for plastic casings.

In addition to too much salt and added natural flavorings, with the exception of the test winner and the six organic products, they also criticize the fact that the thickening agent carrageen is used in the cold cuts. The substance obtained from red algae is suspected of triggering inflammation in the intestines and is therefore controversial.

You can read the detailed test report with all the winners and losers
Read at ÖKO-TEST for a fee.

Bad review for veggie foods

It is not the first time that ÖKO-TEST has made a devastating judgment when testing vegetarian or vegan products. In the past, the experts have already tested veggie sausages and vegan minced meat. Here, too, numerous products were contaminated with mineral oil and can therefore not be recommended. You can find out more about this from our CHIP colleague:

> Are veggie sausages bad for your health? ÖKO-TEST makes a devastating verdict

> Products from Aldi, Lidl and Penny fail: vegan minced meat is mostly contaminated with mineral oil

> Harmful substances in well-known brands: Stiftung Warentest criticizes vegetarian burger patties