Is it Vegan?

[EquALLity]

In my school's vending machine, there are two products that have been vegan- kettle-corn and potato chips.

Even if I know products are vegan, I usually check the packaging to make sure nothing has changed, and it's usually totally fine.
But last week I bought the kettle-corn, and I saw that the label changed. The list of things it was no longer included 'vegan', and instead of just saying 'zero cholesterol', now it says 'zero cholesterol (per serving)'.

And wow, it even has transfat? Wtf?

A few questions:
1) The ingredients seem vegan, but apparently the product isn't, because obviously there's some cholesterol. What's up with that? How do they get away with not listing the animal products?
2) Why is there transfat? O_O
3) Why would they even make it non-vegan?
4) Should I write them an angry email?

[Red]

This is a baseless claim, but I'm pretty sure they make it non-GMO because, even if the company believes in GMOs, if they use GMOs, it'll harm their business.

AAAAAAAAAAnyway,I wouldn't trust it. I don't really eat junk food, and I think it's healthier to just drop it altogether. The most I'd get is probably some gum, icebreakers, or some vegan shokolad. If I'm not mistaken, things like ring pops and laffy taffy, while are shit for your health and teeth, are vegan. I don't know, haven't had one in about 2 years. The "per serving" thing is pretty fishy, I'll admit.

I also heard that trans fats are literally the worst thing you can put in your body (right next to cholesterol). Well, your body makes cholesterol, so I guess high amounts of it.

[brimstoneSalad]

Is it this?

http://www.popcornindiana.com/products/original-kettlecorn/

It could be because:
"All our products are produced in a facility that uses milk, soy, peanuts, and tree nuts."
Or it could be because of their sugar, which they can't reliably say isn't filtered with bone char, or something like that.

Somebody may have complained if it used to say vegan and no longer does. Or they changed their suppliers and couldn't be bothered to make sure every ingredient was free of animal products.

Zero mg trans fat per serving is probably due to the oil, which contains a small trace of trans fat due to processing.

I don't know why it says Zero Cholesterol (per serving) instead of just Zero cholesterol.
You might want to call them to ask about that.
Plant oil does have minute traces of cholesterol in it. It's extremely small, though (we only learned this recently due to modern methods of assaying cholesterol that can detect smaller amounts). Or it might be due to cross-contamination because they don't have dedicated machinery.

[PsYcHo]

http://realfoodfakefood.com/ (a guy trying to sell a book, but good info. I heard him on the radio and he was on Dr. Oz recently)

This is a marketing technique that companies use to appeal to people trying to be healthy, but who may have limited knowledge. Buzz words like "NO TRANS FAT!" =good, because trans fats= bad. It doesn't matter if the food in question couldn't possible contain any of the "negative" items. It is often also used to mislead people, and get them to choose a product over a competitors. (Of course I want the bag of apples with no trans fat! Those other bags of apples must have trans fat because they don't specifically claim not to!!)

If your snack item has only recently changed, it is most likely just an effort by the marketing department to sell more, and the product is the same as it was before.

[miniboes]

I heard him on the radio and he was on Dr. Oz recently)

Just to be sure: you don't think appearing on radio and/or Dr. Oz means somebody is credibly, do you?

[PsYcHo]

Just to be sure: you don't think appearing on radio and/or Dr. Oz means somebody is credibly, do you?

Heavens no! Just a bit of background on where I heard about him. His research is really interesting though, and he has certain points that are verifiable with just basic knowledge. Many items are labeled "gluten free" or "No trans fats" that couldn't possible contain either.

[ThunderKiss65]

I bet they are using a hydrogenated vegetable oil. Hydrogenated vegetables contain trans fatty acids which is a form of dietary cholesterol.

[brimstoneSalad]

I bet they are using a hydrogenated vegetable oil.

It's not on the ingredients. But all oils seem to contain small traces of trans fats.

Hydrogenated vegetables contain trans fatty acids which is a form of dietary cholesterol.

What? No. It raises cholesterol in the body, like many saturated fats.
"Dietary cholesterol" means you're literally eating cholesterol, not just eating things which when your body processes them raise cholesterol as a consequence.