Ideal Bite

I'm a big fan of Ideal Bite and have gotten you many new readers. I'm glad to see this true caviar alternative (i.e. really sustainable and non-toxic) in this blog post, but I was horribly dismayed when I read today's Ideal Bite. Were you guys really recommending farmed fish products? No, reeaally? The eco cost and health risks are generally just so high I couldn't believe my eyes. From what I've read, most farmed fish are fed ocean fish and pumped with antibiotics just like the rest of their factory farmed brethren. So they're usually at least as toxic as ocean fish (mercury-on-a-cracker) and have a higher eco-cost than ocean fish (many are fed about twice their weight in ocean fish). Maybe I've missed some break-through findings, but I just have to ask if anyone do any research on farmed fish? Quick searches of Environmental Defense (http://ED.org), Environmental Working group (http://EWG.org), and others seems to confirm most of it. ED does list caviar from US farmed white sturgeon as eco-friendly, but I've got to wonder if that's just relative (seems so given what they say). Kinda' like a hybrid hummer is eco-friendly compared to a normal hummer. Hoping for more of the many great Bites you've helped us with. Cheers, Andreas

Hello, I appreciate you giving a nod to a vegan alternative to caviar, not so much because it's a dining alternative to fish eggs, but rather people may wonder alternatives are produced in the first place. For those that haven't read about the cultivation, in commercial caviar production the process normally requires stunning the fish (usually by clubbing at the head) and extracting the ovaries; some commercial fish farmers are experimenting with surgically removing roe from living sturgeon, allowing the females to continue producing more roe during their lives. For those that want to fully live a life of peace, this does not sound like a process worth putting on your plate or supporting. Thanks, dj top

Dear Biter Team :) I, too, wanted to thank you (especially) for today's tip on more sustainable caviar - because you recommended a vegan alternative to traditional caviar. I am so grateful for information/product recomendations that can help make more people aware of, and make more accessible, delicious alternatives to animal-harm products that they can enjoy so, thank you very much BITER TEAM! :) Please, please keep the vegetarian & vegan tips/product recommendations coming! :) Dede P.S. THANK YOU for doing what you do. I have to try to pull myself away so that I don't spend all day, every day, reading the info on your site! :)

I went to the Cavi-Art website. Of the 4 kinds, 2 are vegan: the black lumpfish and the yellow lumpfish. Neither red kind is vegan. The salmon has some fish ingredients, and the red lumpfish has a red dye that is animal-derived. I found this out by contacting the person whose email address is given on the website. That person steered me to a link on the website to a 27-page pdf file, and on page 19 of that file there are notes on "Tolerance Data". I wrote back to the contact person, and they replied with specifics on which varieties are and are not vegan.

Dear Susan, Thank you for shedding a light on that - I didn't realize and don't think most people would realize. It really upsets me when companies use hidden animal-harm ingredients, especially products that are implied to be vegetarian or vegan :( All we can do is try to investigate every single thing... Friendly Smiles, Dede

Dede -- I am a vegetarian. One reason I'm not a vegan is the level of care that's necessary to make sure of food ingredients. It's a goal for me, though, and I always feel better when I know I'm eating vegan. I appreciate what the Cavi-Art company is trying to do, and I went ahead and ordered a small jar of the black kind, just to check it out. I've never eaten "real" caviar but have always been curious about it.

Ideal Bite- creme fraiche? goat cheese? I know cows/goats aren't rare or endangered, but they are warm blooded creatures that breath the same air we do. Veal calves are the direct product of the dairy industry. Drink milk/eat cheese- support veal (you do wheather you like it or not) or go Vegan!! Yippee! Cuelty free for me!! Susan- thank you for ferret-ing out the hidden ingredients. What time & care, and thank you for passing on the info.

Sorry, got carried away on Dairy, forgot to address the fish issue at hand. Ideal Bite- thank you for exposing a much less cruel product substitute to caviar, I just don't happen to agree w/ the condiment choices you mention.

You yuppie scumbags are all disgusting in my book. If you must ingest fish eggs to validate yourselves, you have a problem. Injesting any kind of fish egg is certainly not a matter of survival.You should just eat an earwig or a slug to feel important!